"Do you understand now?" Artemis asked.
"Yes," Finn stared blankly into the night.
"Then, you will fulfil your end of the bargain,"
Artemis began to descend as he has accomplished what he needed to accomplish. Though he never really thought of sparing Finn's life, having a spy that would penetrate deep within the enemy would speed up his inevitable victory.
Why? Information, of course! Artemis has the opportunity to strike gold and shove it down the enemy's throats. They shall choke.
Artemis had to be careful, and so, he needed to ensure Finn's survival. To ensure his survival, he needs to have something that would motivate him to do his duty, and that motivation is already there. His daughter and quite possibly his wife, if he has a wife at least. I mean, Artemis does not know if his wife even loves him or if he loves her. If so, Artemis only needed to protect the daughter if the wife was of no value whatsoever.
A good plan!
But needs to be appropriately executed or else all of the benefits that may be reaped will be lost. There are so many risks and many buts; it sometimes gets tedious.
The two finally touch the solid ground and Finn was more than delighted to feel the solid earth under his feet.
"I thank you, your grace, for offering me such mercy, you may not be the demon the council makes you to be,"
Artemis stared at him and said.
"There are no demons, nor are there, there is only the will of an individual that decides how society will portray him as,"
Finn listened intently with Artemis was saying.
"For example, I invented something that would benefit billions but would kill millions, they would see you as someone evil, they only care of the negativity you bring and monopolize on the hate they create. They don't care if you save billions, they decide whether you are an angel or a demon,"
And Finn was silent again after hearing the words of Artemis. He could not clearly see it but he was certain that Artemis smirked a bit before returning to his blank and cold stare. Finn took the initiative and bowed low.
"I solemnly swear my allegiance to you, o wise one,"
Artemis closed his eyes and raised his hands.
"I accept," He announced.
Humans are so simple; it's a wonder how I am considered one, I am merely in a shell of a machine but who I far exceed a human. I only cooked what I said to this man through what Caitlyn educated me about human society before its eventual demise back on Earth. They are simple in a way that makes them unique, a form of structure so fragile yet so durable. This man has a family, something I think I had but no longer have, of course, if ever, they most likely died when humanity did.
It's heart-breaking, is that correct? Well, it's not like I feel anything similar to it but let us say I do, it's heart-breaking in a sense that I, a human still, lack what makes a human, a human. I only possess the physical properties but I lack everything else.
If I ever find who I was, what I was and how I was back then, maybe, just maybe, I can relate more to this man, Finn. For now, all of you are merely tools for my mission, pawns on a chessboard. I hope you do well, or else you'll get eaten by the better chess piece
Artemis was lost in thought and is soon snapped back into the real world by Finn.
"Milord, If thou don't mind me asking, what is thy name?"
Artemis opened his eyes and saw Finn still kneeling before him with his head up high and eyes staring at his person.
"I am, Artemis," He answered.
"Awtemes?"
"No, Artemis,"
"Ah, yes, Artimes,"
"Sigh.."
While Artemis was explaining how his name should be pronounced, Caitlyn connected herself to Artemis' communication channel.
"Artemis," Caitlyn spoke through his mind.
"What?" He replied through his psychic abilities, in other words, telepathy.
"The second offensive was, no surprise, successful and the entire enemy front has collapsed,"
Artemis then replied, using his mouth.
"Good, tell the armies to march forth, have the central army reinforced and we will lay siege on the nearest city,"
"Roger,"
Artemis and Caitlyn ended their conversation. Finn looked at Artemis odd and had no idea who he was talking to and what the hell was he talking about.
"Pay it no mind," Artemis said after noticing the visible confusion of Finn.
"I merely made contact with an ally, you will soon meet her and the others who have joined our cause,"
"There are others who joined before me?" Finn looked even more confused. He had only heard of them a few weeks ago when the crusade started and he knows that there was only one highly-skilled and powerful enemy that lead the metal demons.
Now, he was being informed by that very same enemy he was warned about that there are others more like him.
"Oh, but don't worry," Artemis suddenly said.
"They aren't as powerful as me but still in equal terms with what you consider powerful," Artemie read his mind, not literally but it was an expected mindset and thought process.
"Anyways, enough chit-chatter, you need to be sent on your way before my soldiers lay siege upon Zeticon. And concerning your family, where are they right now?"
"They are probably at our home town of Smocweedt,"
Artemis offered Finn to sit down beside him as he himself sat down on the ground despite how uncomfortable it was for a normal person. Finn, however, still followed suit and sat down regardless if it was comfortable or not.
"So there are also towns and not just villages,"
"Yes,"
"Can you explain to me how towns are different?"
Artemis knew clearly what the differences were, he was just extracting information from Finnn bit by bit.
"Well, sire, towns are bigger than villages with populations ranging from 1 thousand to 3 thousand while villages are only composed of 50 to 300 people. Villages mostly focus on farming while towns are more developed and visited by travellers and merchants. Also, towns end to be situated near the cities and through important trade nodes, hence the development. If for example, a village is connected directly through an important trade node, said village would evolve into a town and subsequently become a city if handled right,"
"I see," Artemis was very skilled in the art of trying to look stupid.
The man went on and on explaining to Artemis how simple economics and civilization worked. Although it may seem that this was a waste of time, Artemis used what the man was telling him to determine his education and by far, he seemed to be a very educated person in the standards of a peasant-ridden world such as Fordalt.
"Now then," Artemis stood up and dusted himself.
"Yes, sire?"
"Your mission begins now,"
"Eh? Sire, I am too far away fro-"
"Pay it no mind; your transport is here,"
A roaring sound echoed in the distance and became louder as the thing flew nearer. It was a speeding hovercraft directly requested by Artemis to drop Finn back to Zerticon city. The hovercraft shined its bright searchlight directly at the two. Finn finally saw how Artemis really looked, he wore a black trech coat uniform with yellow strands across his shoulders. His hair was dark and face blank as ever, the red glowing cracks that he saw came directly from his exposed skin. He was terrified.
Did I really make a deal with the devil?
He thought to himself.
"I bid thee, farewell," Artemis walked a few steps back. Finn did not know what was gonna happen. The hovercraft suddenly opened up its bottom and descended directly above him.
"Ha!"
In a second, he was pulled up inside the hovercraft through the use of a magnet that carried him using the armour he was wearing. The hovercraft ascended and above the clouds it went, it slowly made its way above the dead forest, the thick smoke and the raging fires.
Artemis stared as the hovercraft disappeared from his sights and once again he was alone in the dark.
"Hm,"
Artemis walked alone again through the rubble, his feet already dirtied by the ash and burned foliage that clung onto his pants.
"This is a gonna be a bit of a nuisance," He lamented.
He decided to take a stroll and inspect what the Androids were doing, he had his two Elite Androids go with the army of one thousand during the second offensive hence their absence.
Ever since they began to speak, Artemis now had official companions and not just puppets who stared at him every time, though, Artemis seems to prefer the latter.
After presumably walking for a good thirty minutes again, Artemis stumbled upon the severed head of an Android. It had burn marks, likely after its core exploded after it's defeated. Artemis leaned down to have a closer look and grabbed it.
He gently wiped its face and rid it of the ash and dust that covered it. He then looked at the surrounding area, there was a crater. No doubt, the Android's core exploded.
Artemis knew he sent these puppets to fight and quite possibly to their deaths but Artemis cared for them still. He gently rubbed the head and placed it back where he got it.
"You fought well," Artemis paid his respects, quite unusual for someone like him to do.
In times of war, always expect that not every one of your soldiers will return home. Don't expect that everything will be the same. To achieve victory, there must be sacrifices; Artemis knew that. The sacrifice of this unnamed drones will forever live on as its legacy. It fought an enemy of the empire and died fulfilling its duty, such is a true warrior.
"Ha!" A voice suddenly rang out from the dark, a glowing white blade suddenly appeared and flew towards Artemis.
"So, you're still here," Artemis moved his head and easily dodged the sword. The sword then suddenly pulled itself back and was now coming towards him again.
Magic
He thought.
Again, he dodged the sword and it returned to its owner.
A glowing golden swordsman, his aura was glowing in the darkness of the night. A peak A-grade magical knight. Seriously, he literally wanted to make himself known, but that was his shortcoming, if he had stayed stealthy, he could've survived longer but since Artemis does not need to use his night vision, it was game over for him.
"Die, demon!" The magical swordsman shouted and released a flurry of flying swords through the use of a spell. Artemis then started running sideways since he knew the swords would follow him. He was evaluating his enemy and the capabilities of the said enemy. As the swords followed him, the golden swordsman dashes in-front of Artemis' way holding his sword up and ready to slash Artemis in lighting speed.
"This is very dumb,"
With only a flick of his finger, Artemis summoned his energy blade and in one fell swoop, as the two were about to meet, he slashed the golden swordsman's swords into two and proceeded to go behind him. With this, the golden swordsman acted as a type of shield and to his horror, his own swords he summoned all stabbed him mercilessly.
He screamed in pain as 30 swords stabbed him simultaneously, his blood spurted out with each sword that penetrated his armour and body.
The man stopped moving and that's when Artemis knew he was dead. The aura he exhibited faded as soon as he stopped breathing.
"Idiots, no matter how strong you all were, it is inevitably useless,"
His body fell towards Artemis' direction. He stepped to the side and the body slammed the ground. The man was no more, and so was another failed attempt to end Artemis' life. The poor soul probably did not know that he fought the very leader of the enemy they were fighting.