While Aether decided to contact Rosavere meanwhile, the ladiesā group walked through the stony paths as they were about to reach the edge of the barrier.
"I cannot believe that jerk said that," Thalia said with an annoyed tone as she glanced at her group, who were following behind herāSelene, Raven, Nyx, and...
"Nightfire... walk faster!" Thalia shouted. Nightfire panted as she walked, heavily sweating...
Nightfire stumbled over a stone, breath ragged. "W-What the fuck... why are you guys running?! My legs are dead."
Ignoring her,
"We are not idiots!" Thalia commented, shaking her head as she turned and continued her walk, passing the trees. "What do you think about this, guys? Donāt you feel annoyed?"
Selene rolled her eyes, "Heās just worried, guys..."
"So what? Weāre worried about him too," Thalia commented. Raven nodded with a serious face. Thalia added, "He has been working nonstop, day and night. He was watching over the bordersānot just this one empire, but also every empire to find them."
Raven nodded again, saying, "Heās been on edge due to the situation."
Nyx nodded too. "I didnāt even have time for baby-making," she said with a slight pout. The girls looked at her before shaking their heads.
They couldnāt even retort to her... after all, thatās what they wanted too, right?
Selene coughed, eyes darting away. For a heartbeat, no one spoke.
As they kept walking, Nightfire suddenly shouted, "JUST WAIT, FUCKERS!" Everyone flinched, turning back as Nightfire panted heavily, running toward them with a sweating face. She stood before them, panting and catching her breath, hands on her knees.
"What happā"
Before Thalia could ask, Nightfire raised her finger and panted before lifting her chin up, saying, "W-Why are we even doing this?"
"Well, to find those weird metallic things?" Selene said.
Nightfire blinked with a confused expression. "To find them? How? Even Aether has been searching for days, with his puppets and everything, and he didnāt even find a single one of them... and did you think weāre going to find it? Seriously?"
As her eyes looked at each woman with a contemptuous expression,
"Did you think just because we came here? You really think those things would appear out of nowhere during our time?
Heck, even our direction? Where are we even going? Did you really think out of millions of possibilities theyāre going to show up where a bunch of idiotic bitches would come? Have you lost your damn mind?ā" She frowned suddenly, seeing them turn silent and... staring behind her.
She frowned as she turned back... only to see... a metallic figure appear out of the golden white portal.
Nightfire stared, frozen, as her words came horribly true.
"FUCKā"
Before she could scream, Thalia caught Nightfireās mouth tightly as she hissed for her to stay silent.
Nightfire nodded, but inwardly, āHa... we fucked up! So fucked up! Why the hell did it appear here out of all the fucking possibilities? MOTHERFUCKERS!!ā she screamed in her mind, her hand clamped over her mouth, sweat gathering on her brow.
The others slowly crouched down behind the tree.
Each of them grew serious, all eyes fixed on the metallic figure standing before the patrol soldier.
"H-Hey, who are you?" the soldier shouted, his voice cracking as he brandished his sword, the blade trembling in his hands.
The metallic figureās head snapped toward him.
In the next instant, before anyone could react, the figureās other hand closed on the patrolās neck with terrifying.
"Arrhh!" The man groaned, legs kicking. Scales flickered on his cheeks as he fought to call the fire inside him. But before a real blast could form, the figure jammed a cold, silver ball into his mouth.
The flames died, snuffed out in a heartbeat. Smoke curled from the soldierās lips... then nothing. The manās eyes went wide with disbelief.
Thalia and Raven exchanged shocked glances. Both knewāeven without Arcane energy, dragons could always breathe fire. It was their bloodlineās legacy. Maybe weaker without magic, but always there.
Yet, a tiny ball had silenced it completely?
The metallic figure didnāt move for a moment. Suddenly, a compartment in its shoulder slid open with a hiss, and a small metal device dropped to the ground.
Beep... Beep...
A high-pitched electronic whine sliced the air. The device spun on its axis, unleashing a web of red light. The beam circled everything, as if it were scanning the surroundings, sweeping back and forth with precision.
The red beam paused at the tree-
BEEP!
"Shit!" Thalia jerked back, pressing her body tight to the bark. In the next breath, the metallic figure drew its gun. There was a sharp, mechanical click, a whirring of gears.
"Everyone move!" Thalia cried out, rolling to the side.
BOOM!
Raven reacted instantly, eyes narrowed as she darted sideways, barely a whisper of movement. She didnāt see the bulletājust the shockwave left behind, the hollowed core of the tree.
"We need to be careful," she warned as she drew her thin sword.
The others drew their weapons.
The metallic figure cocked its head with a hollow, hydraulic hiss. Its visor flickered, scanning the five women standing against it.
"We need to take that gun from its hand," Nightfire whispered, half in panic, half in awe.
"Seriously, I didnāt sign up to get ventilated today." Her hands shook, but the pink mist of her aphrodisiac power swirled, gathering, snaking toward the figure.
But before they could move, the metallic figureās arm snapped up. The gun roared again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The air rippled with heat and force as the shot tore a crater into the ground, sending dirt and stones flying.
Everyone scattered. Raven spun and lunged, her blade catching the light. Thalia dove behind a fallen log, breath coming in harsh, terrified gasps.
As long as they werenāt in its sights, it didnāt matter if the gun had bullets or something worseāthey just had to stay out of its path.
The metallic figure advanced, heavy steps thudding on the stones, gears grinding. Sparks danced from its joints.
"Shit! Not me!!" Nightfire shouted, scrambling sideways as a blast tore up the dirt where sheād been standing a heartbeat before. She darted like a snake, twisting and rolling in the dust.
"Why the hell are you focusing on me, bastard? Focus on that other bitch!" she screamed, her voice high and panicked, diving across the broken ground, hair plastered to her face with sweat.
The ground and surroundings were turned to rubble by the gunās force... each impact thundered like a miniature explosion.
"Move faster!" Raven shouted, urgency crackling in her tone. She dove aside just as another invisible projectile smashed the earth, rolling fluidly and springing up. In one swift motion, she hurled her thin sword with deadly precision, the blade spinning end-over-end toward the metallic figureās wrist.
Thud!
The blade struck true. With a sharp clang, the gun dropped from the figureās grip, skidding across the shattered ground.
Seeing the opening, Thalia launched herself forward.
"Take this, monster!" Her knuckles smashed into the metallic figureās face, right on a hard spot between its glowing eyes.
TANG!
The impact echoed through the clearing. For a split second, everyone thought the figureās head would shatter from the blow.
But,
"OUCH!" Thalia screamed, clutching her bruised hand as pain shot up her arm. Her punch hadnāt even dented the thing!
Before she could retreat, the metallic figureās hand snapped around her wrist. With a single, horrifyingly fluid motion, it spun her like a ragdoll, twisting her in midair like a tornado before hurling her away.
"AHH!!" Thaliaās scream faded as she crashed through underbrush, finally slamming against a tree with a bone-jarring thud.
Selene was already moving her blue sword appeared in a flash beside the machineās neck, slashing with all her fury.
But...
It barely left a scratch.
She blinked, stunned, and before she could adjust her grip, something on the figureās neck whirred, a blade snapping out and spinning like a saw. With a single sweep, it smashed her sword, shattering the enchanted steel as if it were glass and sending shards flying.
"Arh!" Selene groaned, knocked backwards into the barrier wall, breath knocked out of her.
The metallic figure crouched to retrieve its gun, servos whining, when a thin sword pressed right against its visorās socket... Raven, breathless but deadly cold. "Donāt you dare move," she hissed, her blade poised to drive through the gap.
But the machineās socket flickeredāa crackle of blue energy leapt from the visor and surged along the blade.
"ARRHHHH!!!"
Raven convulsed, her whole body shuddering as if sheād grabbed a lightning bolt. Electricity raced through her, hair standing on end, until she dropped to the ground, smoke curling from her.
"I got you!" Nightfire yelled, darting in from behind while the figure was distracted.
She leapt, wrapping her arms desperately around the helmetās smooth dome.
"I got itāNyx, kill this bastard!" She clung with all her strength, legs locked around its shoulders, even as the figure jerked and twisted to throw her off. The metallic body bucked under her, its grip on the patrol officer finally loosening.
Nyx nodded, her eyes darkening with vengeance. She raised her hand and summoned her powerāher shadow split open, and a purplish-black ghostly warrior stepped through it, clad in spectral armour, sword gripped tight in a deathly hand.
"Kill that thing," Nyx commanded, her voice echoing with cold authority.
The ghostly figure nodded and surged forward, its blade raised high. The ground shook with the force of its charge as it brought the sword down on the metallic figure.
Tang?
Nightfire and even the metallic figure looked down, eyes drawn to the chaos at their feet. They stared in disbeliefāespecially at the spot where the once terrifying, vengeful ghost had been reduced to a tiny, squirming miniature toy, no bigger than a childās finger, helplessly attacking at the figureās ankle with its shrunken sword.