13 days ago - Nix

  "I must admit, I honestly didn't expect to find a human with such a high aptitude for our technology," Lithian said as he looked over Nix's shoulder at the work she was doing.

  "Well, I was going for an engineering major so it shouldn't be that surprising. Ah, I guess you wouldn't know what that is, sorry."

  The infernari stepped back as Nix hoisted up the last piece of the project. It had been several days since she'd entered the spirit dungeon, and she'd be glad to finally get out and talk to people again.

  When Phil had returned from his disappearance Nix had asked him about his experience. And when he'd told her about the trial that had been given to him, how it had only appeared to him because of his skillset and that location… She knew what she needed to do.

  Her interest in the disappearances had first started when she herself had found one of the spirit dungeons, but her caution had prevented her from entering it. It hadn't stopped her from examining the weapon locked behind the case of glass, preserved as if it had been waiting for her to find it.

  Of course, it hadn't been preserved perfectly. Nowhere close, in fact. The thing was in ruins, with only the frame and several of the larger segments still together.

  From the very first moment she'd discovered the thing she'd had Zane scour the underground labyrinth for other places, other preservation vats as she called them, where pieces of the same metal could be found. From there it was up to her blacksmith John to connect the pieces.

  Of course, I'll be the one fixing all the internal mechanisms.

  "I still can't believe you're assembling the pieces of it with the help of a blacksmith. The idea of our perfect beauties being constructed from imperfectly forged materials…"

  "Listen, we're working with what we have, okay?" Nix sighed in exasperation as she picked up the massive array of highly technical mechanisms that were a core part of the weapon's functionality.

  "I suppose I can't argue with necessity. I suppose the more pressing question is whether you'll be able to finish all the interior parts in time. I imagine those have degraded far more than the exterior."

  "Once I have the profession it shouldn't be a problem. It'll be a massive headache to balance on top of everything else I have to manage, but with the blueprints you've given me I don't imagine it will take more than five days of continuous effort."

  Lithian sighed, "If only you'd existed a few eons ago, I would have loved to work alongside someone as talented as you."

  Nix smiled at the compliment. She'd been happy to find that the infernari inside this spirit dungeon was far more hospitable than Phil's had been. The trial was only to put together a select few of the weapon's components, but Lithian had been kind enough to give her the blueprints for the rest of the thing.

  "Are you sure it'll be able to break through the system's shield around the overseer's camp?" Nix asked uncertainly. While she now knew how to put the weapon back together, it'd be a lie to say she understood how it worked.

  Lithian just smiled, "We were something of specialists when it came to breaking down and subverting the system, so the level of barrier used in a tutorial shouldn't be any issue."

  Nix's current plan was to assemble an elite squad of Arkania's best and brightest to surgically remove overseers in the field until they decide it's too dangerous for them to remain in the field. Then, once they gathered inside their camp behind the system's wall of safety she'd turn the weapon on them.

  They'd have no idea what happened.

  She placed the component in place and smiled at her work as a system notification popped up.

  Clear – Class E Spirit Dungeon [Mana Technician's Legacy]

  Calculating performance… Done.

  Performance Rating: A

  Contribution: 100%

  Tailoring A-Grade Reward based on Contribution… Done.

  New unique profession available: [Mana Technician]

  Spirit dungeon collapsing in: [2:00]

  "Still, I wonder if your proposed power source will actually work," Lithian mused as the two-minute timer counted down.

  "I'll have to jury-rig it, but I think it'll be a suitable replacement."

  "A piece of the core of a floating island… what I wouldn't have given to obtain such a material for myself. The experiments I could have performed…"

  Suddenly Lithian seemed to remind himself of something and shook himself out of his musing. He turned to her with a more serious expression than he'd worn in the entire brief duration she'd known him.

  "Remember, designate a target and set the thing to auto. Do not attempt to control it manually."

  "Yeah, you've said that before, but you still haven't explained why."

  "I suppose the easiest way to say it is that you'll die. I don't think the system will allow me to be any more specific than that."

  "Hmm. I have a question, before we part forever. You implied before that you remember how your world was destroyed. How could that have happened if you had such powerful weapons to defend yourself? Or was there some sort of conflict from within?"

  "I suppose you could call it a conflict from within, though it was a conflict that was forced upon every single one of us. The system placed something like a bounty upon our glorious king and his knights, and failure to follow through meant our deaths."

  "That's… obscene."

  "Indeed. The common folk were taken by frenzy and the desperation of dying souls. It took a great deal of effort for those of us loyal to the king to hold back the masses, yet we did."

  "Wait, you sat back and let yourself be killed? Couldn't you have just used these things against that king and lived?"

  Lithian smiled sadly, "You could not begin to imagine the principles he and the beautiful world he created stood for. It was a haven for all those persecuted by the system for going against its designs. These weapons were built as one of a series of projects under his order to protect the world from threats that came from infinity. To turn them against such a leader would have been a travesty we could not allow. We accepted our deaths, in hopes that he would live to create another such paradise. It seems it was not to be…"

  Nix didn't have the first clue how to respond to that. She couldn't imagine that level of loyalty, and a part of her hated Lithian for his response.

  Do you think the one who created that paradise was truly happy knowing the ones he'd created it for would die in his name?

  She felt her consciousness whisked away before she had time to think of a response that would not have hurt her friend as much as her thoughts surely would have.

  20 minutes ago - Nix

  Damn it! I should have known that bastard Trey couldn't be trusted! I reach out and attempt to make peace and he goes and declares war on me! Well fine. I was planning on using this against the overseers, but you've forced my hand, you bastard. I'll just have to use you as a demonstration of its power so they don't ever think of messing with me or Arkania ever again!

  Nix had already rallied the hunters of Arkania and had them marching to meet the army that marched from Plaintown less than ten minutes ago. They marched outwards to meet the bastards in the field so they wouldn't be besieged in the walls of Arkania. They didn't have the food supplies to last out such a protracted conflict.

  I put Marcel in charge, but was that really the right call? No, it was the only call. Zane turned traitor and Ivan, along with the rest of his squad, is dead. There are so few people I can trust left to call on…

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  She didn't doubt Marcel's intentions. He was a rough sort, but good a heart. But he wasn't so good at using his head.

  It doesn't matter. All he has to do is make sure not to allow the people of Arkania to get wiped out before I can annihilate Plainstown.

  Ivan and his squad had represented a large part of Arkania's top hunters. Without them, Nix was afraid Plainstown would have the advantage in a straight battle, even with their supposed pacifistic nature.

  No, they may have been pacifists in the beginning, but it was a mistake to keep considering them as such. They're simply fellow initiates, ones with enough of a thirst for blood or power to strike first.

  She rushed down the underground passage that led to the weapon. As soon as it came into sight she felt a vicious grin split across her face. She found the welded iron lever she'd hooked up to the dilapidated entrance above her. It had been another thing for her to fix, but necessary if she wanted to use the weapon at all.

  The earth started shaking as the cavernous ceiling above her started to move. She quickly ducked under the weapon and threw herself into the hatch to escape the falling rocks.

  I do wish we'd had time to construct some sort of umbrella so these boulders didn't come crashing down on my precious relic, but there was no time. I hope the increased armor we strapped around the primary system is enough to protect it.

  However, she was ripped from her thoughts as she found someone entirely unexpected in the cramped compartment. Someone holding a knife to the highly unstable piece of the island's core they'd used as its power source.

  "John… What do you think you're doing?"

  "I told you I wouldn't allow you to use this thing against people, Nix. I helped you build it, which means I'd be responsible for their deaths if I simply allow you to use it to massacre those people."

  "John. They're attacking us. This isn't an act of aggression, it's an act of self-defense."

  "It doesn't matter. A weapon of mass destruction will be a weapon of mass destruction no matter what justifications are used to defend its use!"

  "What do you want then, John? For us to watch as Arkania and Plainstown slaughter each other?"

  John's eyes nervously darted between Nix and the control terminal, "Tell me how to operate this thing and I'll have it give a demonstration of its power without having to aim it at either army. It should be enough of a shock that they stop fighting."

  "By the time I explain how it works dozens or even hundreds will have died fighting."

  John snarled, showing an aggression she'd never seen from the man before, "Then you do it! But if you point this thing anywhere near those two armies then I'd destroy it before it has a chance to kill anyone else."

  Nix raised her hands in a gesture of submission, "Alright, John. Whatever you say."

  A particularly large boulder or perhaps a tree from the surface struck the frame, causing John to lose his balance. Nix reacted faster than he was capable of perceiving as she delivered a swift kick to the man's head, sending him flying backwards into the interior of the frame. She felt a small amount of guilt as she saw the blood leak down his face.

  Sorry, John. But I can't let you stop me. The people of Plainstown are simply too numerous and dangerous to leave alive. If I don't take this chance to annihilate them then there's no telling what Trey and that man in the shadows will get up to.

  She felt the inside of the cockpit shudder as the ancient elevator she'd painstakingly restored started to move upwards.

  Nix moved to the control console and began running the startup sequence. To her joy, it started booting without a flaw.

  She closed her eyes and felt the machine's onboard system connect to her own internal system.

  Error. Foreign influence detected.

  Calculat{q1^3![i2f]

  Forcing override command 00738213

  Connecting… Connection established.

  Opirion unit 89423 linked.

  Nix saw a flow of information pass over her field of view through the system before she was presented with an optical display as well as a request.

  Sync user Map to Opirion map?

  Confirmed. Overriding outdated map… Done.

  Please designate firing coordinates.

  At that moment she got a message request from Marcel.

  [Nix]

  What is it, Marcel?

  [Marcel]

  Nix! The ground's been rumbling like crazy and the overseers just started attacking our flanks!

  [Nix]

  Don't worry about the rumbling, that's my doing. Has the battle already started?

  [Marcel]

  Yes! But we've got enemies on all sides now!

  [Nix]

  Don't worry, I'll only need a few moments more. Open your map and read out your coordinates.

  [Marcel]

  What?

  [Nix]

  Just do it!

  Once she had Marcel's coordinates she closed out of the message window. Just as she was about to enter the coordinates the rumbling of the lift jolted to a stop.

  Scowling, she looked through the optical display. They were only halfway up, but she could tell at a glance the lift wouldn't be moving anymore. Something within the opening skyward doors had given, and they were stuck in place, preventing the lift from rising any further.

  Well, I can hardly expect anything else out of equipment that should by all rights be completely defunct. Time to test this thing's auto mode. Can you get out of this hole on your own?

  She looked back to the target designation window and frowned. Based on where Marcel was located she could roughly assume where the Plainstown army was located as well.

  And if the overseers are making their move right now as well I'd bet they're sowing carnage through both sides of the field. Which means I can take out Plainstown and a good amount of overseers in one fell swoop.

  Nix gave the system a coordinate that was a rather generous approximation, mostly likely a little too far back to hit the main Plainstown army cluster. But it was better to overcompensate and miss Arkania's people completely than undercompensate and wipe both armies out.

  As soon as she entered the target coordinates into the system she heard the noise of several magical gyroscopes whirring to life around her.

  Trey

  Trey sat back within the defensive line, watching people ahead of him throw themselves upon the weapons of their fellow initiates. And all the while he paid attention to the messages that flowed through the system.

  He'd already checked in with Devon and was focused on coordinating efforts between the squad of overseer hunters. The overseers that had tried to flank his war group had met with far greater resistance than they'd anticipated, and almost half of them had already fallen.

  The more concerning thing was the group of overseers who'd somehow completely slipped by the guards he'd left behind at Plainstown. They'd been taken care of in short order by the nearby members of the squad, but not before there had been casualties.

  The rumbling of the earth distracted him from all of that. Many people around him lost their balance completely and fell to one knee to catch themselves. The din of the fighting ahead quieted for a few moments as the frontliners adjusted before they went back to their furious melee.

  What the hell is that?

  From the distance, Trey could see something happening in the forest. The battle was taking place on the plains, as the people of Arkania had all but burst from the trees as the Plainstown battlegroup approached the forest.

  Large amounts of dust were being thrown into the air, so much so that Trey could see it even over the trees. And then something emerged from the depths of the earth to land with a massive crash.

  You've got to be kidding me.

  Vaguely humanoid, a metal machine stood a little taller than the trees of the forest. The torso was easily the largest part of it, and Trey could tell even from a distance that the thing looked like it had been thrown together from scrap.

  That's what Nix had up her sleeve? A fucking mech?

  Arcane energy began gathering at the head of the thing, blue at first but the hue became much more red as it seemed to become condensed.

  It didn't take a genius to figure out that the thing would likely kill them all without them being able to do anything about it.

  He remembered a scrap of text from the partial datalog Devon had shared with him. For some reason, he'd been unwilling to share the entire thing, but Trey was sure he had his reasons.

  'I erected defenses that even A-Grade beings could not breach alone,' was it? Who knew something from that time period actually remained?

  One thing was for certain. There was nothing he could do in the face of such a metal behemoth, especially not at such range.

  All he could do was watch with every other eye on the battlefield as the concentration of mana seemed to reach some kind of criticality point and an unnatural screech filled the air.

  But a moment later something impacted against the side of the mech's head, causing it to swivel to the right.

  A blinding flash emanated from the concentrated mana before a beam of crimson light shot from the thing, shooting in a perfectly straight line over the overseer's camp and into the side of the mountain.

  The entire region around the point of impact was obliterated. Molten rock exploded outward from a crater that must have been at least one mile wide.

  Of course. It's a mech with a giant laser cannon. Just what we needed.

  Nix

  Firing sequence interrupted.

  Anomalous interference detected.

  "Identify the problem!" Nix screamed at the computer, not caring that verbalizing her commands did nothing to add to their effectiveness.

  Scanning… Done.

  Anomalous interference identified.

  Magnifying.

  On the optical display, Nix saw a magnified image of Eve holding her bow, seemingly having just released an arrow.

  You'd screw with me using the equipment I gave to you as a gift? I'll slaughter you, you bitch!

  Approximate mana cannon recharge time: [1:30]

  Switch to manual controls?

  [WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING][WARNING]

  Opirion unit 89423 registers as a Class B weapon. Utilizing Opirion unit 89423 will result in a severe penalty.

  Rage-fueled adrenaline clouded Nix's mind. There was only one thing she could think about or cared to do. She needed to remove any and all threats to the people of Arkania.

  By any means necessary.

  "I hope you're ready, Eve!"

  Understood. Administering penalty… Done.

  Applying 20 Marks of Karmic Disdain… Done.

  You have been deemed a threat to the system and a target for eradication.