Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

immediately, the attack dashed towards One. He was fast, the n.a.k.e.d eye could barely keep up but One was no ordinary human. His advanced eyes tracked and predicted the attacker's movements and One was able to counter him with a punch to the gut. The attacker appeared behind him as predicted and he slammed his right fist into his stomach after doing a spin.

"Gah!" The attacker was sent flying to the wall. His body slammed on the wall, causing it to crack and for him to spew blood from his mouth.

The commotion woke Chloe up and she was horrified when she saw the attacker get on his feet, he was coughing up blood but still had the energy to fight. One then walked towards him, all the while taking in the information that was going on outside. He did not need to worry about enemy reinforcements for the time-being since the rest were preoccupied with the Queen's Guard.

"Ice Shards!" The attacker shouted as he staggered forward.

Two magic circles appeared above him and out came the icy shards. They numbered by the hundreds, the shards were long and were definitely fatal. But One was keen that his armor would be able to take it. The shards struck One at full speed, the attacker grinned for a moment before it was replaced by a jaw-dropped expression.

One had tanked his attack, the icy shards did no damage.

"Tsk!" He then dashed forward, this time he was faster and cast numerous spells from different directions simultaneously. One saw every attack as if the world was in slow motion. Then, One realized that he was distracting him and was actually headed towards Chloe who was hiding behind the bed.

One jumped at the direction where the attacker was supposed to appear next, and again his predictions were right.

"KYAH!" The attacker was not able to react in time. One appeared in his way and subsequently slammed him to the ground with his b.a.r.e hands. The impact of his fist was so strong that it knocked him out. He slammed the floor, causing it too to crack.

One landed near Chloe just as the attacker was defeated. His blood stained the wall and the floor. The frightened little girl ran toward One and hugged his right leg.

"He's still alive," Chloe said.

"I know," One was surprised by Chloe's comment.

The attacker was defeated but he was not dead. One could still detect his pulse from afar, his body still warm. He could already see his magic trying to repair his body to get him up and running again.

One, thinking ahead, decided to end him once and for all.

Chloe followed behind as One walked towards the downed attacker.

The attacker was trembling as he lied face-first on the ground. He then noticed One's steps and raised his head to see him. He was heavily bruised, blood came out of his nose. His nose was broken and his eyes were no longer the same.

He tried to raise his hand to cast a spell but One crushed it with his right foot, ultimately causing him to scream in pain.

"Half your body is already broken, I guess you did not expect the tides to turn ? far too confident in your abilities." One said as he crushed the attacker's other hand. The attacker let out another scream of agony. It was loud enough to be heard by those battling outside.

"Was that Kilk?!"

"Kilk has been defeated!"

"We need to save him!"

A total of five entities that were battling outside turned tail and were now headed towards him.

"You think I came alone?" The attacker smirked while he squinted in pain.

"They won't last long, you will last longer." One replied. He took his blaster than seemingly transformed his right hand.

"I-impossible." The attacker was in awe of the unknown weapon that transformed One's right arm.

And as his allies came crashing into the room from the windows, the ceiling, and the walls. In just three seconds, One shot them all down. The attacker that lied on the ground could only watch as One gunned down his allies with not even a single miss. The weapon that he wielded displayed tremendous power that could only be the works of the legendary Dwarven Smiths! The weapon breathed out a white fire and out came from it a white pillar of energy that he has never seen. The pillar struck his allies and they all fell dead. The area of their bodies on which the pillars struck was burned beyond recognition.

No blood spewed. There was no penetration. The pillar seemingly killed its victims by simply touching them. Horrified, he ducked his head to the floor before the sounds of his allies' bodies crashing to the floor echoed through his ears.

Then, only the sounds of battle that raged outside remained and it seemed like they had failed. The Queen's Guard had finally defeated the attackers on their end and burst through the doors of the room.

The lady warriors gasped when they saw the aftermath.

One and Chloe were standing in the middle of the room. Beneath their legs was one of the attackers, his hands crushed, his body destroyed. Around them were more bodies of the attackers, they lied dead on the floor.

What astounded them the most, was that neither One nor Chloe was damaged or injured, they did not even have a scratch.

The rest of the surviving attackers were captured while those who resisted or tried to flee were killed by the Queen's Guard or by Kjol himself. Kjol could not respond immediately when the attackers first came as he confronted by one of his own former students.

Their battle shook the ground below them and ultimately, Kjol emerged victorious but his former student escaped. Then, he came down and assisted in the defeat of the attackers whose sole objective was to capture the little girl he promised to protect.

He was relieved when he came down the castle and saw One and Chloe standing in their room victorious. The attacker that One had beneath his legs was actually said to be the second strongest of the attackers, a part of the "Diamond Group" of their organization.

To think that someone like One easily defeated him further solidified his belief that he was indeed a divine bodyguard of the chosen one.

The night then passed, it passed slower than usual for the people in the castle. It was normal since they were on their guard the entire night. The attack severely wounded most of the Queen's Guard, almost wiped out the central garrison and prompted chaos to temporarily ensue.

Several fires broke out around the city as several attackers who were trying to escape burned some houses to distract the warriors in hot pursuit.

It was an exciting and exhausting night. Chloe slept on One's arms as he stood on top of the castle. They were lead there by Kjol so that they won't be easily found. One had a good view of the entire city from the top of the castle. The moons shined their light and the stars twinkled in the sky.

One had a blanket with him which he stole while they were walking upstairs. He wrapped Chloe in this blanket and placed her on the floor to sleep in peace. Though, One realized that the way he wrapped Chloe made her look like an oversized burrito.

"Speaking of burritos," One said. "I wonder how they taste like."

Burritos were a prewar delicacy that Hailey mentioned too. Something that had flat bread wrapped around something meaty and tasty.

Minutes passed and then hours, the fires were eventually extinguished and the night soon descended into silence once more. Footsteps echoed behind One inside the stairwell that they used to get to where they were now. Kjol stepped out of the stairwell, clutching in his arms the fingers of the captured attackers.

One turned to confront him.

"These are the fingers who dared to lay their wretched hands on you and your little girl," Kjol said as he bowed.

"No need for the fingers, I have a few questions to ask and you are obligated to tell me." One asserted his authority. Kjol was overwhelmed but he could not challenge the authority of the divine, or so he was lead to believe.

One knew that he thought he was a divine bodyguard and so wanted to exploit it.

"Who were they? Those who just attacked us." One asked.

"They were the Black Griffin Sect. A branch of the wider Dark Mahon Organization that was mysteriously destroyed a few winters back." Kjol answered.

"Dark Mahon Organization?" One phrased.

"Yes, The Dark Mahon Organization was said to have been responsible for the summoning of the metal men. And so, we and other mages and scholars have come to the conclusion that the rogues of the organization summoned the metal men only for them to lose control of them and were subsequently killed. Leaving the metal men to their own devices."

"Hm" One nodded. What he was saying was anything but the truth. The Dark Mahon Organization seems to have many names, One remembered that they called themselves differently but maybe they were referring to a specific sect within the organization and not the organization itself?

They were the ones who opened the portal.

They were the ones that fired the first shots and instigated the war between the two worlds. That's how One wanted it to be seen as. It was his justification for waging a war although almost none of this world's states knew of the organization's plot or that another world aside from them exists.

"This sect, they wanted to kidnap Chloe." One said.

"The little girl? Uhm, yes. We tortured some of the survivors but they were too hard of a nut to crack. None of them want to give us the information we need." Kjol answered.

Interrogation?

One specialized in it.

Or so he called it an interrogation.

"Then, hand me the survivors. I will deal with them myself. Tomorrow when we set out, I want them bound to a carriage or sealed with magic so I can safely transport them to where we are headed." One said.

"You're bringing them to the academy?!" Kjol asked in confusion.

"No, I and Chloe will be heading towards somewhere but that place is not something mortals like you should know of, the name or its whereabouts." One made sure he stared at Kjol's eyes. It was a signal for him to back down any questions, he was to follow his will or he will anger a divine one.

Or so he was manipulated to believe.

"Then.. It will be done, o divine one." Kjol went on his knees.

One smiled but made sure he concealed it. It was all going smoothly.

And as the two discussed. A small burrito girl was snoozing in the side, completely ignorant of the world around her.

-

"Frisha, the master is being tricked! I just know it!"

"Slow down there, Hob, we need to trust our master" Frisha combed her hair while Hob, Kjol's apprentice, walked back and forth.

They were inside their quarters, the two of them were lovers and thus, lived together. The both of them were Kjol's students, both had the same master but had different opinions of their master.

"No, Frisha. Don't you even feel it? That little girl has IMMENSE magical power that even rivals the master's but his supposed 'bodyguard' does not even have any magic! I know because I looked into him using my enhanced sense. He has no mana, he is inept! How can someone like that be a divine angel!?" Hob sweated profusely.

"Then believe in your master as much as he believed in us, he knows what he is doing." Frisha retorted.

"So, we just wait here?!" Hob was getting impatient, the tone of his voice getting higher after each sentence he spoke.

"Yes." Frisha replied.