Chapter 54: Deleterious Departure

-Liu Ming, CUI Soldier POV-

The watchtower they had erected was a rickety thing, built from wood sourced from the surrounding trees. It was a rushed job, the frenzied nature of the construction ripping up the earth and toppling trees – damage born from the mistakes of soldiers only taught to guard and kill.

Liu Ming had the ‘honour’ of being stationed atop the hastily thrown together mess since it was first built. Every day he would wake up at six and keep watch until two in the afternoon and he still flinched every time the aging wood groaned as it swayed in the breeze.

Today was shaping up to be much like any other day. He had woken up, the crick in his neck still present despite his best efforts, and gotten an unappetising breakfast before climbing atop the watchtower with only a bottle of water and binoculars to keep him company.

He shivered as the cold wind lashed at him, cutting straight through the meagre protection of his uniform and chilling him to his core. He grimaced, his arms wrapping around his torso in an effort to keep warm.

Every few minutes he would take out his binoculars and check to make sure nothing had changed. It never did, the city of traitors and cultists never did. Liu Ming sneered, the thought still causing him no end of anger.

Eris, that new Endbringer, had insulted them like none other. First they release prisoners judged unworthy by the Emperor himself, they then compound that arrogance by building them a fortress by which to further dishonour his country and even set upon them that monster.

He shivers again, and this time it has nothing to do with the cold. Echoes of insane laughter still haunting him, the fires that engulfed Beijing still licker behind his eyes.

Then there was that declaration. Proclaiming that they had ‘lost the Mandate of Heaven’, an outdated concept Liu Ming thought no longer held sway to the leal sons of China. Evidently not the case, or perhaps they were merely donning a mask of piety to benefit, for not long after the obscene announcement multiple rebellions started cropping up.

This weakening of China only invited the serpents sniffing at their borders the opportunity they had been waiting for, just as the Emperor foretold.

Did those fools not realise that by rebelling they only put their country at risk of being divided up?

Well, he had been vindicated in the end. The proof of Jinzhou’s creator being an Endbringer had been fortuitously timed, the loss of momentum from the rebel groups had allowed the proper sons and daughters of this country the chance to regroup. It had allowed them to begin fending off the invaders from the North and South.

Despite the moment to breathe, the rebellions and invasions were still ongoing, the puppets all too eager to play into the scheming monster’s hand.

Liu Ming stewed in his bitterness, idly swigging his bottle of water – lamenting that alcohol was not allowed for such an ‘important duty’, as if the traitors of Jinzhou would invade through this section and not through the teleporters that rumours had claimed them to have.

He sighed, placing his water bottle back down, the uneven wooden floor making it wobble precariously – ensuring he would have to dote on the bottle, ensuring it found the scarce stable ground that was available.

Once that herculean task was complete he rose to his feet, swatting away a few flies that had taken to roosting near him, and taking out his binoculars. The sight was about the same. The same obsidian bulwark stood in defiance of the proper ruler of China, blasphemous sigils carved by an Endbringer were still scrawled across the walls.

Beyond that the same city still stood in stark contrast to the unwelcoming walls intent on keeping them out. For the first few days he had thought, loathe as he was to admit it, that the city of glass and crystal was beautiful, even serene.

He no longer thought that, familiarity breeds resentment and he had been staring at that fucking city for far too long. He had counted every window on every damned building that he could see, and then did it again when the near suicidal amount of boredom had really kicked in.

Still the same fucking trees, he didn’t think they had even grown an inch – what sort of rubbish trees didn’t grow?

Still the same…eerily…growing…black crack?

What?

He blinked, taking his eyes away to rub the sleep out, and looked again. No, it was still there and seemed to be getting bigger by the second – the void staring back at him making the blackest of nights seem full of light.

He scrambled, searching for his radio. He swore quietly, mind racing as to where it had gone.

‘This was why you don’t grow complacent! Foolish Liu Ming, your family will be strung up if you don’t find that blasted – there!

His grasping fingers, buried deep in one of the many discarded bags present in the watchtower, finally found the radio.

His pressed down on the button that would transmit his message “I’ve see-“

Then, with a terrifying crack – the sound piercing into his deepest subconscious, telling him that something very wrong had just happened- he was interrupted. He turned, the speed at which he did so almost throwing him from his feet.

The city’s walls were flickering, the green light from the many symbols placed on that horrible wall shimmered like a heat haze. The air seemed to roil and bend, as if it had a mind of its own.

Liu Ming’s eyes bulged in his sockets and his mouth hung open. His head pounded as the city seemed to take on properties that made his mind scream at the impossibilities of their geometry.

But what was by far the worst was something he could barely make out, just passed the cities edge. With his watering eyes he could just barely see something…

He couldn’t find the words, he only knew the sight made him sick to his stomach.

He could hear the sound of yells below, panicked screams and the barking of orders, but he gave them none of the attention they deserved – eyes still locked onto the impossible sight before him.

With a suddenness that defied belief, the city snapped back into focus – somehow seeming clearer and closer than it had before.

Yet that wasn’t all that had been made clear, because now – just a few dozen metres away from the camp were two enormous monsters biting and tearing at one another.

One was long and slender, serpentine in form and by far the most wounded. Blood dripped from every surface, muscles hung loose and swayed in the wind. The metal and circuitry Liu Ming could just barely see was cracked and sparking, yet the robotic snake fought as if none of that encumbered it.

The other was tall and skeletal, a once white frame blackened by what appeared to be countless blows. Yet, unlike the other it was whole and presented a far more horrifying visage. The soldier shivered as the skull- like face leered with murderous intent, all while it flickered across the form it’s opponent – tearing out chunks of metal with each swipe.

The screams below gave way to disciplined shouts and the sound the rolling wheels and marching feet. He looked down and saw his fellow men setting up positions, manning the artillery and doing whatever they could in case the two titans turned their fury upon them.

One of the monsters, the metal serpent, jerked in place – head turning to face Jinzhou, ignoring the strikes its enemy landed while its attention was diverted.

Then, with a final flare, the serpent turned and began slithering away – somehow moving through the air as easily as it had on the ground.

The pale titan stopped in place for a moment, perhaps shocked that it’s opponent had shamelessly ran? If so, the shock only lasted for a few seconds.

When it next swung it’s arms, waves of darkness leaped out and crashed against the fleeing form of the metallic reptile. The blackness cut into the construct, violent sparks leaping from where it was struck – yet the being didn’t flinch or look back.

Once the wriggling form crossed a certain distance the tall spectre of death ceased it’s attacks, seemingly content that it had sent its enemy running scared.

Then, with bone chilling smoothness, it’s head turned to look at them.

He felt himself freeze in place, the hand that had been reaching for a gun abruptly halting. Liu Ming gulped, feeling a cold sweat begin to make its way down his back.

The being didn’t move, its’s pallid figure draped in dying sunlight made for an eerie figure. The stillness, the inhuman proportions and insane power all told him that whatever this thing was it couldn’t be human.

Was it a creation of the Endbringer? Surely it had to be, right?! Because the alternative didn’t bear thinking about.

The silence was shattered with the sound of a sharp bang, and the sight of a bullet fragmenting on impact with the slender thing before them.

Liu Ming, and what seemed like the rest of the army, turned to look at the one responsible. It was a boy, barely out of training by the looks of it, he was white faced and trembling – and Liu Ming realised with horror that the young soldier probably hadn’t even meant to fire the gun, his nerves simply getting the best of him.

The tall figure, for its part, simply looked down at the place the bullet had impacted it – with what seemed like an air of faint humour – before turning back to them.

There was silence for a brief moment.

Then the carnage began.

-NOMAD POV-

5 standard earth seconds had elapsed since it engaged the host species. All had been rendered non-functional.

Spatial rends had been deployed liberally, the gathering sight of the non-hosts had been split by regions of still-space fields. After the glut of data the last three opponents had provided it had been hopeful the non-hosts of a clear soldier caste would prove just as informative.

This was not the case, the chemical propellant weaponry they deployed was nothing special – and indeed that was all they had.

Perhaps it should return to the host hive it had previously occupied?

It’s sensors, now completely unencumbered by the spatial barrier, passively logged the city within its databases – and observing it in real time.

The three anomalies it had encountered were far from the only ones, there were more. Twelve in total.

Yet, it seemed it was not to be. Spatial fluctuations had begun appearing in the higher dimensions that mapped to the host hive. Signatures consistent to a large scale act of teleportation was present, even if the source was unrecognisable.

Usually this would only be more reason to investigate, NOMAD was a Shard that studied space after all. However, this unknown phenomena mixed with the passage to Shardspace already present within the city elevated the risk level beyond acceptable parameters.

So, as quantum fluctuations became more and more rampant, and the host hive became more and more of a ‘maybe’ instead of hard fact – the Shard turned all sensors to maximum. Cycles worth of energy drained away in seconds, but like this they could observe every quark and every iota of space-time eddies.

The dwelling of metals and glass vanished, the vacuum left in it’s wake drew the surrounding air in with a resounding crack. Trees were ripped from their soil and sent hurtling towards the sudden hole in the world, the bodies of the non-hosts it had dispatched were yanked upwards violently – exploding in a squall of gore from the sheer pressure exerted on their frail forms.

All the while the Shard watched on, their form on that plane anchored down using science the host species couldn’t fathom.

Anomalous Energy Registered.

NOMAD felt a burst of glee, a novel form of data! The energy observed was highly chameleonic, only observable through the effects it had on other particles. Those effects were near random, the sheer chaos they caused to the subatomic world was unlike anything it had observed before.

However, the area of observation had included quadrillions of such interactions, it would take many cycles to sort through such a detailed simulation – but NOMAD was sure bountiful data would be procured from such work.

Truly, this was a fantastic deployment – despite the oddities.

Still, where to go next? Their host was refusing to interact, for whatever reason, and NOMAD’s understanding of human sensibilities was too low to understand how this might have come about.

NOMAD pondered on this conundrum for quite a while, before past data made the answer obvious. She was clearly feeling ‘sadness’ from being away from her domicile. Their Mary placed quite a high mental value on her peers and the domesticated lower lifeform (colloquially named her ‘pet cat Steve’) that ate her food.

Humans sure could be silly.

Their destination was decided then, Boston.

They detected a flood of simulated chemical and hormone responses from their Mary at their decision, so she was listening! She must be so happy to be leaving this awful place!

Space bent and twisted, contracting around them an flinging them halfway around the globe.

Sure enough, the chemical responses only grew in intensity the closer they got. That was good, NOMAD did enjoy making their Mary happy.

AN: UGH. Not too pleased with this. I planned on making this chapter several hundred words longer. Then I got dragged out today to look at a broaches collection. It made my mum happy, but it also ate up a lot of time. We were supposed to get the first part of Alexander’s plans for the South Pole! UGH!

So yeah, show of hands, who forgot the emergency teleport that Alexander built into the city? A rare sign of forward thinking from our protagonist! RIP those CUI bozo’s tho.

In worse news, NOMAD got a decent look at magic. It’s a long way off actually understanding and using it, since the current state of the cycle isn’t conductive to studying an OCP at the moment, but still not a good thing.

NOMAD and Mary’s relationship continues to be very toxic, and is even more toxic than can be shown here – because I ran out of time. Let’s just say there’s one last part of their dynamic that would make many people wince in pain.

Thanks for reading, please leave a comment below!