A pale glow bathed the mechanized arachnids as the web of mana channels filled with energy from the reactors, and their beams turned dark red and cleaved into the translucent s.h.i.+eld.

The ground was instantly set ablaze, all along the path of the beam, and men on the receiving end of the beam immolated and turned to ash. It was as if the Particles were exacting their own vengeance upon the enemy for what they did at Silversh.o.r.e—recreating their own version of the tragedy.

Somnus had no idea whether the arachnids felt anything or even had thoughts of their own. They were mindless creatures before their upgrade, and Somnus had no reason to believe they were anything different after it. The only organ he replaced was their heart—they had a mana reactor—therefore, in theory, their intelligence shouldn't have been affected. Yet, their actions always seemed to suggest otherwise. They understood strategy and tactics to a level comparable to Somnus's and their loyalty was as adamant as if it was programmed into them.

Dozens of s.h.i.+elds appeared in front of the enemy, layered in front of each other, and not even they could withstand the power of the beams produced by the mechanized spiders. They caved under the force, warping and twisting before being blown through and defeated.

The s.h.i.+elds could not stop the thermal radiation of the beam either; merely its presence bathed the enemy army in megawatts of heat, instantly incinerating their clothes, and evaporating the water in their bodies. Desiccated, incinerated and obliterated, bodies fell on the ground in the enemy army even before the beam defeated the final barrier and bathed the remaining people with the light of ruin.

No one in their right mind expected Somnus's attack to be this fierce. Not the enemy, nor Somnus's own force. The mechanized spiders were a mystery to everyone, even though, at the very least, the soldiers on Somnus's side saw them fight briefly, but never this fiercely.

Gemma and Duke Peron, who were standing close to Somnus, had troubled expressions. Neither one of them expected that the opening stage of the battle would go this well—in fact, they thought they would lose this battle—but now the light of hope shone in their eyes. For Gemma, this meant revenge for what the Empire did to Mia. For Peron, it meant that he could still be of service to his King and country.

The dark red beams of mana faded after effortlessly slaughtering thousands of people, and darkness once more fell on the battlefield.

For a seemingly endless minute, there was only darkness and silence.

"My liege… are you not going to press the attack?" Duke Peron asked.

Somnus turned to look at Peron and tilted his head. "I already told you that this is something you must do. This battle is for humanity's sake; for your freedom. There is no point if I do it for you."

"But…" Duke Peron began.

"No excuses," Somnus said. "There is no path left but the one in waiting before you."

Somnus pointed at the enemy. "They stand in your way. They guard the gates of the castle. What are you going to do?"

"Kill!" The Deathbringers shouted, hearing the words Somnus spoke through telepathic links from others who directly overheard his words.

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Peron turned to look at the line of Deathbringers, who looked ready and eager to use their weapons. The Duke cracked a well-concealed smile.

"Bring me the Gateway, Peron, and I will bring you the future," Somnus said. "Aurora was right. The hourgla.s.s has run out. Go. Break this arrow of time that goes nowhere. Fertilize the grounds for a new age to begin here."

"Your will be done, my Liege," Peron said, pressing a fist to his heart.

The duke turned towards the Deathbringers and shouted, "Deathbringers! Fire!"

The silence shattered like gla.s.s as the Deathbringers unleashed a hail of bullets—their guns roared with the language of thunder and violence; The words embodying the rage of a humanity enslaved to fantasy and fable.

More s.h.i.+elds appeared in front of the enemy, but the bullets contained spell sequences that erased the Information Layer, and easily blasted through the defenses. Each bullet mimicked the principles of Somnus's [Void Sword] skill, which has proven itself extremely effective against magic.

When magical barriers seemed unable to stop the barrage, the archers deployed in the front began retreating to give way for the s.h.i.+eld-bearing infantry. The opponent was not idle either; the cavalry on the flanks had began maneuvering through the open ground, intending to attack the flanks of Somnus's army with ten thousand hors.e.m.e.n on either side.

Peron's hands moved like he was a conductor at an orchestra, telepathically relaying orders to the Deathbringers who s.h.i.+fted their fire from the enemy's center, to the cavalry intending to attack their flanks.

A constant stream of fire poured down both flanks, tracers forming a flaming tongue of death and punishment.

Ma.s.sive magical spell circles appeared above the enemy army, pouring mana into spells that would, without a doubt, be devastating to any army. Each unit of mages, powering a single one of those spell circles, was as large as Somnus's entire army. And there were a dozen of those magical circles.

Even before the entirety of the enemy army moved, the situation seemed hopeless; but to see them move in such an organized way and wielding such intimidating power would break the will of any fighting force.

Yet, the Deathbringers showed no indication of fear or wavering spirit. They were dedicated professionals—mere peasants a few weeks ago, and now, masters of death. If the enemy truly knew what they would face today, their spirit would be wavering now.

Unfortunately for the enemy, they were clueless.

As the cavalry charge slowed and began to crumble under the endless barrage of fire, the enemy spell circles were reaching mana capacity and completion.

The spell circles were so ma.s.sive that Somnus could not understand them. There were millions of symbols in each one of them, which was a testament to the Empire's power and a wisdom earned only through centuries of survival in an inhospitable environment. It is as if the enemy knew that one day someone with [Magic Eyes] would be born, or the inconceivable coincidence that this same person may have [Rewrite] as well. Or perhaps Somnus was simply overthinking it.

Still, Somnus knew that the spell was of an attack variety, even though he did not know what kind of attack it would be. The Particles did not hesitate either—they saw the spell circles and their bodies began to glow once more with the s.h.i.+mmer of mana power.

Countless pale-blue hexagons, each one a meter tall and wide, appeared in front of Somnus's army, each hexagon interlocking with the ones next to it to form a wall that was as physical as it was metaphysical. The spiders did not emit spell circles because every spell they could use was engraved in their very body. Alarmingly, however, Somnus did not remember ever giving the spiders this ability. Even the dark red beam was something new to Somnus, but he had a.s.sumed that this was a side-effect of the mana [Overcapacity]—a spell-state achieved only through filling a magical circle considerably beyond the required capacity and theoretical maximum.

Were the spiders evolving? Could it be that not only have they become more intelligent, but that they could alter their magitech or use spells of their own—without emitting spell circles? Hiding spell circles was not impossible; They could be camouflaged and hidden from both normal and magical sight. However, every skill and magical effect had an origin in the Information Dimension, and though Somnus could not directly observe that dimension, he knew that Aeon could. Yet, Aeon reported nothing except an increase in the threat level.

[OPCOM: Photon Threat Level updated: 9]

[OPCOM: Baryon Threat Level updated: 9]

They were nines now; In Somnus's world, this was the equivalent of a point-blank fusion bomb or s.p.a.ces.h.i.+ps equipped with baryon lances. Aeon knew something that Somnus did not, and a small alteration in the magitech was not the cause—that by itself could not justify a threat level increase of two. Both Photon and Baryon were becoming existences that were nearly equivalent to Somnus's own.

Just as the hexagon-s.h.i.+eld formed completely, the enemy's spells reached completion and each spell circle unleashed a pulse of sound, followed by an expanding ring of white light. The sound itself had a strange quality to it, like crystals rearranging. The reason for this was obvious as Somnus looked at the approaching ring of white light—it contained the very essence of Order and harmony.

Somnus could not even imagine what would happen to him if that white light struck him as he never dealt with such a magic type before. But the effect was obvious on what it did to the surroundings. Even in the low light conditions, Somnus could see the very gra.s.s beneath the ring turn into crystals. Snowflakes fell on the crystallized gra.s.s, as the moisture in the air froze.

When the ring touched the hexagon s.h.i.+eld, it did so with a deep sound like a gong being struck. Some hexagons cracked and shattered, the fragments crumbling into dust. As Somnus watched this happen, he realized that the dust was the same type of dust that fell off Aeon's wings when mana was being crystallized. It was mana itself, rearranged into a more ordered state.

But not all the hexagons crumbled, and the s.h.i.+eld stood the test of the Imperial mages. The white ring broke against the s.h.i.+eld, never fully penetrating, and then dissipated into thin air.

To say that Duke Peron was not at all worried, even for a moment, would be an understatement. He was a veteran of many battles; He even survived the day when he lost his previous King. However, Duke Peron understood why Somnus killed him and even agreed with it. The monarchy had always been arrogant, throwing lives away in wars as if they were nothing. As a Commander, Peron was all too acquainted with that practice and even lost several good friends because of Monarchs and their pointless conflicts. The Monarchs could do that, and even waltz around on the battlefield, because both the Empire and the G.o.ds always guaranteed their safety. Then Somnus came and shattered that reality. What was there to fear other than Somnus? Not the Empire, not the G.o.ds, not even death.

"Gram!" Peron shouted, addressing the soldiers and raising his sword. "This day has been coming for a long, long time. It is exactly because of how long it took for us to get here, that we forgot the natural order of things—that we forgot what we were meant to be."

As the hexagonal s.h.i.+eld faded, so did the light falling on Peron; But his voice could still be heard clearly, and his sword glimpsed the moon hidden behind the clouds and reflected the light.

"We are not playthings of Fate anymore! We are not slaves of G.o.ds or the currency of Monarchs to be thrown away! This day has been coming for a long time, and it is not about glory. This day is not about justice or righteousness. It is about us. It is about our unfettered selves. This day is Fate itself, and no matter what, we cannot lose! So fight!"

"Kill!" The Ashborn Knights and the Deathbringers responded in unison.

"Bring down the Heavens! Slay the G.o.ds!"

"Kill!"

"Topple the towers! Blind the sun!"

"Kill!"

Peron took a deep breath and lowered his sword. "This day belongs to us—to humanity. Seize it! Take what is yours! For Gram! For Somnus! For Humanity!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" the troops chanted.