Chapter 26 : Insurmountable Ordeal

"Do you think these lowly beings can save you ?"

Legatus was still marching toward me, as if the drones and reapers surrounding me were nothing to be afraid of.

[Jun, the jamming waves didn't dissipate yet, I'm unable to extract you now. Try to gain as much time as you can until we can accurately pinpoint your position.]

'How much ? I am not in a state to fight anymore.'

[Thirty to forty minutes would be enough for us to teleport you back safely.]

'Alright, I will try my best. Did you send Douglas and Alice ? I don't see them.'

[About this…I'll explain to you what happened in the corvette later, but they both have been seriously injured. They are resting in healing capsules. Alpha Zero is also not operational for now, you are on your own.]

I didn't know what happened in Legatus' corvette for Douglas, Alice and even Alpha Zero to get injured so badly, but now was not the time to think about it.

While the drones and reapers got deployed to my location, a part of the rifters who were previously rushing to the headquarters also arrived and took formation behind Legatus.

I was not in a good condition to fight, the only thing keeping me alive right now was the black matter in my body boosted with the Red Mist.

Surviving only ten more minutes seemed impossible, but I was not alone anymore.

"Defense...formation...'Phalanges'."

After receiving my order, the battle drones at the front line stood so close to each other that even a fly wouldn't be able to pass through their ranks. They formed a circle around me, armed their metallic blade, cannons, and waited for my next orders.

The Elites drones armed their weapons and took position behind them, with their huge rifle aiming at Legatus and the rifters surrounding him.

Meanwhile, the reapers slowly disappeared into thin air and went totally invisible.

When I was on the flagship, I created several tactical formations with Gladia, so it would make it easier for me to control my troops when fighting alongside them.

The 'Phalanges' was a defensive formation whose only purpose is to defend a position for the longest time possible. This tactic makes us as stationary and tanky as a turtle from Earth would be, it capitalizes on the high resistance of the battle drones and the powerful attack power of the reapers and elite drones.

It is a very good tactic when outnumbered and waiting for reinforcement, however, its flaw resides in its low mobility and how densely packed we are. If any area attack can bypass the front line, it would cause us devastating damage.

I know Legatus is strong enough to pierce our defense, and this is exactly what I'm looking for.

It is time for this arrogant Scylla to learn another lesson.

"Engage !!"

"Kill the heretics !!"

Legatus and I gave our orders at the same time, laser shots and beams of energy instantly started to get fired everywhere.

The rifters firstly attacked at range, using their numbers advantage to suppress and overwhelm us under sustained fire.

Their idea wasn't bad, but they didn't take into account the ancient battle drones' resilience, with their armor made of exotic metals no longer available in this era.

The rifters shots made of concentrated Singularity energy were almost ineffective against the battle-drones heavy armors, only the most powerful high lethality rifters were able to take down a few drones.

On the contrary, we had no trouble taking down these rifters. The battle drones at the front had their shoulder cannons firing continuously, and the Elite drones modified by Douglas had enough firepower to take down even the most powerful foes in the enemy army.

Only a dozen of meters was separating both side, and still, none of the rifters tried to rush into melee contact until they received the order.

"What are you doing ?? Attack !! Charge !!"

Legatus stopped advancing when half of the Elite drones focused their shots on him with their powerful laser rifle. He tried to use the rifters coming from everywhere on the mega-structure as cannon fodder, to create an opening and aim for the center of our shell formation.

He knew that we wouldn't be able to resist too long, we were only a few hundreds and all the rifters present on the structure were converging on us. In less than five minutes, already a thousand rifters reached Legatus and more were still coming.

"Unit B1 to…B4, cover the right...side.

A3 move...backward and take care of...the rifters on your left.

C1 and...C7, keep targeting the...high priority targets."

I tried to give my orders as best as I could, I was still leaning on a broken wall and unable to move as my body had no strength left, I could only lead the battle from the center of the formation.

'Black ops, is it done ?'

I mentally contacted the reapers to who I previously gave a special task.

'Yes. Master.'

'Good. You can now join the battle, don't restrain yourselves and use your skills freely.'

A reaper emerged from the darkness, slowly put down next to me the clone body I did hide earlier before slowly disappearing again.

I started to yell loud enough for Legatus to hear my voice.

Between the Singularity beam destroying rocks around me, the drones sawing with their metallic blade the unfortunate rifters who rushed at them, the reapers suddenly appearing out of nowhere and tearing off limbs with their long hands...

Amidst this chaos, I used all my remaining forces to yell loud enough and make sure Legatus would hear me.

"WHILE YOU FIGHT US HERE, THE THIRD AND FIFTH LEGIONS ALREADY INVADED THE CORE OF YOUR MOTHER SYSTEM"

My throat was hurting so much, I was spitting blood with every word that came out of my mouth.

Fortunately, it wasn't in vain. Legatus took the bait and stopped fighting for a few seconds to look in my direction.

"What nonsense are you spouting ??"

"DO YOU THINK I EXPOSED MYSELF SO MUCH FOR NOTHING ?? I PLANNED TO BRING YOU HERE, AND I'M WAITING FOR THE ASSAULT FLEET WHICH CHASED US FOR SO LONG TO COME AS WELL."

I took a brief pause to catch my breath and endure the pain, then I continued.

"YOU AREN'T AS SMART AS YOU THINK YOU ARE, LEGATUS. I HAVE WITH ME THE BODY OF OPTIO CARCERIS, I KNOW HE HAS A DIRECT LINK TO PRIMUS ONE AND YOUR REVERED MOTHER!!"

While yelling this, I slowly lifted the clone body lying on the ground next to me, but not high enough to let Legatus realize the truth and see through my lie.

In reality, this body was just a superior commander Douglas and Alice killed during their missions.

Gladia and me did choose this body for the mission because his clone had a different look than the other commanders we killed, it wasn't the same as the basic Templar clones we faced.

The Scyllas called these versions 'Paladin' clones, it was reserved for their hierarchy.

We guessed that he was ranked higher than a simple mega-structure commander, and we introduced inside his lifeless clone body the most powerful anti-matter bomb we had at our disposal.

When Gladia listed to me the flagship armament, she told me that we only had three of those bombs, and this one was the most powerful of them.

Seeing how far the ancient beings went when it came to weapons and means of destruction, those same beings who created the invincible golems and the huge golden hangar they were guarding, the mighty flagship and its army of effective drones and deadly reapers…

If these frightening ancient beings only stocked three of those anti-matter bombs inside the flagship, we expected them to be powerful enough to blow up an entire system sector. Gladia was sure that this bomb was at least as destructive as a dwarf-star supernova.

During our stay on the Scyllas mother-ship, Gladia also remarked that only Optio Carceris, the Scylla who was responsible for the third protocol, had a direct link to their leader Primus One.

I didn't know why even Legatus who seemed higher ranked in the Scyllas ranks didn't have a direct link to his leader, but I decided to take the bet and try the best bluff I could ever do.

I know the Scyllas are smart, but I also know how easily they can be swayed by their emotions when it involves their leader Primus One or their deity the Revered Mother.

"THANKS TO THE VOID ENERGY, I WAS ABLE TO TRACE BACK THIS LINK, AND I ORDERED MY SHIP TO TRANSMIT THE COORDINATE ONCE THEY TELEPORT THE PALADIN BODY BACK, LEGATUS.

SHALL I BE DEAD OR ALIVE AFTER THIS BATTLE, THE SCYLLAS ARE ALREADY DOOMED."

"Do you think this trick will work on me, human ?"

Legatus acted confident, but I knew the doubt seed has been successfully planted in his mind when he stopped staying on the defensive and started to push through the drone's beams shots to slowly reduce the distance between us.

He hurriedly approached our front line while ordering all the rifters to charge at us one more time.

My plan worked.

It is only a matter of time before his arrogance and greed take over his reason, once more.

"MY GOA…cough cough..."

Never could I have imagined how painful it was to yell with a pierced lung and so many internal injuries.

"My goal has...been achieved...Legatus. Even if you...kill me now, as long as...my ship get this clone body back...they would be able to...transmit the coordinates to the legions."

That is why the first thing I did when I arrived here was to inject some Void Energy inside the Templar clone, to make my fake scenario plausible and activate the bomb hidden inside the Paladin soul stone.

I never expected Legatus himself to come though, I originally planned this scenario to trick and obliterate the assault fleet who was chasing us, but I had no choice anymore.

"Impossible !!"

"As if I care...if you trust me...or not.

You already lost...Legatus."

I saw him stop for a second, before chanting in his innate language.

'Seems like it worked as expected…I hope Gladia won't take too long before getting us out of here...'

While Legatus chanted in the Scylla tongue, I continued to command my army.

"A1 to...C9, keep the front-line...tight.

D1 to D9, take position...in the rear.

Prepare...for massive impact..."

Once the drones received my orders, I closed my eyes and mentally told the reapers.

'Black Ops, try to cancel Legatus incantation, we only have a few minutes left to resist before the jamming fully dissipate and we can get teleported back.'

'As. You. Wish. Master.'

A bunch of reapers appeared out of nowhere and attacked Legatus at once, but their attacks were ineffective against his translucent shield.

This Scylla shield I still couldn't identify was such a pain in the ass to be dealt with.

We could see the difference between a high-ranked Scylla like Legatus and the regular Scyllas officers like the commanders guarding the mega-structure just by looking at how they use their shield.

The commanders, while being much stronger than regular Scyllas, still couldn't chant an incantation and use their personal shield at the same time.

I don't know if it was due to the quality of the clones they were using, but Legatus seemed capable of both chanting and defending at the same time.

When I saw the reapers' most powerful attacks getting easily blocked by the translucent barrier surrounding him, I understood that we could do nothing else but prepare for the incoming attack and pray for Gladia to teleport us before we all end up as an ashes pile.

In the middle of his incantation, Legatus slowly floated above the ground, and while he was producing strange noises, his Paladin body shined and also emitted some light of different colors.

Red, Blue, Green, Orange…at this moment, he really looked like a superior otherworldly being descending on the battlefield to bring his zealous faith into the battlefield.

This is what I wanted from the start, for him to get baited and use a powerful attack, but I didn't expect him to charge so much energy. I thought he would use the same spells he used when he fought against me, but I was wrong.

I couldn't estimate the power he was about to release upon us, but I was sure that none of us would be left alive.

"Everyone retreat...into the formation!

Shield...at maximum output !!"

I felt the invisible reapers coming back, the battle drones at the front walked a few steps back to tighten our lines and the elite drones all stood around me to protect me.

Legatus stopped chanting, and lifted his arms to the reddish sky. After a few seconds, a ball made of different elements floated above our heads.

This ball of energy slowly grew, until covering the entirety of the sky.

I tried to identify its composition, but my internal sensors were not able to give the same result.

I detected both ardent fire, and cold water.

I felt both violent wind, and rough earth.

This spell was just defying logic.

This multicolored ball was a condensed mass of different atoms and elements, I felt the same sensation as when I used the Void Surge and controlled the micro black-hole to not destroy everything.

Legatus, floating above us, looked so small compared to the giant energy ball he summoned.

He looked like a tiny man controlling a neutron star.

"I am done with you, human. I didn't want to go this far, but I can't risk failing anymore.

This is the end."

After pronouncing these words, he slowly lowered his hands.

All the battlefield stopped for a moment, even the crazy rifters beasts who were a few seconds ago fighting madly against the battle drones, stopped themselves and stood still to look at the sky.

As if all the rifters present on the battlefield, understanding their imminent death, unconsciously broke the Scylla mind control and got the control of their mind back for their last moments.

It was as if time itself stopped, and a small multicolored sun was slowly descending upon us to disintegrate us all.

I felt extremely weak. I already knew this sensation of weakness, but I never felt it this painfully before.

This sensation of being a mere insect about to be crushed by a superior being burned my heart so hard that it even made me forget the feeling of pain from my injuries.

Facing such an inexplicable spell, I was pitiful.

It was the same when I first opened my eyes in the Scylla mother ship.

Or when I lost Jeanne without being able to do anything to save her.

When I faced the centipede on Kar'goth and lost my arm during my first fight.

When I saw Alice bathing in her blood and we couldn't deal with a single Giant Ants squad on ourselves.

When the flagship went close to getting destroyed during my first space battle because I had trouble commanding my crew.

I knew this sensation well, I could even say that I got used to it since I woke up in the Scylla mother-ship.

But never have I been feeling as bad as now, facing this dense and hot mini sun about to destroy us without being able to do anything.

It only took me a short moment to realize that no matter how hard I try, I will always face someone stronger.

An enemy who can kill me with ease, no matter what I do.

During the previous years, I always thought that luck was on my side and even if sometimes I was unlucky, it was compensated later when I was extremely lucky in dire situations.

I always thought about it as a sort of Karma, or a kind of Destiny.

I never liked to believe in the concept that I wasn't the master of my life, but I still started to accept that something greater exists and directs our lives.

I thought that maybe, no matter what I do, the results would end up the same.

But still, no matter my Fate or Destiny, I was sure of one thing : no matter what happens, before dying I would at least see the Scyllas lose and get eradicated as they did to my planet and my people.

It seems like I was wrong.

Since I woke up and I saw the only person I remembered from my past life die in front of me, without being able to protect her, I only wished for the Scyllas' demise and nothing else...

But even this, I would be unable to achieve it myself.

'I guess he is right…It is definitely the end this time.'

I did let go of my body, and when the mini sun was about to hit us, a few meters above the ground, I closed my eyes.

I finally stopped resisting and accepted my death.

This situation was far beyond what I could deal with as a mere human.

I still had regrets, not from my previous life that I don't remember but from this short and intense life ; I tried so hard, in vain.

At least, my squad members who loyally followed me, those other humans I considered as my own family are all excellent and much better than me.

Even if she couldn't teleport us in time, I also trusted Gladia. I know she would lead my squad and my crew well until the very end.

May them triumph or die trying, they wouldn't disappoint me.

'Do not fear, my child.'

When I did let go of the Red Mist who sucked me dry of my blood for so long and I was finally ready to embrace death, an old ghostly female voice sounded inside my head.

'Who are you ?'

'I am the one waiting for your arrival since my birth. The Great River of Fate still requires your presence, my child.

Today isn't the time for you to die.'

The voice seemed coming from far away, and I couldn't keep focusing on this woman's words before my consciousness slowly faded away.