Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

As the pawns of the Noble families performed their profane ritual, a spatial tear larger than anything Vahn had ever seen began to form in the sky. It was almost as if the heavens themselves were being twisted as a phenomenal amount of mana began to spread through the atmosphere. The previously darkened sky began to illuminate with a violet hue and, while magical phenomena were generally not visible to normal humans, the world itself trembled in anticipation of the creature bound on the other side of the spatial tear.Vahn, seeing this phenomenon, felt an overwhelming sense of awe but, at the same time, he felt a familiarity with the unseen entity. It was as if he had known the so-called God of Calamity for a very long period of time thus, while normal humans were brought to their knees by the figure descending from the spatial tear, Vahn teleported directly in front of it.Originally, Vahn had intended to allow the Noble families to dig themselves even deeper into a hole as the more destruction they caused, the smoother the coming transition would be. If the people of the world saw the Empire defeat some monstrous entity to protect them, they would be a lot more accepting of the changes to come.Now, however, Vahn's mind had been changed in an instant and, rather than fury, he felt jubilation as a smile spread across his face. At the same time, a woman approximately 160cm in height, bound by black-gold chains stared back at him. She had a shapely hourglass figure but what stood out the most was her hair, eyes, ears, and the two massive horns protruding from the sides of her head.Unlike a normal person's hair, the bound woman's seemed to be a composite of the finest silk and the very concept of the sea. It had a distinctly aqua-infused luster that started off as pristine and clear blue near her scalp while, extending well beyond her feet, it became gradually darker, much like descending into the abyss of the ocean. It flowed around her body with a natural grace, sometimes moving through itself as if the physical aspects of her hair only mattered when she wanted it to.Vahn was quite taken with the woman's peculiar hair but his eyes were drawn to the glowing pink irises the woman possessed. If he looked closely, it was like an entire cosmos was contained within while, at the very center, an exploding supernova flickered where a pupil ought to be. Even when her hair flowed across her face, the woman's eyes were still visible, staring back at him unblinkingly. This, combined with her elven ears and her massive curved horns, creating two arcs that reached passed her waist, gave the woman a distinctly exotic and mesmerizing appearance.While others might be afraid of the woman, Vahn floated gradually closer, the same smile on his face until he was only a few centimeters away. The woman followed his approach with her eyes but, even when Vahn extended his hand out to touch the golden chains wrapping her arms, she showed no signs of hostility. This caused the Magi who had summoned the women to feel extremely alarmed as the 'God of Calamity' was supposed to have the strongest desire to destroy humanity. They couldn't understand why she just stood in the air and allowed Vahn to approach her but, seeing it happen in real-time made them realize they had messed with something beyond their understanding.With his full focus on the ethereal woman in front of him, Vahn ultimately retracted his hand as there wasn't much he could do about the chains right now. They were on a similar level, if not higher, than [Enkidu]. Even this, however, wasn't enough to keep the woman's power at bay as she was a Tier 5 being, something he couldn't have possibly hoped to face using his own power. Fortunately, at least for the Empire, his enemies had a gross misunderstanding of the entity they had summoned.Though it wasn't inaccurate to say that the entity before him wanted nothing more than to destroy humanity, this was merely the echo of its self-preservation instinct, something it had inherited from it's original. It wasn't that the entity hated humanity but, fearing its own death at their hands, wanted nothing more than to destroy them. After all, since the advent of the first sapient humans, they had been destroying her body, consuming her resources, and corrupting her very ego...Understanding the true nature of the entity before him, Vahn smiled affectionately as he whispered in a soft tone, "Gaia...".Without outright refuting his claim, Alaya detached herself from Vahn's shoulder, remarking, "This is Tiamat, Gaia's empty vessel and one of the principal Beasts of Gaia alongside Cath Palug. What you see before you is only a manifestation of her true body, however, as her true form would endanger the Surface just by its presence alone. Even in a sealed state, she is very dangerous but, with your designation as Type: Omega, there isn't any risk she would run wild."Hearing Alaya mention the name Tiamat, Vahn's eye twitched against his will and, with the curiosity of a newborn, Tiamat tilted her head slightly while staring back at him. He wasn't sure how she could move around so easily with such massive horns but, considering she was a Tier 5 entity, it was likely they didn't inconvenience her in the slightest...With his plans suddenly changed, Vahn turned to Alaya and asked, "Would it be possible to contact Gaia through Tiamat? I would feel guilty if she remained in this state..."The current Tiamat was much like a Companion in the fact that it had the potential to obtain an ego but, at the present moment, it existed only to fulfill an objective. Originally, this was the destruction of humanity and the protection of the planet but, after Vahn appeared, Tiamat now patiently awaited his instructions. She was a weapon that even eclipsed ORT in strength as, unless the planet itself was destroyed, she would continue to exist in one form or another.Shaking her head, Alaya explained, "A long time ago, Gaia's spiritual manifestation was split from her physical vessel. Tiamat is the fragment that was left behind and, in their greed, early gods used the power given to them by the beliefs of humans to turn against Tiamat. They split her into two halves, using one to serve as the foundation for the World of Man while the other was consumed by the first gods so that they could acquire the blessing of fertility. Prior to the consumption of Tiamat's flesh, it was impossible for the gods to procreate amongst themselves."Vahn was a little surprised by how much information Alaya was providing as she would sometimes go weeks, or even months, without saying a word. He reasoned that it was due to the fact that this situation directly related to her as, if he wasn't wrong, Alaya came into existence shortly after Gaia was split from Tiamat. He knew a little bit about the mythos related to the ancient Mesopotamian Goddess so it was obvious that, in the beginning, Gaia deeply cared about humans under the guise of Tiamat.It was only after her own children betrayed her that her love was twisted into hatred. Even then, she couldn't completely distance herself from her past feelings so, as a result, Alaya came into existence. Since then, Gaia had hidden away in the planet's core while her former vessel, Tiamat, was used to lay the foundation for the Surface itself. Her body made the land fertile and allowed for the gods to split and form the various pantheons around the world, each benefitting from that initial betrayal against an entity that loved them unconditionally.Even Vahn didn't understand how he knew this information so intimately but, after meditating in front of CHALDEAS and meeting Tiamat in person, he was beginning to realize that the feeling he had been plagued by was empathy. He could feel Gaia's loneliness and fear, the fear that the very children she had cared for so deeply would continue to violate her body until nothing remained but a lifeless husk. She was much like the past him, in a way, as she was the victim of an experiment that left her with no means to protect herself, a prisoner in her own body as external forces acted upon her with impunity...Though he didn't voice his thoughts, Vahn became even more determined than ever to help Alaya, Gaia, and all entities within the Root System, break free from its control. He understood the purpose of the Root System but, knowing a functionally infinite number of beings such as Gaia were made to suffer as a result, he couldn't help but want to destroy it. To be forced to live an infinite number of lives where your only purpose is to suffer while ignorant beings consumed your very essence wasn't something he could tolerate...not in the slightest...----------------------------------------------------------//Main Quest Chain Triggered//[Main Quest: Path of the Liberator I]Rank: ZenithObjective: Ascend to Tier 5, Break free from the restraints of the Root System: Akasha (0/1), Negotiate with or Destroy Termina Nasu (0/1)Optional Objectives: Destroy or reprogram other Root Systems (-)Rewards: 1,000,000,000,000OP, 1x[Record Breaker], 1x[Page of the Akashic Tome]Failure Conditions: Forfeiture of the Main Quest ChainPenalty: Expulsion from the Record, Root System: Akasha terminated----------------------------------------------------------Vahn wasn't at all surprised by the new Quest he had received but, understanding he was under very strict observation, he didn't allow it to show on his face. The moment Akasha and her Superiors got wind of his intentions, they would likely extract him from the Root System or destroy the entire thing just to keep him under control. It was their complacency and desire to gather data that allowed him to have as much freedom as he currently possessed so, until he was strong enough to break free on his own, he would need to be very patient.For now, Vahn had other matters to attend so, after marveling at Tiamat for a short while, he stated in a calm yet commanding tone, "Shrink your body down and hide your presence. I'm actually quite fond of a violet sky but the mana you are leaking will cause a lot of problems."As a Tier 5 being whose actual size could very easily rival the planet itself, it wasn't a difficult matter for Tiamat to comply to Vahn's orders. Her body quickly shrunk until she was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand but, unlike Alaya, she kept her proportions instead of trying to emulate the basic structure of a Companion. If he wasn't wrong, the bindings placed on her body prevented her from altering her current appearance as, if she could change so easily, such bindings would serve no purpose.With a third Tier 5 being latched to his body, Vahn returned to the Hanging Gardens to find Merlin waiting for him, his usual smile nowhere to be seen. As a being infinitely close to being a Beast of Gaia himself, he was very sensitive to the presence of Alaya and Tiamat so, while they were hidden from almost everyone else, Merlin was able to see both clearly.After staring for a few seconds, Merlin released a tired sigh before rubbing his hand across his face in exasperation and saying, "I can't say I'm surprised by this outcome...well, I suppose it doesn't really matter. What will you do now, Your Majesty? Without an enemy to face, the Empire has no means to ingratiate itself to the rest of the world. At this rate, the chaos will be even worse as the mana given off by Tiamat has already increased the global saturation to nearly 2%. Now, Magecraft will become even stronger while, all over the planet, people will begin to awaken supernatural abilities in large numbers.Everything mentioned by Merlin was something they both knew he was aware of but, understanding how easily he could be distracted, Vahn listened attentively before saying, "We're already linked to the global Bounded Field through CHALDEAS. With Tiamat on our side, we should be able to absorb the ambient mana and, at the very least, concentrate it in a single location. As for those that awaken powers, we'll monitor the data through CHALDEAS and try to mitigate as much damage as possible. I will address the world in the coming hours but, before that, we need to deal with the monsters that tried to force Tiamat to annihilate humanity...seriously, I've grown tired of these ignoble fools."Vahn had already been in a rage from the onset of the current plot but, with everything else that had happened, he was completely incensed. He had originally wanted to forge alliances and make a few compromises in the short term as regulating each country with what few people he had was not an easy feat. Now, however, Vahn was going to claim the world itself as his dominion and, while others could live as they pleased, the moment anyone began to act in a vile or tyrannical manner, he would come down upon them like divine retribution. Eventually, the world would learn that their fates were now in his hands...at least until they were competent enough to live without corrupting everything they came into contact with.(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'The horniest of women','TFW you play your trump card and it triggers the enemy's win condition...','Vahn is so done xD...')(A/N: I had a relapse of fever/weakness yesterday so I took more medicine and crashed for like eleven hours. Now, I'm feeling a lot better so I'll be returning to the normal schedule tomorrow. Also, the link for Tiamat's appearance can be found in the comments section.)https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Having existed for upwards of two-thousand years, most of the prominent Magus families had various means to preserve their legacy, even in the fact of imminent destruction. All they really had to do was protect their Magic Crest and any important heritage artifacts, an easy feat considering they could be fused together with the Ego of a person, making them virtually undetectable to even the most powerful Magi.Had they considered for a moment that they would have lost, even the Barthomeloi family would have been able to avoid ultimate destruction at the hands of the Empire by passing on their Legacy to a suitable heir, one which would be groomed in absolute secrecy until the time of their inevitable rise to prominence. After all, a Magic Crest could contain thousands of years of knowledge and, in some extreme cases, fragments of the previous inheritor's will.With so much information existing within their mind from a young age, even a newborn would be able to quickly establish themselves within society. They could simply pretend to be a prodigy or, if the situation makes such a status unviable, lay low in the shadows of society. Having the ability to literally brainwash and mind control people was a powerful tool among normal citizens so, while it was not the most glorious lifestyle, the relative peace of the world made it very easy to survive with just the most diminutive knowledge of Magecraft, much less thousands of years of said knowledge.Unfortunately for the Nobles that had conspired against the Empire, Da Vinci's research of Magic Crests resulted in the development of a device that allows them to be detected with relative ease. Thus, with Scáthach being able to track people using Strings of Fate, courtesy of Vahn and Alaya, it was only a matter of time until their Legacy was exposed, secured, and potentially even destroyed. The only way to circumvent this outcome was to have no fate whatsoever which, generally speaking, meant you were already dead.Using the knowledge provided to her by her [Wisdom of the Haunted Ground], Alaya's Strings of Fate, and the data provided by Sherlock, it only took a few minutes for Scáthach to track down the secret underground shelter where Alexander and Allard were hiding. They were holed up more than 500m beneath the surface of the earth on a small volcanic island in the Pacific Ring of Fire.If Vahn hadn't tasked her with bringing them back to be judged, Scáthach would have sunk the entire island, burying the brothers and their servants alike. Now, she had to use a more roundabout method as, despite the depravity of the two brothers, not everyone in the shelter would be labeled as evil in the eyes of Vahn. This was one of the things that often troubled her as, while it may not be the most humane course of action, Scáthach knew it was better to purge those related to vile and wicked people to avoid future troubles. Her knowledge of the future used to allow her to determine what kind of people such individuals would grow up to be but, ever since Vahn entered the world, it became a lot harder to peer into the fates of others.Releasing a rare sigh, Scáthach muttered, "That man has affected me too much..." before returning to her cold and detached persona. Then, despite the powerful Bounded Field and complex barriers that even prevented satellites from viewing the island, Scáthach tore through the void itself to invade the compound directly. This caused a high-pitched alarm to sound out but, despite their best efforts, the inhabitants of the underground facility quickly discovered there was no way to escape the infamous Executor of the Emperor's Will.Prior to entering the Bounded Field, Scáthach alerted Vahn to its location while creating a massive barrier that surrounded the already existing one. This completely sealed off the surrounding space so, unless they had the Spiritron Transporter Da Vinci was working on, there was little hope they could escape. They would need to have mastery over space comparable to Zelretch as, with her EX-Rank [Primordial Rune]s, there was very little her opponents could do to circumvent them.With Strings of Fate and one of the most powerful forms of Clairvoyance in the world, Scáthach made short work of nearly every combatant within the underground shelter. Most didn't even know what had happened before darkness claimed their vision as, even without the ability to freely move through space, Scáthach's speed alone wasn't something that most people could grasp. She could move several thousand kilometers per hour without even disturbing the surrounding wind or making a single sound so the Magi within could only fire blindly in the hopes of landing a lucky hit on what many believed to be an invisible enemy.The only people to truly grasp her movements were Alexander and Allard but, within the limited confines of the underground bunker, there wasn't much they could do. Scáthach had A-Rank [Magic Resistance], A-Rank [Curse Nullification], and B-Rank [Magic Reflection] active by default whenever she was fighting against a Magi so, unless they intended to bury themselves, the brothers had very limited options as far as spells were concerned. It didn't help that they had expected to be hunted down so, rather than keep their legacy items all in one location, they had already spread them all over the world, hiding them away until their heir could claim them in the distant future.This knowledge made the men bolder than they otherwise would have been so, after Scáthach used her spear to pin Allard to a wall, Alexander used the 'opportunity' to reverse the flow of his mana, feeding it into a gemstone embedded into his heart. He was prepared to take the entire island out with him but, before the spell could fully activate, Scáthach appeared right in front of him, her hand piercing his chest to pull out the still-beating heart within.While this wouldn't have made much of a difference under normal circumstances, Scáthach had considerable mastery over Space and Time Laws which, combined with her connection to the Land of Shadows, meant such tactics were ultimately pointless. She simply tossed Alexander's heart into a void where time itself didn't exist, sealing it in forevermore at the moment prior to its exploding. In the same motion, she jammed an [Effigy of the Hero] into Alexander's chest, coldly stating, "A gift to celebrate our meeting..."A powerful enough Magus could easily survive decapitation or having their heart pierced, at least for a short period of time, so Alexander hadn't immediately died from the intense shock. Rather, he was so determined to see Scáthach's end that he resisted blacking out, only to feel at a complete loss as the woman easily undermined his efforts. Then, just as darkness began to encroach upon him, a fire began to burn in his chest as he was forcibly healed while the [Effigy of the Hero], graciously gifted to him by Scáthach, was still inside his body.Scáthach made sure the burning idol wouldn't kill Alexander while restraining his movement using reddish-black chains that functioned similarly to [Enkidu]. Like this, she managed to capture both brothers before pulling out a communication device that looked like a palm-sized rainbow quartz. This was the physical form of Spiritrons and, while it couldn't do much alone, Scáthach was able to use it as an anchor to communicate with Avalon, even while inside an isolated Bounded Field.After a momentary delay, a projection appeared from within the Spiritron Crystal. It took on the form of the Ark System's Avatar, a small blue figure constructed of light that vaguely resembled a human.Without waiting for its inquiry, Scáthach explained, "Send an extraction and cleanup team to these coordinates. There are twenty-three people requiring extraction and fifty-nine casualties."As this wasn't 'his' first time interacting with Scáthach, Ark gave a polite bow before quickly setting to the task he had been assigned. Then, moments later, a massive gateway was opened within the room as a black metallic box, covered in glimmering golden runes, was transferred from Da Vinci's Fourth Laboratory, a factory set up in coordination with the Atlas Temple. There, weapons systems and golems were researched as, since its founding, the Alchemists of the Atlas Temple had been more focused on the production of Artificial Humans and weapons than anything else.When the black box had fully emerged, the gate behind it collapsed in on itself rather violently as a result of the still-developing tech. This was the main reason behind the massive metallic box as, if it were a normal person, being transferred through Imaginary Number Space using Spiritron Tunneling would rip them apart. You would have to be a Tier 5 entity to have any hopes of surviving since you weren't actually moving through space, but a void of non-existence where the Laws that allowed for the actuality of matter simply didn't exist.This was her first time seeing the prototype in action so Scáthach couldn't help but watch on, her interest piqued, albeit only slightly. Her Caster self had helped conceptualize the prototype so, while minuscule, a small feeling of pride filled Scáthach's chest as the box opened to reveal its contents. It was packed to the brim with a procession of ten Companions, each having a jackal template, and the Artificial Humans that had been assigned to them. This was one of the Cleaning Teams that had been put together, their sole purpose being the actualization of Vahn's will when he was unable to carry it out personally.At the center of the group, a youth with white hair and red eyes stepped forward and gave a small salute as he said, "Captain Vali Argo reporting with Unit Alpha-001. Please advise, Lady Scáthach."With a curt nod, Scáthach created a three-dimensional layout of the compound using her mana while explaining the team's task. They needed to cremate the corpses of the deceased, treat the wounded, and transport those that had been marked as 'innocent' to the mainland once the rest of the team arrived. This advanced group was primarily responsible for securing the facility and making sure nobody escaped, a task Scáthach couldn't be bothered with as she had other places to be and very little time.Their mission assigned, the team led by Captain Argo quickly set out to secure the facility as their Companions analyzed every nook and cranny to make sure there were no hidden dangers. At the same time, Scáthach teleported away with Alexander and Allard after removing the spatial lock she had placed around the island. In the future, the underground facility would be converted into one of the Empire's many outposts as Da Vinci's micrograms would quickly modify and expand the interior to make it suitable for research on geothermal energy and artificial leylines.That, however, was none of Scáthach's concern so, after depositing Alexander within a secure facility, she flew around with the restrained Allard, using his own Strings of Fate to find the location of their heir and other affiliates. The brutish man who had ruined the lives of thousands of people couldn't do anything about the situation at all. Even death was denied him as the chains restraining his body made it impossible to muster up any of his magical power while the mask Scáthach had forced on him robbed all of his senses while preventing him from biting his tongue.Allard had enjoyed playing with and tormenting others his entire life but now, after a single botched assassination attempt, his life had become a waking nightmare with no hope of escape. All he could do was curse Vahn, his family, the Empire, and the demonic woman that had captured him.Unfortunately, despite Allard's best efforts, all of his curses came out as nothing more than muffled grunts and whining as Scáthach dragged him through the air at hypersonic speeds, his cries only reaching the root cause of all his suffering, himself...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'When Shishou's on the prowl, you're already fucked','Leave it to Da Vinci to find a way to transfer matter through a plane where it can't exist xD...','RIP pig-boi, squeal all you like')(A/N: Two-Part chapter coming this afternoon.)https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Vahn's wish using the [Grace of the Root] had far-reaching consequences but he wouldn't learn about these until the dust began to settle. The present occupied most of his focus and, feeling as if a heavy weight had been removed from his shoulders, he leaned back against the Hanging Garden's throne/control center. For a brief moment, he closed his eyes and, rather than step in to protect a young boy at gunpoint, he watched with anticipation as the assailant ultimately pulled the trigger.At nearly the exact same moment as the muzzle flash, the youth seemed to vanish into thin air. This left the assailant completely shocked but Vahn, sitting high in the sky, couldn't help but issue a light chuckle before using his Telekinesis to break the man's legs.Though he would still do what he could to help people, Vahn felt relief knowing he didn't have to worry about whether or not good or innocent people would die. Even if his enemies used an attack that wiped out all life on the surface, he imagined a considerable number of people would simply be transported to a different world. One of the few benefits of a stagnant and easily exploited society was that people rarely did anything significant so a large portion of the population had neutral or good karma...With his wish in effect, Vahn was ready for anything his enemies would throw at him. He didn't care how much blame they tried to lay on his shoulders as, in the end, the truth would always be brought to light. The people may hate him for years, or even generations to come, but other sapient species would look up to him as a hero and god. They had suffered greatly as a result of human nature so it was high time they were allowed to reclaim the world that had been robbed from them...---Around the same time that Vahn was idling about on the throne, the aerial perimeter that had been set up around the Hanging Gardens began to change formation. The helicopters began to pull away from the encirclement until they had reached a distance just under 1km. Then, their orders received, a total of 183 attack helicopters released their payload of air-to-air missiles synchronously. From the ground, it looked like streams of light converging toward a single point in the darkness, drawing a lot of attention from the pedestrians and rioters below...Before the missiles had even been fired, the eight revolving platforms of the Hanging Gardens, each more than 50m in length and 15m in width, began to spin slightly faster. They were covered in what appeared to be a shield-like emblem which, upon detecting a threat, began to glow with a vibrant purple light as complex runes, each comprised of [Divine Words], appeared on their surface. Thick bands of purple lightning began to dance between the revolving platforms and, in what seemed like a single instant, more than a thousand missiles had been destroyed...As missiles may as well be moving in slow motion from his perspective, Vahn had already returned to full focus before the barrage got anywhere near the defensive array of the Hanging Gardens. He was also able to intercept the communications between the base that had given the order and the pilots that had carried it out so there wasn't really anything they could do to surprise him using machines that relied on radio and satellite communications.When everything was said and done, Vahn would be releasing all of the pertinent communications to the public and, while the people on the ground had no idea what was going on, the entire event was being recorded by several invisible drones. Everyone would know the truth that took place here and, though it was impossible to prevent the Empire from being vilified, the seeds of doubt and distrust would already be planted.Understanding his role in this grand play, Vahn adopted a calm and confident demeanor as he stated, "This is the Aldrnari Empire's Floating Fortress, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. We have not come here with the intent to harm anyone. Cease your unprompted attack immediately or you will be forced to comply."Though it seemed like he was just talking to the air, Vahn's voice was heard over all military comms simultaneously. This had come as a great surprise to those stationed on the ground while, back at their base, a high ranking official picked up a comms and answered, "This is Lieutenant General Cliff Walford, Commanding Officer of Royal Air Force base Alconbury. Who, may I ask, is speaking?"From what Vahn knew of the military ranks used in the United Kingdom, a Lieutenant General was the second-highest officer rank in the Ministry of Defense. He had expected a four-star General to be the one to respond to his communications but a three-star Lieutenant General wasn't far from the top.In response to General Walford's request, Vahn stated in the same calm tone, "This is the Emperor of the Aldrnari Empire, Vahn Aldrnari Mason speaking. Know that, should you continue firing upon my vessel, I will be forced to ground your aircraft. The military is supposed to protect the people. Instead of instigating war and attacking a vessel that has shown no hostility, you should be providing aid to the civilians on the ground."Hearing Vahn's words, tensions in the control room increased considerably as General Walford held the comms up to his mouth and answered in a firm tone, "Emperor Mason, was it not your Aldrnari Empire that attacked a civilian population entirely unprompted? Do not believe for a moment that the Royal Air Force will just sit idly by as you commit acts of terrorism against the sovereign citizens of Great Britain...!"Vahn couldn't help but shake his head slightly upon hearing the General's words but, without any delay in his own response, he answered, "The Aldrnari Empire has committed no acts of terrorism against the people's of the United Kingdom. The truth of the matter will be brought to light in due time. For now, you will cease your unprompted attack and provide aid to your people. Further acts of aggression will not be tolerated."With his ultimatum given, Vahn cut the connection between himself and the military base. He could still hear the General's response but words were no longer important. Everything came down to how the military chose to act and, meeting his expectations, they chose the violent response. This time, it was the fighter jets that had been circling the perimeter that came in to attack. They began strafing runs at angles above and below the Hanging Gardens, probing for gaps in the defensive formation. Vahn noticed that some of the aircraft carried 'special' payloads that would be able to ignore weaker magical barriers so it was obvious that the RAF wasn't acting in the interests of the people.True to his word, Vahn simply uttered the word, "Sit." before the flight controls of every aircraft in the area were hijacked. The Empire hadn't been sitting idle during the hours leading up to the conflict so Da Vinci's micro-golems had invaded most military systems, including aircraft and ground vehicles. It only took a single command from Vahn to shut down engines or take over the controls of the more advanced aircraft. The micro-golems would then pilot the fighter jets back to base while the myriad of attack helicopters was forced to land on the tops of buildings.General Walford was gobsmacked by the development but, despite the best efforts of the mechanics to get the systems operational again, the micro-bots had completely fried the core circuitry after the aircraft had been successfully grounded. They couldn't even use the reserve equipment as it had all suffered the same fate as a precautionary measure. Vahn did this to prevent the advanced weaponry from being used on the civilian population as, regardless of their efforts, penetrating the shields of the Hanging Gardens was beyond modern weaponry.While the military was in chaos, Vahn took the opportunity to hijack the communications once again, reminding, "You should be helping your people, not starting a war. This is my final warning, General. Do your job."Hearing the unexpected remark from Vahn, General Walford threw the comms device in his hand, breaking the tiny transmitter into several pieces. Having hundreds of aircraft become unserviceable in an instant was already terrible news. This incident would cost them billions of pounds on the low and but, considering how easily the Empire had taken them down, that was an optimistic estimate. They would need to come up with some kind of countermeasure against whatever tech had been used to hijack and disable their systems or there would be no meaning in getting them airborne.It was easy to guess that the 'invaders' had advanced technology just by the fact they had a floating fortress that was more than 700m in diameter. Now, it seemed their tech was even more advanced than initial speculation, however, as some technicians were already beginning to speculate that the aircraft's systems had been fried by nanomachines. If this was the truth, the Empire's military would be without equal in the entire world as nanotech, while quickly growing in popularity, had very few practical uses. The tiny machines were too fragile and, without perfect conditions, they would break down in a very short period of time. This, combined with the cost, made the tech functionally useless outside the medical field...As General Walford was lamenting the sheer ridiculousness of the current situation, his private pager began to buzz. This caused his expression to harden in an instant and, after seeing the coded string of characters, he actually had to sit down as his legs felt as if they had turned to jelly. His actions did not go unnoticed by the other officers in the room so, after a few seconds had passed, silence had replaced the chaos that had dominated the chamber.After collecting himself, General Walford looked at his men, each people he had come to trust over several long years of service. He could feel the contents of his stomach turn as his acid reflux stirred up at the mere thought of the task he had been given. However, he wouldn't have become a General if he was unable to carry out his orders so, without explaining anything, he muttered in a weary tone that seemed to age him ten years in an instant, "Ministry of Defense Order ZK-005-1A is in effect..."The majority of people present had no idea what the General was talking about but, before they were able to ask any questions, gunshots began to ring out within the command room. Generally speaking, it was against regulation to carry firearms within the command room but, for events such as this, a select few officers had been given permission to do so. They were the extreme loyalists of the United Kingdom and, as a result of their position, knew the 'truth' about who held power behind the government.While some commoners were allowed to rise to high positions based on their merits, all of the core positions within the military were held by those loyal to various Noble families. They were all under the influence of very powerful mental manipulation and, even if they had misgivings about certain orders, they were compelled to carry them out without question. Thus, while it pained him to no end, General Walford and his fellow officers arranged the corpses of their fellow countrymen into a circle before pulling out ruby-red gemstones and slitting their own wrists with the pointed ends. This was a scene being repeated all throughout the country and, while Vahn was aware of it, he watched on in silence as his fury continued to build like a volcano on the verge of exploding...(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Reclaiming the planet o3o...!','Nanogolems OP','Corrupted to the roots')https://bit.ly/2XBzAYu &lt;-(p.atreon link)paypal.me/EinlionDiscord Invite: https://discord.gg/Jwa8PKh

Chapter 1308: The Darkest Night (2/?)