"Huff... Huff..."
Thalia’s chest rose heavily as the inferno pouring from her mouth finally ceased. The blazing stream of phoenix fire faded into smoke and molten embers, leaving behind scorched metallic corpses twisted beyond recognition.
Steel dripped across the shattered ground like burning wax. Entire armoured bodies had melted together into grotesque lumps of glowing alloy, sparks still crackling from exposed inner circuits.
The smell of burnt metal mixed with roasted flesh spread through the battlefield.
Whatever remained inside those suits no longer resembled living beings.
Golden-red flames reflected within Thalia’s narrowed crimson eyes while smoke escaped slowly from between her fangs.
Her gaze swept across the ruins before settling on the surviving soldiers of the Aurora Empire. Most stood covered in blood and soot, weapons trembling slightly from exhaustion, yet not a single one lowered their guard.
Thalia turned fully toward them.
"How many?"
One of the soldiers immediately stepped forward despite the blood pouring from the side of his helmet. He knelt with a fist against his chest.
"General... enemies eliminated."
His breathing shook for a second before continuing.
"No casualties among our forces. Four were heavily injured. Two lost limbs."
Thalia stared silently for a moment before giving a slow nod. Satisfaction flickered across her face.
"Good."
Behind her, burning wreckage collapsed with a metallic shriek. One of the destroyed machines suddenly twitched. Its half-melted arm jerked violently, sparks exploding from the elbow joint before its head rotated with horrifying mechanical clicks.
Several soldiers instantly raised their weapons.
But before the machine could fully rise, Thalia casually stepped forward and slammed her foot downward.
BOOM!!
The ground cracked beneath her heel as the machine’s head exploded into burning fragments.
Just as everyone thought it was over... they won the second wave of war.
Then... space distorted.
A low humming vibration spread across the battlefield. The air itself folded unnaturally as dozens... then hundreds of portals began opening across the barrier borders.
Blue light spilled from the portals like liquid electricity. Mechanical footsteps echoed from within the distortions.
CLANK.
CLANK.
CLANK.
The first figure emerged.
Its visor glowed with a cold white line while steam hissed from the gaps in its armour plating.
Then another stepped out beside it.
This one carried four mechanical arms rotating independently around its spine, each arm equipped with different weapons.
Then another and another!
Coming one after another.
Above them, flying units descended from the portals with turbine-like wings rotating behind their backs, stabilisers adjusting constantly to maintain perfect aerial balance.
Tentacle-shaped appendages extended from several units, twitching mechanically as scanning beams swept across the battlefield.
The entire army moved with terrifying synchronisation.
Yet the Aurora soldiers stood their ground.
Some trembled.
Not from fear.
From anticipation.
Thalia slowly smiled.
A dangerous smile.
"So..."
Flames flickered around her teeth.
"You finally stopped sending scraps."
One of the massive machines suddenly stepped forward. Its visor pulsed once before a distorted mechanical voice echoed from within.
[IDENTIFY TARGET: THALIA CRIMSONCLAW]
[THREAT LEVEL: A CLASS.]
The moment the machine finished speaking, dozens of weapons instantly unfolded from the enemy ranks with violent metallic transformations. Cannons rotated into place. Energy blades extended from wrists. Shoulder compartments opened with sharp hydraulic snaps.
The battlefield instantly became a loaded weapon.
Then a voice echoed behind Thalia.
"Trying to start without us?"
Thalia glanced back.
Two figures approached through the smoke.
Aria.
Helena.
Helena moved immediately toward the wounded soldiers, kneeling beside one whose arm had nearly been severed. Healing them using Origin Crystals.
Meanwhile, Aria stopped beside Thalia.
Silver hair flowed behind her while a faint wheel hummed in her compact bow in her hand. Her eyes locked onto the enemy army ahead without blinking once.
"Shall we?" Thalia asked.
Aria nodded and knocked an arrow from the quiver.
Thin silver wires wrapped around the shaft while glowing crystals pulsed near its tip like a beating heart.
She aimed upward.
The sky had only begun turning grey with dawn, dark clouds still hanging over the battlefield like an ocean of ash.
Then Aria fired.
The arrow shot into the heavens like lightning itself, blue sparks spiralling violently behind it.
For a single second... silence consumed everything.
Metallic Armies frowned as they backed for a second wondered they were going to be destroyed like before.
Then the sky exploded.
BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!
A massive circular shockwave erupted high above the battlefield, spreading across the dark clouds in glowing blue rings. The entire sky was illuminated like a giant pulse beacon visible across the Empire.
Far away, inside the Pyra Empire’s central control chamber, alarms instantly activated.
Lyirrs’ eyes widened as dozens of monitors flickered simultaneously.
"There it is..."
She immediately slammed her hand against the console.
"Sector Five confirmed! Begin First Wave deployment immediately!"
Mechanical locks disengaged throughout multiple launch stations across the Aurora Empire.
Outside... the sky moved.
Hundreds of dragons stationed high above the clouds instantly roared and accelerated forward. Massive wings tore through the air with explosive force while armoured harnesses covering their bodies glowed with activation sigils.
But those were only the nearest ones.
Across the Empire itself, thousands more dragons began moving.
Entire squadrons shifted formation simultaneously toward Sector Five like living missiles crossing the heavens.
The air thundered beneath countless wings.
Back on the battlefield, the enemy machines suddenly paused.
Their visors tilted upward.
The sound came first.
A distant roar.
Then another.
Then hundreds more.
The clouds above split apart violently.
Dragons descended from the heavens at terrifying speed, their armoured bodies slicing through the dawn sky like falling meteors. Heat trails followed behind them while chains rattled beneath their claws.
And attached to those chains...
Were cages?
Massive black cages chained together with thick reinforced alloy links swung beneath the dragons as they tore across the sky. The chains clanged violently against one another, sparks occasionally bursting from the friction while the sheer weight distorted the air beneath them.
One cage suddenly bent outward from the inside as an enormous claw slammed against the bars with enough force to shake the dragon carrying it.
Another cage emitted glowing red eyes from the darkness within.
Then came the roar.
The metallic army froze for 0.7 seconds.
A calculation.
Threat level rising.
Each dragon carried not just one cage... but dozens.
From below, it almost looked like thousands of cages were descending from the heavens.
The metallic army paused for a fraction of a second.
Their glowing visors tracked the incoming dragons while countless calculations ran behind those emotionless mechanical eyes.
For a brief moment, confusion spread through their synchronised network. They could not understand what these "inferior organic beings" were attempting to achieve.
But very soon... they received the answer.
And it came violently.
BOOOOOOMMMM!!!
A deafening blast split through the battlefield before the machines could properly reposition themselves. Something massive shot across the air with terrifying velocity, tearing through the sky like artillery launched from a god’s weapon.
A gigantic sphere of ice, nearly the size of a carriage slammed directly into the centre of the metallic army.
CRAAAASHHH!!!
The impact shattered the ground apart. Frost exploded outward in every direction, freezing dirt, steel, and debris instantly beneath expanding layers of crystal ice. Several machines lost balance as shockwaves ripped beneath their feet.
Then the ice shell burst open.
SPLAAAASHHHH~
Thick crimson liquid erupted across the battlefield.
Blood.
Rotting flesh.
Chunks of monster meat.
The disgusting mixture splattered across at least 80 or 100 metallic figures, coating their black armour in steaming gore. Flesh slid down their bodies while dark blood dripped from their weapons and visors.
Far away, near the centre of the Empire...
A colossal cannon stood atop an enormous circular platform engraved with rotating magical circuits. The structure constantly shifted and rotated with mechanical precision, allowing the cannon to aim in any direction across the Empire.
The barrel itself still smoked from the previous launch.
Several High Priests moved around the gigantic weapon.
Inside the transparent ice... flesh floated slowly.
Blood churned like liquid poison.
Monster organs twitched within the frozen shell.
One of the High Priests raised a pair of binoculars while shouting toward the others.
"Load the next ice shell immediately!"
And on the battlefield...
THUUUUDDD!!!
The cages finally landed.
The impact shook the plains violently. Dust clouds exploded upward while gigantic cracks spread beneath the cages from the sheer force of the fall. Chains rattled endlessly as dragons released their cargo before soaring back into the sky.
Inside the cages, the monsters slammed furiously against the bars.
None of them had been injured.
Only angered.
Starved.
Enraged beyond reason after being imprisoned for so long.
Some creatures clawed at the reinforced alloy hard enough to bend the metal slightly. Others snarled while thick saliva dripped from their jaws. Several beasts repeatedly smashed themselves against the cage walls like rabid predators desperate to tear something apart.
Then came the sound.
Creeeakkkkk...
Every lock across the battlefield shifted simultaneously.
Near the cage doors, the glowing indicator crystals changed from red... to green.
Inside the Empire’s control room, Lyirrs’ fingers moved rapidly across countless floating screens. Her cold eyes reflected hundreds of unlocking signals.
"All cages unlocked," she muttered calmly.
SPRANGGG!!!
The cage doors burst open simultaneously.
Silence lasted less than a second.
Then chaos erupted.
GGRRRRRRLLLLL~!!!
KKKYYYRRRRRRR~!!!
SKRREEEEEEEECHHHH!!!
Monsters slowly stepped out from the darkness of their cages one by one.
Gigantic wolf-like creatures covered in black scales.
Multi-limbed abominations dragging clawed appendages across the ground.
Massive reptilian beasts whose breaths leaked poisonous smoke.
Some walked on four legs. Some crawled unnaturally. Some moved with horrifying intelligence in their glowing eyes.
Then all of them stopped.
Their noses twitched.
Their pupils narrowed instantly.
They smelled it.
Blood?
Fresh flesh?
A feast!!!
The metallic figures coated in monster gore instantly became targets.
"RRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!"
The battlefield exploded into movement.
Thousands of monsters charged forward simultaneously.
The earth shook beneath the stampede. Dirt erupted beneath claws and massive limbs while monstrous roars drowned the sound of the battlefield itself.
Some leapt dozens of meters in a single bound, while others smashed through wreckage without slowing down.
The mechanical army immediately reacted.
Weapons transformed instantly.
Rotating cannons unfolded from shoulders. Energy blades ignited from wrists. Targeting systems flashed violently across their visors.
[MULTIPLE HOSTILES DETECTED.]
[COMMENCING EXTERMINATION.]