Tarsuria, Year of Severus, 18, I.R., the 60th day of Spring, Broken Springs

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Nullus hadn't noticed his eyes closed shut as he continued to stare at the horizon. He felt his back laid against the okre tree and slept with the little time he had. The day wasn't as grueling as that of the planting season, but his encounter with Oyue last night proved to be draining.

Just as he was about to drift further in his sleep, he felt the ground move. He immediately opened his eyes and was welcomed by a giant shadow looming over the horizon. The silhouette looked like an enormous spider. Its dome-shaped body accompanied with its long stick-like legs rowed in a pair of four was a daunting sight to see.

He leapt out from the shed and hurried back to the townspeople who couldn't help but stare at the enormous entity coming their way. He shouted at them and told them to run for their lives, but the townsfolk froze in fear.

He looked at the monstrous silhouette and saw it move its spidery legs, taking another step closer towards them. The monster's wiry legs suddenly shook, and hind legs broke, causing the behemoth to topple down.

The ground rumbled as the monster dropped on the ground and a puff of smoke rose from the forest where it fell. Nullus arrived at the townsfolk who were confused about the situation.

"Everyone, run! Run!" Nullus' scream snapped them out from their fear-induced stillness.

The townsfolk started running around knocking some of the jugs and buckets that were already filled with watermelon juice. Nullus asked the townsfolk to evacuate the town as he ran towards the fallen monster.

He rushed towards the forest jumping through the fallen tree trunks and unearthed boulders. There was a blanket of dust spread throughout the forest. It took Nullus awhile to go further inside the forest as he waited for the dust to settle.

He raised his arm, summoning his blade over to him. The gladius flew over from his house and into his hand. The blade glowed like a torch in the thinning blanket of dust as he advanced further. In the distance, the shadow of the fallen monster.

The monstrous shadow was the size of two medium-sized houses clumped together. It wasn't as big as he thought it was, however, it was still a daunting thing to slay, if he's forced to. He crouched and slowly approached the monster, taking slow quite movements to avoid the injured beast from detecting his presence.

The beast never made a sound and from the looks of it, some of its broken parts were glowing a spark. He paused and hid himself behind a protruding boulder a ten footlings away from the monster. He slowly peeked and saw a shadow of a person crawling out of the monster.

"Must be a survivor." He thought.

He could hear the audible coughing from the person. Later on, Nullus heard the person mumble. He stealthily came close until the person's mumbles became audible.

"Drat!" The woman said in a rough, musical accent. "Cough…cough…The gears jammed!"

"Gears?" Nullus said to himself as he went closer.

"Nullus!" Squeakers voice echoed throughout the forest.

"W-who's there?!" The woman shouted back. "I-I can… hurt you!" He heard her picked something heavy.

Nullus facepalmed as the situation worsened. The woman's shadow was starting to get clearer. She was stepping away from the monster while raising her hand-held weapon above her head. He looked around and saw Squeakers moving towards the voice, unaware of the danger ahead of him.

"Nullus!" Squeakers called out again. "I'll be right there with you in a moment." He excitedly said.

Nullus followed Squeakers' movement with his eyes, all the while being vigilant with the woman. Suddenly the woman shouted.

"Fuck it!" She immediately ran towards Squeakers about to strike.

Nullus was quick enough to intercept the attacking woman. He immediately tackled her to the ground, disarming her of the weapon before planting her face first on the ground.

"Don't move!" He warned the woman squirming on the ground as he grappled her arm. "Don't move or I will end you!" Nullus stabbed his glowing gladius on the ground near the woman's face.

"W-who are yah?" The woman's voice shook as she stayed still.

"I should be asking the questions!" Nullus answered back.

Squeakers approached him a few moments later, confused with what was happening.

"Stay back, Squeakers!" Nullus shouted.

"I-I was just…" Just before the kid could finish his words, the monster suddenly moved and exploded.

Squeakers immediately ran away as the booming sound echoed.

"Oh no! My machine!" The woman struggled and wiggled out of his grip but was unable to.

"Machine?" Nullus asked. "What do you mean by machine?"

Another explosion echoed through the air.

"Oh no! No!" She wiggled violently. "Let me go! I can't let that machine explode! Prince Arterius—"

"Arterius?!" Nullus let go of her, shocked to hear the prince's name after some time.

The woman wiggled out and ran towards the machine, while cursing at the sparking chunks of metal scattered all over the crash site. He immediately followed her and saw the spider-like silhouette he saw towering the sky earlier was nothing than plates of metal and gears.

The sound of clanging metal was audible as the woman entered the huge dome-like thing. Nullus took a gazed at the monstrous dome when suddenly he heard an explosion from the inside of the machine.

Nullus heard a loud thud like a body hitting on the floor before a stream of fire erupted out of the door. He took a step back and assessed the situation.

"Cough…Cough…Help!" The woman's voice echoed from inside the flaming dome.

Without any hesitation, Nullus charged inside the burning cage of metal. The flames licked his skin as he entered the infernal dome, but it never hurt him, let alone scorched his skin. He went deeper inside the chamber pushing metallic plates and burning wood.

A ball of dark smoke instantly blew towards him as he went into its deeper reaches. Nullus felt light-headed as he continued to inhale the smoke, but still continued his way.

"A-are you…cough…cough… there?" Nullus called out.

"Y-yes..." She replied but her voice was fading away.

He immediately traced the voice under a ton of fallen debris composed of metal and wood. Nullus immediately touched the hot surface of the stacked debris and realized how heavy it was. He tried pushing it as hard as he could, but it won't budge.

The dome was becoming an inferno, burning them from the inside. If he won't use it, he knew he would be far too late to save the trapped woman. Nullus cursed under his breath and activated Oyue's blessing.

For the first time in such a long time, he felt his body tremble once again as he welcomed the surging exousia inside his body. He felt his strength doubled as he saw the swirling lines on his body. He was finally able to push away the debris and save the mysterious woman but before he could lift her up, the place lit up so bright it blinded him.

Another explosion blasted the air. Then everything became silent...