The leader watched as his patrol group was decimated without even the enemy lifting a single finger against them, they were all defeated not by physical or metaphysical ways but through the very fear that lied within them.
He stood there frozen in place, he could see new fires bloom in the distance as newer hues of red and yellow made themselves known across all directions.
He then let go of his sword and wept. The sword fell to the ground but made no sound other than the crunching of burned sticks and leaves under it. He fell onto his knees while he faced the ground below him.
"I give up," He whispered, his voice cracked and shivered.
"I don't think a surrender is an option for a knight under a Theocracy," Artemis walked forward and looked down on the knight.
"Please, I have a family, please have mercy,"
The knight pleaded.
But Artemis could not care less if the enemy had someone or something of value back home that they wished to come back to, no, why should he? Will he show this knight mercy? Well, he was still human but was unsure.
"I may look like a human to you," Artemis walked from the darkness made himself known under the faint red light of the cracks across his skin.
"Ha," The knight stared in awe, Artemis did not notice but he looked like a divine and magnificent being in the eyes of the knight. He glowed like an angel sent from above, excreting an aura of power both calming and deadly.
"But I am not human, nor am I one of your deities," Artemis quickly shot down his hopes.
"I bring upon you only death and destruction because you stand in my way, you stand in my mission and my goal, I don't expect the millions of others like you to just surrender just for convenience? No, I know you will fight to the bitter end, in the streets of your cities, in the halls of your palaces and the fields of your villages. That's why I will crush you where you think you can hold, I will strike you in the very heart of your society. Some of you will remain but most would be either lying on their doorsteps dead or have gone to take refuge towards faraway lands,"
The vision of the knight began to fade, as much so that he could only see the eyes of the man in front of him surrounded by eternal darkness.
"You see,"
"I am, human but I neither possess nor have the weaknesses of a human, I possess merely the shell of someone who was still human. I care not if you all die, I care not if you grovel and cry upon my feet for every living thing would eventually die and that's the curse of life. We will all eventually die and sadly, your death came far too soon,"
"Now, to continue from where we left off, you are an interesting man, not only did you resist collapsing into insanity, you kneel before me pleading for mercy although others I have encountered before pleaded not, they either fought me and died or ran and still died,"
The man was silently crying, tears were dripping from his cheeks and into the ground the tears went. The explosions became louder as the second offensive raged on. With every minute that passed, the Theocracy lost more ground, air, and more men.
And here, Artemis and the knight were wasting their time.
"Please,"
The man continued to plead. Luckily, Artemis did not possess the means to get annoyed. He viewed this as an ant begging a human not to stomp on it after it had stung the human already.
"The nearest city is called.. what was it again?" Artemis knew the name of the city, he just wanted to experiment on the psychology of the knight if he were to become compliant or still continue to plead as per human instinct to survive.
But the knight complied.
"The nearest city is a two weeks ride from here, Zeticon City, the council is within the capital city of the Theocracy as we speak, it is there where our orders come from and where our most skilled of mages reside,"
The way the knight presented his answer was vague in words but rich in-between the lines. To Artemis, this was a breakthrough, he had stopped trying to extract information directly from the minds of humans a few weeks back due to the information being too vague to be read out as it depended on the mental fortitude of someone on how much information they could extract.
Artemis paused for a second and stared at the soldier for a moment before looking up to the sky.
"You see those lights?" Artemis asked.
"Yes," The knight immediately replied.
"Those light are your demise, you may stand a chance against the enemies who walk on the ground but how will you go against something that even your mighty Airships couldn't stop?"
The outcome of the war was broader than daylight. The Theocracy's defeat was inevitable unless a miracle were to happen and that miracle will never happen.
Artemis wanted to end him as soon as he explained briefly how he and his military would crush his beloved home but Artemis suddenly came up with a different idea. Seeing that the man has already betrayed the Theocracy by giving information to the enemy instead of fighting, he knew that death awaited him back home too and made no difference whatsoever.
Although humans, weak and frail they may be, can be a wonderful asset to have. This man seemed to possess enough information for him to be spared to further boost the victory Artemis desired.
"Come with me," Artemis extended his hand for the knight to reach. The knight, his vision now brighter than it was, saw the hand of the enemy. It was at this moment that he needed to decide, would he come with the enemy or risk this chance of slaying him and return a war hero?
But Artemis already knew what was in his mind.
"You may try to fight me, you may try to ambush me, but you will not win,"
The knight froze once again.
"If you love your daughter, then take my hand and she shall be spared the suffering that is to come,"
Daughter!?
The knight was shocked and thrilled. The man in front of him somehow knew about his daughter! He was filled with delight and hope that if he was indeed to switch sides, his family and precious daughter will be spared from suffering.
Artemis, on the other hand, just assumed that he had a daughter by completely relying on a statistic Caitlyn gave him that daughters were more common than men. He took a serious gamble and if Artemis could sweat, he'd be sweating by now. His hands were still extended and awaited the move of the knight.
The knight then extended his hand, after initial reluctance of his hand to comply, he finally grabbed Artemis' hand and he was boosted up from the ground. His legs struggled under his weight.
"Come now, let's take a walk,"
And the two began to strode through the ash-ridden landscape with only the faraway blazes and the reddish glow of Artemis to provide them light.
Both of them were silent. The knight yearned for Artemis to explain how he was supposed to keep his daughter safe.
"How will you ensure the safety of my family?" He asked bluntly.
Artemis then turned his head towards him as they walked.
"First, what is your name?" Artemis asked.
"I- I am Finn," He stuttered.
"Well then, Finn, I need to know the name of your daughter before I could ensure her safety,"
At this point, the knight's face lit up and he joyously replied.
"Victoria Fronz Haltizern! Your grace,"
"Ah, I see," And also at this point, Artemis was also damn relieved that his gamble was correct and that he did not need to kill him after all. A win for him and a win for the knight.
"But, there is something you need to do for me before I make my ends of the bargain,"
"Y-yes?" The knight became scared once more.
"I need you to act as my spy, tell me everything I need to know and you and your daughter will be given a place in my nation,"
The knight stopped walking and so did Artemis.
"Your grace.. I wish to serve you in exchange for my family's safety but how can I come back with my shattered pride as a knight under the Theocracy? I don't possess the will to return to a country I have already betrayed,"
Artemis walked up beside him and patted his back.
"The Senadate Theocracy is a blasphemous and hypocritical nation controlled by a religion about a false goddess, your pride as a warrior still resides within you and has nothing to do with our allegiance with the Theocracy. Who cares? You are a warrior and a warrior strives to protect the ones he holds dear and I know you hold your daughter dearly and love her very much, that is the pride and honour that you should know and not the ones you were forced to believe,"
The Knight was silent.
Artemis figured that the man needed more time to think and relax and so they continued their stroll.
After walking through the darkness for thirty minutes straight without anyone uttering a single word, they finally came across a battle. A detachment of one thousand knights was going up against a hundred Androids of the Machine Empire. Artemis grabbed the knight from the back and they flew.
The knight screamed in shock and fear as they ascended from the ground. Artemis had the ability to fly thanks to several upgrades made to his body and one of those upgrades involved placing small yet powerful thrusters around his joints, on his back, the sole of his feet and palm of his hands.
He then stopped his ascent and stabilized the knight. He showed no signs of weariness or even struggle in holding the knight with only his one hand. They were floating above while the battle ensued below.
The knight finally calmed and Artemis took this as an opportunity to speak.
"Look at the battle, Finn,"
"Y-yes,"
The wind blew against their hair, making it dance and flutter.
"You see, you may outnumber us, you may have magic but we are stronger,"
And as he explained to him, dozens of knights surrounded a single Android. They were enhanced with magic and all of them are between B-grade and C-grade and engaged the Android all at the same time. The battle was furious, the Android fought against thirteen enhanced powerful magical knights, all with the same power and strength but once combined could become a force to be reckoned with.
But the Android, although outnumbered and quite possibly weaker than the combined force, had more processing power than the knights it was fighting. It only needed to stay alive long enough for it to make a decisive blow against the enemy and deliver the finishing touch.
When a small opening presented itself, the Android took it without wait and hesitation. It sliced six of the knights with its energy sword before proceeding to shoot at the now broken line of enemies. They were taken down swiftly, not even their magical barrier could withstand 20 shots of hard Primelium metal surrounded wit highly-concentrated energy against their chest.
The battle quickly ended as quickly as it started. Though they had mystical magic and numbers by their side, their enemy knew when and how to strike given the chance, something they won't have even if they trained for a thousand years.
The battle still raged on in the open fields further down where the current battle took place; Soldiers were routing. Griffins and Wyverns were falling. Airships fall, burning, crash down and exploded killing some of their allies. And thousands of Android Legions were marching.
"Finn, you may have saved yourself and your daughter for now but what you decide for the rest of the journey with us is what dictates if you deserve to be given gratitude and a place under my Utopia with the other humans I bought,"
And Finn understood.