- 100 days until the War of Soldam -
Ark ship operator communicating with headquarters.
— T34 ready for deployment.
Authorization confirmed.
— Deploy the Immortal Knight!
A meteor descended from the sky, sweeping everything in its path. This is how they saw me: an inevitable force of destruction. To some, a beacon of hope amidst the collapse; to others, the very manifestation of terror.
Here again... As I understand it, this will be my last deployment before the great war. I'll do my best to protect all of you...
But something didn't fit.
The smoke from the impact cleared, revealing a strange battlefield.
Where are the robots? Why are there only people? Did they get the location wrong?
Voices crashed into my thoughts, desperate, filled with panic and rage.
— Look, there's the Immortal Knight! Eliminate him!
What's happening? Why do these people want to harm me? No... I can't allow it.
An unbearable pain pierced my head, as though a drill was boring into my skull.
I must defend myself.
My eyes bled.
When my vision returned, the scene was the same... except for one detail. Something was writhing, impaled in my arm. It was no longer the synthetic liquid from the mechanical enemies leaking from their bodies. This time, it was red. Hot. Human.
The sound of flesh being pierced vibrated in my ears. I heard it all.
The armor began to move on its own. The swords hidden in my arms deployed.
A military truck was heading straight for me.
For a moment, I hesitated. However... I had to defend myself, right?
My body and armor were on another level. Like a torpedo, I tore through the vehicle with ease, splitting it in two as if it were butter.
"This is fun... the flesh tears faster than robotic metal."
Small buildings surrounded the battlefield, but I didn't pay them any mind. Until soldiers armed with weapons emerged from them. They wanted to eliminate me. Eliminate the light of the Empire.
From my left hand, a blast of energy swept away those who stood in my path. They fell like flies.
My armor detected an enemy close by.
A girl.
She was holding a stuffed animal.
For a second, I hesitated to attack her.
"She's just a little girl..."
For the first time, I asked myself: What am I doing here? Who am I trying to kill?
Then, an unbearable pain pierced my head.
The girl exploded.
No, the stuffed animal did.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
The shockwave damaged my armor.
Armed men approached. The armor could repair itself automatically, but it needed time and energy. Until then, I was just a simple pawn, surrounded by enemies.
Dazed, I heard their shouts.
— We will protect our village from the Empire's claws! We will never fall! We will kill you to prove our sovereignty!
All the men raised their voices in unison:
— Destruction to the Empire!
They aimed their weapons. They weren't ordinary rifles. These were weapons designed to bring down large targets.
Inside the armor, a red flash glowed.
My head began to hurt.
But for the first time, I felt freer than ever.
Euphoria took over me.
The armor had never worked so well.
This... this was a gift from God.
I rose in the middle of the battlefield. No one could see it, but beneath the armor... I was smiling.
My mind clouded.
All I could see were spots on my visor's screen.
"Everyone is my enemy."
The pain in my head returned, driving deeper.
And then...
The massacre began.
It was one-sided.
A bloodbath.
A slaughter.
The Immortal Knight and the military wiped everything out.
When the killing stopped, a sea of blood stretched before me.
Tears rolled down my face, mixing with the blood.
Something inside me cracked.
— No... no, no, no, it can't be... How could I do this? What is happening? I... I was supposed to protect them...
--
- 99 Days until the War of Soldam -
What did I do...?
The pain was unbearable. The machinery that kept me alive clung to my body, piercing it, extracting data, injecting serums. But nothing hurt more than what I felt in my chest.
That weight... that pulsing heartbeat that refused to go away.
Those people had families... children...
"My son, purify the souls of those who are not loyal to the Empire."
Mother... Mother, I will fulfill what you entrusted to me.
I will save those poor lost sheep from the Empire.
I will purify them with my armor.
I am the Immortal Knight.
Laughter bubbled from my throat uncontrollably. It turned into cackling. My body trembled with excitement.
When I opened my eyes, I realized that the mask no longer covered my face. Now I could see everything clearly.
The metallic, dark, silent room. The broken machinery.
But none of that mattered.
Euphoria consumed me.
I couldn't stop laughing.
I couldn't stop feeling alive.
---
- 80 Days until the War of Soldam -
— Kekeke... T34, tell me, did you feel anything different today?
The voice was mocking, distorted, as if enjoying the spectacle.
— You experienced what it's like to be a hero of the Empire... Kekeke...
— Now your medal shines brighter than before.
Now I understand it all...
I was born for this.
To purify the souls of the lost.
To protect the Empire.
Long live the Empire!
— Kekeke... Looks like you finally understood your place.
— Like an object.
— I will make you my masterpiece.
— So you don't die in the great battle...
— I will make you stop being human.
The machines came to life. The mechanical shadows rose above me.
But this time, I wasn't afraid.
I was happy.
I wanted to transcend my limits.
I wanted to keep cutting.
I wanted to protect the Empire.
The metal figures danced around me with surgical precision. Needles, scalpels, mechanical arms... like hungry insects, waiting to devour me.
Then, the first cut.
It was clean. Too clean.
My skin opened without resistance, as if it had always been waiting for this moment.
I felt neither cold nor heat. Just a cold emptiness spreading through my body.
A red line appeared on my chest.
The hooks dug in. They opened me. They expanded me.
---
- 70 Days until the War of Soldam -
My muscles trembled. They tried to resist.
It was futile.
The blades descended.
The first layer came off.
The sound...
God... the sound.
A wet, fibrous tear.
Like raw flesh being torn from bone.
That sound was me.
---
- 60 Days until the War of Soldam -
My nerves burned.
Each fiber, taken and cut with precision.
The mechanical arms pulled.
They meticulously flayed me.
There was no anesthesia.
But my mind reveled in it.
The pleasure of being used...
---
- 50 Days until the War of Soldam -
The machine chewed.
It chewed me.
My muscles. My tendons.
They were reduced to a nauseating paste.
That was me.
My body...
Was nothing but disposable pulp.
Dehumanization.
I should hate it.
But I can't.
I'm so happy.
I have fulfilled my mother's goal.
I will protect the Empire by being something more than human...
---
- 40 Days until the War of Soldam -
The rebirth began.
The new muscles were implanted.
Black fibers.
Alive.
They moved before they joined me.
And when they did...
The pleasure was indescribable.
They were sewing me into something that wasn't human.
---
- 30 Days until the War of Soldam -
My fingers trembled.
My legs shook.
My jaw snapped shut with a dull click.
Now I am something more.
Something broken.
Something better.