Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 154

Hundreds of dead goblins laid on the ground, scattered about within and around the beast’s lair. The wooden palisade which sealed the lair’s overarching entrance was destroyed by its own giant architect in a desperate attempt to save itself from the same fate as its brother who also lied dead, surrounded by a pool of its own blood which poured from its neck.

Toby and him the knights, covered in the blood of their little victims, surrounded the goblinmancer who laid crying on the ground next to the pool of blood.

The poor fellow looked at Toby with his teary eyes, as if he was begging for forgiveness and mercy. However, the eyes of the man he looked at were not the eyes of a simple man. They looked back at him with eyes that seemed dead inside, as if they had already seen their fair share of horrors not even he could fathom.

Toby and the knights were all the same, their eyes were suċkėd of all emotion and the gleam of humanity that once shined within. Maybe this was their gift? A gift bestowed upon those who had seen the horrors of battle and war? Sure, they only fought against these lowly monsters but these so-called lowly monsters were their enemies still.

They outnumbered the knights but they still won, armed to the teeth yet the knights won. What was the prize for their victory? Nothing but vengeance. They saw the aftermath of the villages which laid in ruin along the path they took to search for the mastermind, men, women, children, all fallen by the sword of these little green abominations and their human master, corrupted by his love for magic and control.

Like a dog with a nose of steel, Toby sensed the  dead women inside his quarters. Two knights volunteered to check it out and as soon as they opened the wooden door whose lock they had to stab out, the bodies of five different women welcomed them.

They reported this back to Toby and it quickly spread to the other knights. Disgusted, their eyes then filled with rage, locked onto the goblinmancer’s wailing self.

“W-what!?” The man on the ground complained, seeing their eyes, he knew that he was about to be murdered and so screamed for help.

Who was going to help someone like him? His minions had abandoned him, his generals were eviscerated and now he was surrounded by these men who had seen the atrocities he had committed.

“We won’t kill you,” Toby suddenly said, breaking out a smile before kneeling near the goblinmancer’s face.

“Tell me… what is your name?” Toby asked.

The goblinmancer’s sweat dripped down his eyes, causing him to blink in response to its saltiness.

The man wasn’t asking him again but he knew that if he failed to answer, he may be tortured or worse, killed.

The goblinmancer feared death the most, and thus he did everything he could within his physical and magical capability to attain immortality.

But it was not enough, for some reason, immortality was something not even the archmages whose power far surpassed his still aged and died slow deaths.

Why? What was the secret? What caused aging? Was it a curse by the high god? Or was it something else entirely?

He knew not the ways of science and so, delved deeper into the tainted pages of magic books and came across the teachings of the outcasts, gods who were banished from their place in high heaven for their miscreant deeds.

The God of War found the goblinmancer’s dėsɨrės fulfilling and he granted him power and ‘immortality’ but with one condition, he was to raise an army of the god’s own personal  breed of goblins and rule over parts of the continent with them.

Why did he choose goblins? For they were savage creatures whose instincts involved all of his titles and the more these goblins committed their deeds, the more powerful he would become.

Yet, this was all done years ago when the goblins were bred and thought by the goblinmancer. The God of War become impatient and his power began to wane, he needed to do something, something to save himself from disappearing.

The world was too peaceful, no more great wars, no large battles, nothing.

And then, they came. From another world, another dimension across space and time. A race he did not know existed for he was aware of their world but..

He did not know that someone survived.

They came into the world and put the high gods in crisis, they sent out an aspiring blue goddess whose relation with her sister the White goddess made her a top candidate within the ranks of the gods.

Yet, she was defeated again and again until she met her demise a few months back. The heavens were shocked and many called for their own intervention.

But this was where the outcasts banded together. Behind the scenes, another war broke out and this war was fought in heaven. When the high God sent down the other gods to vanquish the metal men and their leader, the outcasts were gathered together by the God of Death himself and they fought.

The war was still not over, gods, goddesses and outcasts had been slain, reduced to nothing but the war raged on in heaven and in the world.

Why did the God of War did what he did? None may know, for he loved war, but there was also another reason behind his actions, why he chose the path into darkness and why he became what he was.

He watched from the sidelines as his redeemer slit off the throat of the last hobgoblin, he smiled and looked on as the metal man whose heart and mind were still human, returned to his comrades.

“At last, forgiveness”