Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 118
“Hm?” The man in black was One. Knelt in front of him was the knight commander of the Fortress City garrison Wog had told him about before he went to visit.
He was told that William was a man of good character and honor. One wanted to exploit his sense of good character and honor as a weakness against him.
But One did not expect them to make the first move, attacking him just after he came out of the forest.
Damn these people, I had just got out of the debacle with that magical wolf pack, One thought.
Thanks to the purification magic that was directed at him, it did the opposite effect. Purification magic if used against the undead, would result in the undead being suċkėd of all their mana and replaced with pure mana that would instantly kill them.
But One wasn’t dead nor alive in any sense that magic understood. He was in between. And so, his systems that lacked enough energy to function, were powered up to levels even One did not know he could withstand.
The immense power that surged within him was too great and so, he needed to use the beam weapons on the palm of each of his hands at maximum power to expel the excess the energy.
If he did not do so, he would have exploded into a million pieces.
He shot the beams two times. The first beam was the most powerful, a pillar of energy was thrown in a straight line and obliterated the gate. The second was less powerful but had a wider range. Instead of launching it vertically, One swiped both his hands around resulting in a horizontal beam that was still powerful enough to know the top of the walls and towers over.
Even One himself was surprised at the amount of power.
“So this is the power of magic,” He said after completing his attacks.
And right now, William was begging for mercy in front of him. His head on the ground, his arms shivering and trembling.
There was no point in killing him and the knights. It was against his plan anyway to do so.
“Stand,” One said. Surprising William.
“I merely retaliated against your attack but my true intentions don’t involve killing any of you folks,” One said. William and the rest, upon hearing this, were taken aback.
They were being shown mercy by a person with immense strength.
William then stood and faced One. The blue eyes of his still made him feel fear.
But One did something even he did not think he’d do to a human again.
He placed his right hand over William’s left shoulder and gave him a smile.
“You did good, your men did good,” One said.
“All of you,” One announced.
“You did good. Despite being shown such power, despite seeing your friends, teammates, wiped out and killed. You still stood your ground to face me even though you knew that death was the only outcome whether you ran away or not,” One said.
“But I don’t export death. Not anymore, I merely retaliated against your aggression but now that has been said and done, there is no point in me attacking,” One continued.
“Now, let me get to the point. I merely want to visit your lord, I have no intentions of fighting any of you, blood has been shed but I promise you, just let me through and no innocent blood will be needlessly spilled,”
His offer seemed too good to be true but what choice did they have?
But they still weren’t convinced.
One sighed in his mind.
“What business do you have with the count?” William asked. Feeling more confident.
“Well it depends, first, I intend to ask him some questions and depending on his answers, it’s either I send him running for his life or I take his head right here and now,” One said.
“What?” The knights were shocked. Jorn suddenly saw a glimmer of hope in the midst of the darkness that had enveloped them until now.
“You intend to ȧssassinate Count Drian?” One of the knights stepped out of the line and walked forward.
“You! Get back in the line,” Jorn shouted.
One then raised his hand. Jorn shut his mouth.
“I don’t intend to ȧssassinate him. It’s either I depose of him with his head still attached or I execute him for his crimes,” One said.
The knight that had stepped out and walked forward began to tear up. Before he bawled his eyes out, he went to his feet and cried out.
“Thank you, thank you, at long last! My daughter shall receive her justice!” The man cried. His fellow knights looked on and then looked at each other. Each of them had a story, had their own lost and sacrifice, all of which could have been avoided if the Count had just not been greedy.
One by one, the knights threw away their shields and swords and knelt down before One.
For them, it was a small price to pay. The souls of their comrades-in-arms could forever rest in peace knowing that they did not die in vain and that their sacrifices were going to be honoured.
William and Jorn, seeing the resolve of the knights, bowed their heads.
“We swear allegiance to you,” They said.
Huh, now it was One who was taken aback.
These men are crazy, he thought.
One then started walking. The knights all stood aside.
“Pick up your weapons and your shields and protect the families here, you and William, come with me,” He said. He pointed at William and Jorn to come with him.
“Where are we going?” Jorn asked.
“We’re gonna make good ol Drian answer for his crimes, that’s what we’re doing. It’s either he answers with him running or his head rolling,”