Click.
The gates to the palace unlocked with ease, not a single working defence mechanism in sight. The ones that were placed to detect and eliminate were all out of order, covered in a thin layer of dust, fungi growing out of small seams and cracks along the machinery.
Whistling a light tune, I opened the doors and as expected—It was completely deserted, only dead lights hanging overhead and worn stone to pave the path.
Sculptures of all sorts lined the dead silent courtyard, carved from a multitude of materials depicted what seemed to be gods and goddesses like the Greeks and Romans,"They might be worth a bit." I pulled out the statues with relative ease and kept them. So far, the storage ring had proved to be most valuable an asset. I wouldn't have managed to do quite a bit had it not been for it.
The doors to the keep awaited. I took out a gold coin,"Heads, kill the king. Tails, treasure," Flicking it up, I stopped before the door, palm facing the sky. The coin landed silently. With a sideway glance, I kept the coin,"Killing it is."
This was a rare time my height was advantageous to me. Had it been Lucius in my position, he would find himself rather cramped by the low height of the ceilings. After all, the tallest of the kosmimarians I had seen, Eoin, was shorter than me even.
Humming a small tune, I heard a faint rumbling,"I wonder, what'll be?" The kosmimarians, as it stood, appeared to be rather weak and defenceless. Without the aid of their machines, that was.
"Robotic animals? Trapped chambers? Maybe they'll pull an iron man on me? Colossal robot? Guns?" I pondered to myself out loud as gravel crackled beneath my feet. The palace was in a state of disarray, unkempt and stuffy as all hell. Had it not been for a little bit of magic to filter out the dust, I'd probably be uncomfortable with breathing.
An omnidirectional voice boomed with imposing might, giving a sense of authority and grandeur,"To step into my territory without considering the consequences—What are you doing?"
I had taken out a small piece of pastry from the storage ring—A puff with honey filling. Nibbling it, I waved my free hand dismissively,"No, no, go on with your speech. I was a little peckish is all. Where were you at? Oh right! The you foolish mortal, how dare you step into my home! Then after that should be the bit where you either reveal that you had been waiting for me all this while to launch your final attack or," I paused a bit to take another bite and with my mouth full,"The part where you say 'I'll make you regret you ever came here.' I think. Unless you have something you'd like to add on?"
"...You are a rather arrogant person, aren't you?"
"No not really no," I casually took another bite as I walked back out into the courtyard,"In fact, I'm actually a pretty modest person. I treat everyone with respect."
"In that—"
"—But on the occasions I do not, I do have good reason for it!" I interrupted, contrary to my words,"And on this occasion, it is because I wanted to get you to try this bread." I took out a second piece and held it up.
"What?"
"I'll be frank, I'm not sure whether I like this bread or not. So, a second opinion would be appreciated though if you're not willing to come out, I suppose the—"
"ENOUGH WITH THIS FARCE!" The voice boomed once more, interrupting me as the entire cavern rumbled.
I chuckled as the castle split open. The rumbling and small fissures along the walls that soon formed gave it all away,"Giant robot it is."
I took off my jacket and t-shirt and pants, leaving only my undershirt, a pair of spats and undergarments remaining. The cold weather which had made me wear double layer everything had become a blessing in disguise. The clothes I originally wore were bulky but now, I could actually fight comfortably.
Before me, an over twenty metre tall behemoth of metal stood, nearly half the height of the cavern itself.
(A/N: I used this picture as the concept.)
"I had originally wanted to get this thing to rank 7 but I ran out of my kind to use. Useless imbeciles, can't even produce babies with magic potential. Humph."
"Come!" I laughed with excitement, jumping forward with all my might,"First form!"
"Fool." The argent-coloured robotic arm shot out with a lethal mix of speed and might, impending doom crashing down on me in the form of a metal fist.
Oh motherfu—
BOOOOM!
As our fists collided, I felt my entire arm rupture into nothingness, pain shooting down my body as I was slammed deep into the earth, a cold voice sounding.
98 lives remaining.
At this rate, even if I had a thousand lives, it would be for naught. I felt as if the term 'Damocles' sword hangs over you' applied to this little pickle I was in.
I was treading on thin ice here—A gamble was made and I had lost it.
It was an unconscious ego I had forgotten to keep in check, and a potentially lethal mistake I overlooked. My confidence had been bolstered by the rather easy fight against two rank fives, barring the lives consumed. Unfortunately, it seemed the gap between the two ranks was akin to ascending to the heavens.
Looking at the fist, I'd barely made a dent.
"Calm down and think you little shit." I gave myself a harsh pep-talk, forcing my breathing to steady. The greatest mistake one could make in a tense situation was to panic and throw everything at the problem till it disappeared. That, was the easiest way to win Darwin's award.
I analysed the giant's structure, attempting to piece together what the the king would do through his tone of voice, choice of words and attitude with what little time had been afforded to me.
"Hm? What a little—"
"NOOOOOOOO!" I heard an anguished scream of bubbling rage and anger, the cavern seemed to tremble under its hellish power.
"Ah? Merely a—"
BAM!
My eyes widened in disbelief as Lucius barrelled into the giant automaton, sending it staggering back without so much as flinching,"Artemis...My Artemis...PAY WITH YOUR LIFE!" He roared with all the loathing, hatred and abhorrence a single man could muster, his six arms punching out simultaneously, two parrying away the arms of the robot whilst four more slammed into the giant, denting it as they collided.
I felt a strange feeling well up in me as I crawled out of the hole, clothes a tattered mess, seemingly as tattered as my mind. His anger had sent my mind into disarray as I saw him crashing into the side of the cavern, having been flung back by a projectile from the robot, the anguish and sorrow apparent on his face, mixed with the rage of a man who held a deep-seeded vendetta.
Why?
An open-ended question, open to interpretations. It was the only one of millions of questions that came to mind.
What feeling is this?
A sense of deja vu hit me—This unfamiliar familiarity. I had felt this feeling exactly once before my world had come crashing down.
It was with one Bob Pearce Kingsley. He had once protected me from bullies after I was pushed down some stairs.
Security. Warmth. It was nice knowing someone cared for you and got mad when others hurt you.
Then he just had to go and break my heart.
"GIVE ME BA—" His anger simmered as he caught sight of me. In that moment of distraction, he was mercilessly struck by the robot on the back, a spray of blood spurting from his mouth as he slammed into the ground.
I wanted to run towards him to scream, to cry, to heal him. But that was a fool's errand. Rookie mistake. Just because I liked him didn't mean I had lost my rationality and edge—No.
I simply gained an ally and some very deep-seeded anger against those who tried to harm him.
"Hey, is there anyway I can convert my speed into strength?"
A familiar voice sounded with a reassuring answer.
Yep, but I wouldn't recommend a head on confrontation. Killing it is going to take a lot more than just this much.
I snorted in displeasure,"You think I don't know? I've got better things to do than face it like a chivalrous idiot and besides," I flexed my arms as I made a mad dash for the legs, shouting,"239 from strength into speed! Second form!" 4 blue moons appeared alongside 33 red ones as I turned into an angel, soaring up at blindingly fast speeds for the arms to catch. It was akin to trying to kill a fly with a hand,"I really want to kill it."