Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

The storm had intensified as did the situation the scripture was in. The heavy downpour and loud thunderous blasts echoed through the dark forest. The entire forest was drenched, the drones surrounded and outnumbered them, their skills were unknown and they didn't exhibit any magic energy. This was a clear disadvantage to the scripture who heavily rely even on the faintest detection of magic.

Drones E1 and E2 quickly followed One who was just a foot against the translucent magic barrier cast by the mages. The metallic and organic nature of One confused even the most experienced of the scripture. Never in their lives have they encountered an abomination like One and his minions, creatures who didn't possess even the faintest of magic which was omnipresent in Fiorg.

"We can take them," Quintess said as she squinted forward. Clenching on her Bruxite Staff

"You sure? they may not seem much, but I'm not someone to underestimate the enemy easily" Veoghn was ready, on his palms came out two blue circles inscribed with ancient magic texts. These were the foundations of most spells, cast by hand-woven magic circles which summon forth the magic power into manifestations of energy.

Emma and Thoris were silent. They were standing right beside Vilvintine who was still on the floor, weakened by her fatigue. Friya wielded her golden spear which shone a golden light that illuminated the group and the drones. The entire scripture besides Vilvintine was wearing their holy armor given to them by the pope himself who claimed the armor was nearly indestructible for they have been blessed by the gods themselves.

"We have our gods and goddesses by our side! for the Theocracy!" Ghorn shouted as a sign of strength and faith. The entire scripture was warmed by his words and they felt the gods themselves lend them their power.

"You four! retreat using teleportation magic and alert the pope!" Ghorn commanded the four unknown mages. The four quickly disappeared using teleportation magic. But, this disallowed the rest of the party from using teleportation magic due to the risks of interference between dimensions

"Hiya!" Friya charged, pointing her spear towards the drones.

"Enchant!" Her golden sword glowed even further as she enchanted it further with enchantment magic. Veoghn followed suit, lunging into the air and casting the spell he had ready on his palms. Ghorn unsheeted his sword and charged at One with Emma and Thoris running behind her. Vilvintine stayed within the barrier.

One was unfazed, displaying an expressionless look.

"Engage"

The drones at the very front of the encirclement dashed at the same time at incredible speeds, despite their seemingly bulky and heavy bodies the drones were able to catch up with even the speed of Vilvintine who was considered the fastest of all assassins.

"Crap!" Friya's spear met with the metallic baton of one of the drones who charged at them, the frightening power of the drone caused Friya to struggle and ultimately step back.

"They're strong!" Friya shouted. Veoghn fired his high-voltage electric shock spell which released a massive lightning strike. The lightning strike came from both of his palms and targeted several drones who were approaching the barrier. The lightning strike, however, did not reach speeds equivalent to that of a normal lightning strike, thus the drones dodged it.

Veoghn was terrified as he noticed that the electricity didn't affect the seemingly metallic skins of the drones which he assumed would be good electrical conductor.

With her staff drawn, Quintess met with two drones who swung their batons at her with frightening power and precision. The three exchanged swings, with each strike of the two drones becoming more and more powerful as the fight dragged on. The bruxite material her staff was made out of prevented her staff from being shattered form the immense force of the strikes.

Emma and Thoris were suddenly surrounded by ten drones who wielded blasters rather than batons. Seperating them from Ghorn.

"What are those things?" Thoris asked in confusion.

"Must be some sort of modified wand" Emma answered, frowning at the drones.

The ten drones fired their blasters at the same time, Thoris and Emma both jumped into the air and retaliated using projectile magic summoned from their palms. The projectiles were dodged by the drones and a firefight ensued.

One was standing along with E1 and E2 as the rain kept on pouring. From the chaos, Ghorn emerged with his hands glowing blue and his sword was burning a blueish fire, unaffected by the rain.

"Interesting" One thought. E1 and E2 both stepped forward and prepared to defend One.

Ghorn's eyes suddenly started glowing blue and a fiery bluish haze enveloped him. A substantial change within his magic reserves and power could be detected.

Ghorn suddenly dashed forward with his sword above his head. He was shouting as he was stopped by the two elite drones with just their hands. His sword was easily grabbed by the two drones who were unaffected by the blueish flame, Ghorn then hopped back a few feet.

"Welcome to our world, Earthling" Ghorn suddenly spoke but his voice was different, it was that of a female.

One's interests were piqued, something possessed Ghorn and knew where he came from. This was a revelation that he thought he wouldn't come across.

"Interesting," He said.

"You know, I find it a waste we had to converse in such circ.u.mstances but due to the situation, you left me with no choice but to get rid of you myself"

"I don't think that's possible," One said expressionlessly. Ghorn gave a wide smile that ran across his face, a blue light shined from inside his mouth.

"You see the chaos behind me? you may think you've got the upper hand but the Papal Scripture is more than capable of destroying your pathetic metallic puppets. Humans have their limits, even if they're made of metal"

"That's where you're wrong" One said, a weird smile appeared on his face.

"We, are machines,"

"Eh?" Ghorn looked confused.

"It doesn't matter, we'll kill you all!" Ghorn announced.

E1 and E2 then dashed forward at the possessed Ghorn. Ghorn also charged forward and the two sides were in a collision course which would decide the ultimate fate of the Scripture and the Theocracy.

"You are incredibly confident in your swordsmanship, but.."

The two sides collide, both swinging their blades against each other. The force from the impact of the blades caused a shockwave which blasted the rain away and threw the scripture members a few feet, catching them completely off-guard.

Ghorn's flaming sword and the four blades form each of E1 and E2's hands met. Ghorn's sword slowly cracked, surprising the entity within Ghorn.

"You never used what was your advantage, magic"

Ghorn's flaming sword shattered in thousands of pieces. The entity within Ghorn looked in horror as a holy sword was shattered just like that. The entire Papal Scripture witnessed it, the storm was dying. The rain had stopped and the sun's beams were finally shining through the dark clouds.

"Impossible" Vilvintine looked on in horror and disbelief.

"From what I can tell, you were more than capable of bending the magic energy into further even more powerful forms which would have been catastrophic for us, but of course, ignorance reign supreme,"

The forest went silent, the chaos was taken over by a sudden peace. The drones stopped their engagement and stared the scripture.

And then, a loud thud broke the silence.

Ghorn went somersaulting through the air as E2 punched the poor fellow. Ghorn then fell hard head first to the wet soil. Barely missing the trees.

"w-what"

"Immobilize them"

All the drones drew out their blasters, shocking the papal scripture who quickly retreated to the barrier.

"Shit! prepare yourselves!" Vilvintine shouted.

The blasters then fired, thousands of concentrated energized balls exploded into a dazzling artwork of smoke and fire. The entire area was covered by smoke as the ground shook to the firepower. The drones then ceased firing after 10 seconds.

The smoke began to clear, revealing a pile of bodies strewn all over the grass. Vilvintine was the only survivor.

Her eyes began to weaken and she struggled to keep them open.

Before her eyes finally shut, one appeared for a mere second above her.

His face was void of expression, the metallic part of his face began to regenerate skin, like a monster. She thought before finally fainting.