Desolatia Primena, a heavily-fortified world designed to fight against the diseases that gnawed the galaxy. A world full of warriors with all of their skills and efforts put into one thing and one thing only—killing demons.
For decades, they fought against countless demon onslaught, defeating the force of darkness over and over again without end. To be a man or woman on this planet one must be prepared to lose their life and the life of their family members.
With death at the door, the people train their body and mind beyond what could even be imagined to be possible and they reproduced like rabbits, producing endless supply of relentless warriors, scientists, and craftsman that was ready to die to defend the Imperium.
Currently, the planet was sieged by the demonic forces with greater forces than ever before. Three battleships were deployed just to take this one planet alone.
For a comparison, one battleship could already decide the fate of the entire star system for its almost absolute aerial supremacy.
Sending one was already too much, sending three was beyond than pushing it.
Yet, despite that, humanities prevailed and kept on thousands of aircrafts in the air as the guardsmen roared and fought against the demons on land.
Every second, hundreds of aircraft exploded as high-frequency laser beams tore them apart.
Anti-aircrafts gunnery roared nonstop on land, firing numerous shells into the sky to support their allies, but their projectiles did nothing but tickle the thick armor of the battle-type cruiser spaceship.
Salamander knew the exact number of casualties on his screen, and every time he looked at it, his chest hurt. So with a heavy heart, he deactivated the live statistics and get on to work.
Salamander's mechanical arms shifted into a pair of powerful digging tools, resembling giant drills. The ground beneath them trembled as he activated the machinery, and they began to descend into the earth, leaving a tunnel in their wake.
Cleome jumped on top of Salamander. Her eyes shone and hands crackled. She slammed her hands on his mechanical armor and send electricity running through it.
Like an angered bull, Salamander wreck havoc on the ground, digging faster and sending rocks into the air.
Cleome pushed one of her palm into the sky, pushing all the debris out of the hole with her lightning as they went deeper into the ground.
After ten minutes, they entered a tunnel.
Salamander checked his readings and said: "Follow me."
The passage was dark, and the air was thick with the scent of damp soil. Aldred, Cleome, and Shinari followed closely behind Salamander as they descended deeper into the underground labyrinth.
As they delved further, the walls of the tunnel seemed to close in around them, and the earth became more compact. The tunnel descended at a steep angle, making it increasingly challenging to maintain their footing.
"Are we going the right way?" Aldred asked.
"Hush," Salamander whispered.
Cleome generated a soft, pale light around her, illuminating their path. The eerie glow cast eerie shadows on the walls, creating an otherworldly atmosphere.
The light however woke up a sleeping demon. It abruptly opened its eyes and pounced at them. Salamander quickly slammed the demon's head to the wall.
"Turn that off. We're going dark," Salamander said as his mechanical helmet activated dark vision.
Aldred had no problem seeing in the dark and so did Shinari. Cleome began to release small amount of electric currents in the air to 'feel' the environments around her. Like a bat which used sound waves to determine their location.
Aldred couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. The battle against the mutated demonic spawn had left them physically and mentally drained, and now they were plunging into the unknown depths of the earth to confront a powerful foe.
He actually did not feel tired at all. In fact, his physical body seemed to be a lot stronger now as if his true power became more available with every challenges he faced on this planet.
Salamander's mechanical arms made short work of the dirt and rock, and they continued to descend deeper into the earth. The tunnel seemed to stretch on indefinitely, and they couldn't help but wonder what lay ahead.
Their journey was a silent one, each member of the group lost in their thoughts. The weight of their mission and the looming confrontation with Azrakar hung heavily in the air. They had come so far, faced unimaginable challenges, and yet, the ultimate test still awaited them.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the tunnel opened up into a vast underground chamber. The sight that greeted them was nothing short of astonishing.
They stood on a rocky precipice overlooking a massive cavern. Below them, a sprawling city of darkness stretched out as far as the eye could see. Twisted spires and ominous structures rose from the shadowy depths, giving the underground city an eerie and malevolent appearance.
Cleome's pale light revealed the grotesque architecture of the place, and they could see that it was inhabited by demons of all shapes and sizes. It was a nightmarish metropolis that seemed to pulse with dark energy.
There were succubus-like demons with a whip of thorns striking on the pitifully chained humans as they were dragged to some kind of dungeons.
Although they looked like succubus, their faces weren't beautiful at all. The shape of their bodies might be enticing, but their thorny tongue, red skin, and black arrow-pointed tail made them a nightmarish sight.
Aldred looked to the side and saw humans literally nailed on a dark-steel cross, then they chanted some kinds of spells as if doing a ritual.
Salamander's mechanical sensors went into overdrive as he scanned the area. "This is it. Azrakar's domain."
Aldred tightened his grip on his crimson-dark sword. "Are we going in?"
"We need to form a plan," Salamander begin. "Going in blindly is not a wise idea. Do you guys have any idea?"
"I can scout the place alone first," Shinari suggested. "With my skills, I should be able to sneak in and out easily."
"That's too much guesswork. Never underestimate the enemies," Salamander said. "We don't know what they are capable of."
"What is our primary objective?" Aldred asked. "Is it defeating Azrakar or helping our allies? From what I can see, those rituals they were doing by using human sacrifices were the source of their power. I can feel their dark energy strengthened the demons."
"Are you saying we should prioritize destroying those dark-steel crosses instead?" Salamander asked.
Aldred nodded.
"But that is almost an impossible task. Trying to destroy one will bring the entire demon in this cave to go after us. We need some sort of distractions and chaos, but we don't have enough manpower for that."
Aldred smiled before he flicked his fingers.
And then to their shock, another Aldred materialized out of thin air.
"Doppleganger!" Shinari was wide-eyes in shock. "I heard only special supers could do something like that."
However, the second Aldred smiled, and then a third Aldred appeared.
"Two clones?!" Shinari was yet shocked again.
Aldred laughed. "I am sure now we have enough manpower to create chaos."
