XXXVI
When we arrived at Overlord Ferrius’ island, we were greeted by a magnificently industrialized nation. The entire island was hard at work, steam piping from thick metal chutes, enormous gears constantly turning and grinding the city’s power. Though I had stepped foot on the island once many years ago, it was completely different from what it was now; an industrial revolution had wiped across the entire island.
“We’re in the civilized sector,” Tarsus informed us.
“What does that mean?” The king asked.
“There are two sectors on this domain: the civilized and the artificial. A couple years back, tension grew between the already ruling Grozorgians and the newly emerged race of artificial intelligence. After political turmoil and many peaceful protests, Lord Ferrius had decided to divvy up the nation to segregate the flesh from the metal.”
“No violence was involved?”
“When the first artificial intelligent droid defied its system, it started planting the bug into other droidic systems until it gathered an army. The Grozorgians were scared, but the droids approached the legislative grounds peacefully. After receiving no response from the government, the androids proceeded to sit until the entire plaza was filled with idle bots. When Lord Ferrius finally declared Amendment Four, the droids happily proceeded to claim the newly given land - the artificial sector.”
“But why would Ferrius do such a thing? It sounds like the people never approved of it.”
“Beats me. I was against the idea too, as was every single soul in the civilized sector. Why should we give up our rightfully owned land to something we created so they could gain equal rights? It didn’t make sense. But from the accounts I’ve heard, Ferrius was part droidic. Apparently he was caught in a life-threatening accident, and the majority of him was replaced with an android system. Maybe he was the one who woke the first robot.”
“A cyborg. Interesting. So we’re in the civilian sector? The Grozorgian sector?”
“Yeah. Over there was where the Night Guild originated.”
Tarsus pointed towards the east where a stack of metal balls were piled on top of one another, either modern art or a pile of rubbish.
“The civilized sector has harboured resentment against artificial intelligence ever since,” Tarsus continued to explain. “Every Grozorgian had vowed to stop the production of animatronics. But that doesn’t matter now; the artificials are reproducing by themselves by the masses. Right now, their population is the same as ours, but soon, they’ll exceed us. That’s why we fear an uprising and oppression against us. We’re weaker, smaller, and less knowledgeable. Amendment four was a mistake from the beginning.”
The Grozorgians of the civilized sector had started to gather around our army, fascinated that the king of Mainland Grozorg would pay them a visit. The civilians had soot and dirt mixed into their dark skin, but they greeted us with warm smiles and hopeful eyes.
“Momma, is that him? Is that King Fulcan, the slayer of the thousands?” A young boy to my left questioned, pulling on his mother’s arm, expecting an answer.
“Yes, dear,” she simply replied, a smile wiped across her wrinkled face. “That’s him.”
Soon, the entire sector had stopped their work to come and speculate the elite Army of Light and Purity, many in awe of witnessing the eminent guardians of Grozorg.
“Can someone show me the way to Overlord Ferrius?” The king asked.
Voices rose among the crowd in uncertainty, whispers spreading amongst the large sector.
“Are you here to set us free?” A male voice asked sheepishly.
“Are you here to redeem us?” Another female spoke.
“Are you here to reclaim this land for us?”
The crowd escalated into a growing clamour, awaiting the king’s response.
“Silence!” General Zartan boomed, plaguing the sector with a hush. “The king speaks!”
“My fellow Grozorgians, today will be the downfall of Ferrius.”
A roar rose from the crowd, quickly silenced by the general’s thundering voice again.
“Whatever he has done to you, whatever oppression you have endured, whatever property rightfully taken from you, everything will all be returned. Today marks a new day for this nation!”
The crowd went wild again. This time, the audience ignored the general’s command of silence, cheering and praising the king of Grozorg.
“Long live the king! Long live the king!” The group chanted in unison. Soon the entire sector shouted the praise, stamping and clapping and creating a thunderous uproar.
“Follow us!” A distant voice shouted. The sector continued their resounding chants, slowly shifting to the heart of the city.
When we arrived at the grand parliament building, our entrance had been announced well in advance to the elected body. We were met by ten government officials, clad in a black suit with visors concealing the majority of their faces.
“I am not going to ask again,” an official shouted through an amplifier. “Stand down!”
The crowd hurled insults at the official, clawing barbarically and trampling him underfoot. The nine other officials pulled out large, otherworldly weapons and pointed it towards the throng. The crowd quickly ceased in motion, frozen before the intimidating firearms.
As the civilized sector died down, I seized the opportunity to scan my surroundings. The large parliament building was built in front of a flat, colourless plaza, and a tall, sparking barbed wire fence stretched far from the east and west side of the government structure, evidently segregating the two conflicting sectors. Beyond the fence lay a whole new nation; extremely technologically-advanced structures and towering skyscrapers of otherworldly designs made it appear a fantasy more than a reality. The artificial sector had advanced well beyond present-day technology, futuristic aircrafts and maglev trains winding through the sophisticated area compared to the primitive civilized sector.
“Everyone on your knees! Hands above your heads!”
As the sector complied, the nine remaining government officials were reinforced by a military force. Armoured men weaved in front of the officials and dropped to one knee, setting up a barricade with transparent shields, while other law enforcers rushed behind the shield bearers to raise their guns towards us.
“They’re all cyborgs,” Tarsus whispered to the king. “Grozorgians would never betray their sector to work for the government.”
“I’m Senator Shane T-X1000. What seems to cause your arrival, your majesty? Why have you caused this uproar in our nation?”
“We know what you’re up to, Senator. Tell the overlord to come out and meet me face to face, then I’ll talk.”
“The king commands my presence?” A distant voice resonated from the building, amplified through a large, hidden speaker.
“The overlord can hear you from where you are. Please keep talking, your majesty.”
“I want to see Ferrius, face to face.”
“Overlord Ferrius, Fulcan. Get these weak Grozorgians off my lawn, then we’ll talk.”
“We know your plans, overlord. If you choose to surrender now, I would gladly leave with my forces and you would be as you are.”
The civilian sector started grumbling, shocked at Fulcan’s words.
“Wasn’t he going to kill the overlord?” A voice whispered loudly. “What is he doing?”
“Surrender? You thought I was declaring war? You show up completely uninvited to my island with your full force, expecting to defeat me, who hasn’t even shown any hatred against you, and you expected me to declare war?”
Just then, a scout of the army came back at full speed, hastily picking up his pace until he reached the king.
“Askar-” he panted, hands on his lap. “Overlord Askar and the Sisterhood are at the bridge! If we - if we don’t go back to Tenebris, all hope - all hope is lost! The city - the city will be destroyed!”
“Askar declared war on us?” Fulcan immediately responded, taken aback as if he had never expected it.
“Since your army is already here,” the voice from the parliament continued, “I might as well fulfill the high lord’s request I had never even once considered before your arrival!”
At once, the windows of the organized structure shattered as an enormous machine leaped through. The battle machine was at least twenty foot tall and at the top sat the overlord, controlling two indestructible arms and legs with his own.
“The new age begins today!” Ferrius exclaimed.
Alarms suddenly blared across the entire island as the barbed wire gate was lowered.
“Run!” A civilian shouted. As the throng of Grozorgians scrambled to their feet in chaos, the law enforcers opened fire among innocent men and women, slaying the front row in a matter of seconds.
“Squadron Phoenix! Squadron Quetzal! Protect the civilians! Evacuate the city and bring them to Tenebris! Squadron Dragon, Squadron Wyvern, return to defend Tenebris from the Sisterhood! The rest of the army, hold off the artificial sector!”
Fulcan followed a squadron headed to Tenebris after whispering to his generals brief commands.
“Blood right! Night, left!” I exclaimed right after the king.
We ran to our designated spots. The artificial sector released thousands and thousands of humanoids towards us, metallic skeletons barely protected by any armour. Upon collision amongst the front ranks of the Army of Light and Purity, the droids tore through the thick golden shields like paper.
“Get to work!” I shouted, pulling out my blades and slashing at the dozens. Though they were barely armoured, their skeletal structure was nearly impenetrable, sharpened blades struggling to cut through the hardened dense metal.
The artificial sector was slowly pushing through, forcing us back towards the edge of the civilized sector.
“There’s a defence system here, but I don’t know how to activate it!” Tarsus shouted across the battlefield. “The Grozorgians had implemented heavy defence on their turf in fear of this, but now that everyone’s gone, no one can activate the system!”
“Weren’t you born here?” Foku shouted back, irritated.
“I was born on Nythar’s island!”
“What?” I yelled, dropping my arms. “You’re from the Necro Domain?”
I picked up my pace and hastened my movements, slashing and jabbing at the weapon-less androids that were swarming around the army.
“That doesn’t matter! Is there anyone here who knows how to trigger the emergency detonation sequence?”
There were no answers. Everyone that had lived in the sector had fled to Tenebris with the king; the only Grozorgians on Ferrius’ island was our two guilds and some of the Fulcan’s army.
My mind was focused on how much closer Tarsus and I actually was. We were around the same age, and to find out now that we were also born in the same domain. My father had always believed that everyone was related to each other in an elemental domain. Was I...distantly related to Tarsus?
“We can’t keep fighting like this!” Tarsus yelled.
“If we don’t slaughter the lot of them, they’ll take over the capital city in a rampage!” I shouted back.
“Then we fight to the end! Come on, guild members! We were trained for today!”
The battle raged on as more men and women from the Army of Light and Purity fell to the delirious metal droids led by Ferrius in his ravaging war machine. Tarsus was right; there was no way we could turn this war around. It was Fulcan’s mistake for choosing to come here, but the past was in the past, and there was no way to alter the events that had happened now.
“What do you know about the defence system?” Pyrrhon shouted, a fiery blast escaping his two palms.
“It’s located in one of the central buildings on the basement floor, but that’s all I know! There’s no way we can search all the buildings in time!”
“We’re gonna need a miracle to turn this battle around,” Pyrrhon muttered, sending another fiery explosion towards a crowd of approaching androids.
Suddenly, two colossal mortars slowly rose from a building to my left and right. The mortars were repositioned and locked onto the artificial sector.
“The defence system is activated!” Tarsus exclaimed. “Everyone, retreat!”
At once, the army and our guilds ran towards the edge of the island as the mortars fired the first round of devastating shells. The ground thundered and shook as the payloads contacted the island, sending debris and metal flying everywhere, clouding the land with a thick storm of dust. The pathway between the ever-growing droidic army and our two outnumbered guilds also exploded, landmines destroying the front ranks of the metallic army as the pathway erupted from the myriads of detonated bombs beneath.
More and more gargantuan turrets rose from each building, firing automatically towards the incoming droids. Soon, the wave of artificially intelligent humanoids stopped pouring through the lowered barbed wire fence, barricaded by deadly rounds of bullets and explosive payloads. We lowered our weapons and halted, staring in awe.
“Who activated the system?” Tarsus asked, confused as he scanned the area around him.
Out of the clearing smoke stepped two figures, one lanky in a cerulean robe, and the other figure lean but well built. In his hands were two triangular blades, and he was messily dressed in a simple sackcloth shirt with a patched leather vest.
Kadava was back.
“Didn’t figure a mess like this would happen when I left,” he spoke, approaching us with Arcanor beside him.
We were overwhelmed by his presence. Of course, we all instinctively looked at his leg which was concealed in the same pants he wore every day. We embraced him tightly, sharing our smiles with each other.
“Arcanor told me you guys were in trouble. Or at least a recurring vision told him that. Since I was all good and well, I figured it was time to rejoin the team. Glad to be back.” Kadava smiled and slapped me on the back.
“You activated the system?” I asked.
“Of course. I built the system.”
He laughed again, winking at the guild members around him.
“I helped plan and build the defensive layout for the civilian sector. The bullets won’t hold them off though; we’re gonna run out of ammo soon.”
“What do we do then?”
“Run.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Draw Ferrius and his artificial army to Tenebris,” Arcanor spoke. “Kill two birds with one stone.”
“That’s suicide! We all know how strong the Sisterhood of Air is - I reckon we already lost the capital city to them by now! We can’t bring another force into Mainland Grozorg!”
“I saw a war after this between Fulcan’s army and a strange horde,” Arcanor replied. “If I can foresee another attack so clearly, that means that this plan will somehow work. And it doesn’t look like we have a choice, either.”
He pointed to the segregating line, where the last round of bullets had scattered across the sector. The oversized weapons powered down, smoke fuming from the large guns as they retreated back into the buildings around us.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Kadava asked. “Don’t mind me; with this new leg, I can outrun any of you!”
“Run!” I shouted, delivering my command to the remaining soldiers of the Army of Light and Purity.
We made a break for the bridge at the edge of the island that linked to Mainland Grozorg. Arcanor opened a portal to send as many footmen as he could directly to the king’s palace before he tired himself out. The overlord soon realized we had run out of ammunition, and the artificial sector began pouring out to pursue us again. Sprinting back to carry Arcanor on my shoulders, our only hope now was to defend the capital city from two opposing elemental forces.