[The Southern Continent]
"Oi! Hold your ground!" A very rough and loud voice echoed throughout the extremely noisy battlefield.
Mecha tanks and golems ran through the battlefield, fighting violently with the invading Nether Beasts. Missiles and various bombs were used in this Magical and Technological warfare.
This was Dwarven Territory, and the huge walls that protected their city could not be allowed to fall. Every Dwarf donned their armour and used their respective tank armours or vehicles to fight off their invaders.
The problem now was that their Aether had run out, so they were currently at a disadvantage. Still, they were determined to slow down the advance of the enemy—even for one more second.
The Nether Beasts were especially ferocious, while the surviving Corrupteds attacked from behind the wave of monsters that threatened their lives. A good number of dwarves were still alive, thankfully. Due to their reliance on their Golems and tools, most didn't have direct contact with the Nether Beasts.
Unfortunately, those who piloted their Magic Golems manually had to be in the crosshairs, and they had already lost a good number of them. Still, the struggle continued.
"WE'RE NOT FIGHTING IN VAIN! BUY MORE TIME!" The thunderous voice of the Dwarven Chief motivated his people to go on.
That's right, the Dwarves were fighting a meaningful battle. Yes, they had run out of the only thing that could beat these creatures, but they were currently working on making more.
"How much longer, Asa?!" The Chief's thunderous voice echoed.
"Just a little more time…" The response came from a child.
No one could see the child, nor did they sense the presence of anyone like that. It was most probably due to his special ability which allowed him to become one with nature. Still, what would explain the Chief's reliance on Asa for Aether?
Well, that was quite straightforward.
Asa had an Arcana [The Magician], which poured out seemingly unlimited Mana. Thanks to the technology developed by the Fairies, they could transform Mana into Aether. And as a result, they were waiting for Asa to refill their blasters and weapons so they could once again fight the enemies.
But the process of turning Mana into Aether took time, and they also had to fill up each individual's weapon. At this rate, things were going to get pretty bad before it was complete.
Still, the Dwarves held their ground.
Beyond the walls were their families—everyone and everything that mattered to them. They were willing to fight till their last breath, and some did so.
'C'mon, Asa!' A certain red-haired man grunted as he piloted his giant Golem from within it. This was a courtesy gift from Jared, who called it Hugo.
Not only was it massive, but it had many controls and functions that rendered it extremely powerful. Unfortunately, without Mana, these abilities would not affect their enemies. Still, by using Hugo's bulky size, this man was able to hold the enemies off.
He was Maro—and he served as the major support for the Dwarves, along with the many Golems and Automatons around.
They were on the verge of winning. They just needed more Aether.
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'Come on, Asa!' The blue-coloured Beast folk growled as he directed his concentrated Mana Blast towards the device in front of him.
The device seemed like a very complicated contraption—having a large bowl-like container, with a pipe that Asa had to keep pouring Mana into. The container processed the Mana and turned it into Aether, releasing the final product from the other end, through yet another pipe.
Asa's duty wasn't very difficult, but he had to be careful with the output of his Mana. Too much would overwork the device. Besides, there was only so much Mana he could control at the same time.
Normally, the enemy would have detected activity of such a scale, but Asa was currently using his special ability—not only on himself, but also on the entire contraption.
'Almost there!' A strained smile formed on his face.
Once he was done, it would be time for a turnaround in the battle. Everyone was being pushed back, exhausted and dying. It was up to him to bring them back to their feet.
'The issue is, after it's done, what next?'
Sure, he would have the help of mechanisms and golems, but he would need to distribute the Aether. That would take more time.
'Damnit…'
In the end, they still needed more time. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like that was something they could afford at the moment,
'Don't worry about that! Just do your be—'
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!<
A loud eruption echoed across the area, causing even Asa to lose his balance—further distracting his focus from the mission he was given.
At this point, however, the mission was hardly on Asa's mind. After all…
"W-what in the—?!"
Right at the center of the battlefield was a Nether Beast different from the others around it.
It was massive, about the size of Hugo, with several heads, eyes, and multiple tails. It had the appearance of a black dragon, but its numerous eyes made the monster more repulsive than usual.
It had slimy drool dripping from its mouth, and emerging from its body were several spikes. This enormous monster was so intimidating that Asa found himself trembling in fear. His Nether was too much for even he to resist.
And he was not the only one.
The Dwarves were all paralyzed due to the overwhelming surge of this Nether Beast's Nether. Unknown to Asa, while he had been so focused on his mission, several Nether Beasts had gathered to form this monstrosity
Its invincible form easily took Hugo down, sending a couple of tails towards it and crushing it to pieces.
The components of Hugo instantly turned black, and soon after faded away. The Nether Beast had made it nonexistent… and it was just getting started.
"ROOOOOAAAARRRHHHHH!!!"
The paralyzed Dwarves expected this to be the end at this point. Even Asa was too scared to focus, thus turning his entire body visible. He could hardly see with his blurry vision, but he was able to witness Maro's escape from Hugo before it completely got destroyed.
Still, what of it?
The great Nether Beast could not detect Asa, as well as the contraption. It even stared in his direction, grinning evilly as its menacing glare told the kid he was not going to survive.
>RUMBLE!<
>RUMBLE!!<
>RUMBLE!!!<
It approached slowly, killing the stationary Dwarves in its way. The very few Nether Beasts who were left stood behind their champion, and they proceeded to take the lives of everyone present.
Asa, utterly powerless as he watched all of this, could do nothing but mumble unintelligible words. Wide-eyed and deep in despair, he saw the monster draw closer and closer.
"U-uh…"
He felt like breaking down. It felt like he was being crushed by boulders—like he was being stabbed by millions of needles. Simply maintaining eye contact with this terrifying Nether Beast and watching as it eliminated all of the Dwarves in its path… Asa could only think of one thing at that moment.
'F-father…' Tears flowed down his face as he completed his thought.
'Father… save me… please…'
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[A/N]
New book release announcement!!!
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