Chapter 6: Fated Visitor

The builder arises, groggily. She stands up, looking around. She had been sent flying into a nearby wall and took minor damage from the explosion. Luckily, the island they were on fared better. Most of this building seemed intact. She quickly checked around for vital signs of the others inside this facility.

“Seems we survived that blast, luckily. The people outside, unfortunately...I could do nothing to protect them. Damn it!” She punches the wall, frustrated by her lack of strength. Tony stirs awake. He has minor cuts on his face and is bruised up. His glasses have been damaged as well. He is dizzy but slowly gets up, seeing his boss nearby.

“Thank the heavens...What is this? Are you upset?” He gets up and slowly walks over, surveying the damage. Most of the room is messy but structurally intact. None of this building was damaged. When he looks outside, however, he becomes pale. Where there was once part of the city now only remains barren earth. Like a larger crater replacing part of the once pristine city. He looks back at the divine hammer, who has walked besides him.

“I can’t believe this. It, it happened so...quickly.” He stands aghast.

“I know. I reacted the best I could at this moment but. This was the worst time of the year for something like this to happen. So many lives, taken in an instant...” Tony looks unnerved but retains his composure, somehow.

“You did what anyone would do at that moment. You tried to save as many lives as you could. Don’t sell yourself short, you know. And besides...” he looks outwards, towards the beast still slithering around.

“It’s not fucking dead yet. Now is your chance to kill the damned monster.” He spits out violently, coughing a little. He catches his breath.

Don’t let it consume more precious life. The lives we strive to protect, every day.” Tony, despite facing true peril, stands strong. His dedication to his people is unchanging.

Just like the first day she met him, the builder thinks. She looks around, not seeing the others in the room.

“I will deal with that ‘snake’ in a moment. Where the hell did our other guests go, in the blink of an eye?” She can no longer sense the energy of her peers, that she sensed merely five minutes ago.

Something was strange, something was afoot. Before she could think further, Tony put his hand on her shoulder.

“Go! I will find them. Perform your duty.” She simply nods.

“Ah. I can never fight you, Tony. Nor would I ever want to.” She picks herself up and starts levitating. She bursts through the doors, destroying them, flying quickly out of the building. Tony sighs.

“Could have at least ran to the entrance, before you started flying, you know.”

She arrives at a scene of pure carnage. A scene of despair. Below her, several surrounding blocks have been turned to molten rock and ash. The ground is still radiating immense heat from the energy beam that came out of the snake. Outside of the crater, she can see it, with her long-distance scanning.

Or more of, see them. The charred remains of townspeople burnt to ash. People that were severely injured, in need of aid. And of those uninjured but scared of the horrific beast.

The snake bellows, roaring into the air, further shaking the ground. Several mixed feelings brew inside of her, but the strongest one is anger.

Pure, uncontrolled anger. She cocks her fist, summoning her weapon from its energy containment system. A large, metallic hammer made of space steel.

“I have had enough.” She soars into the snake before it can react, smashing her hammer into its face at inhuman speed. The snake yells in pain and is hurtled into the air. Flying several dozen meters in the air before crashing back into the ground.

This causes a minor tremor and dust to cover the ground. Unfortunately for the builder, the snake seems quite undamaged. Her strike barely even drew blood from it. Clearly, this beast was far stronger than the ones she normally slaughtered.

“It felt like I was hitting something harder than my hammer. This beast, this snake. I don’t think it will be easy to kill.” She floats in the air, observing her enemy. The dust has settled. The snake has coiled into a ball and suddenly uncoils, lunging at her. She quickly dodges but then it spins itself in the air, smashing its massive tail at her in the air. She barely has time to block, raising her hammer. The collision sends her flying backwards quite a bit, but she maintains her stance. Exerting both arms, she grabs her hammer and smashes into it again, harder than before. This strike does more damage, puncturing the thick steel like scales covering its body, iitstail being injured. The snake screams in agony, thrashing about. She moves backward in the air and lands on the ground, about fifteen meters away from the snake, cautiously observing it for the moment.

“Seems I can damage it, but this fight is taking too long. At this rate, the entire city will be our battlefield.” She looks around, looking for others. Luckily, she can only see herself and the large snake monster, for now.

“Speaking of, where is that Hekta when you need her? She would love fighting something like this. She was always battle-thirsty.” Faint memories from her childhood remind her of times they hunted wild beasts for practice.

The goddess of the Under Realm was always a natural when it came to fighting.

Her attention is quickly drawn back to the snake.

It seems like it is healing the damage she gave it? And it is also absorbing energy from the ground.

Its eyes glow an ever-deeper red. Before she can react to it, the large beast moves faster than before, smashing its head straight into her torso. She coughs up blood.

Her body is thrown high into the air, tumbling out of control. She skids and spins, unable to control her body, and smashes into the ground about another fifty meters away. Blood is profusely dripping from her stomach and arm, her hammer flung out of her grip. It is difficult for her to breathe; the damage was higher than she thought.

With no time to speak, she can only see a mirage of the beast’s movement. Then, its tail hits her squarely on the forehead, sending her rolling on the ground. She is sent a further distance away, until she crashes into a nearby damaged building. Her collision destroys the rest of it. She stumbles through the wreckage falling down. This beast was far stronger than any she faced before and was extremely dangerous.

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Yet, her consciousness was fading in and out. She was severely damaged, only from a few hits.

Her breathing intensifies. The worst time for her to be close to passing out.

“Ha...I ...can’t...” She slumps to the ground, passing out. The damage was too severe for her, it seemed.

Then strangely, several moments later.

Her body forced itself back up. As if possessed by someone else. Her visor, damaged, falls off.

Her eyes normally a gentle shade of blue, glowed yellow. Golden energy flowed through her body and her hair glowed yellow as if in response to this power.

She speaks but her voice sounds similar but different. Like a different person. One had gone through many years of war.

One that had endured more than a living being ever should.

And one spoke with great wisdom obtained only through sheer sacrifice. Sheer determination. Sheer will.

“This body of mine. It cannot withstand the full power of her spirit. Not yet anyway.” She looks around, at the snake who is eyeing her down with interest. Waiting for its prey to respond. She merely laughs.

“These things are the least of our worries. In the future, anyway.” She merely waves her hand in the air. The beast is grabbed by a mysterious golden energy and sent floating in the air.

A golden prison of energy surrounds it, keeping it trapped high in the sky. The golden-eyed woman, possessing the builder’s body, teleports back on to the island. She further raises it slowly into the sky, far away from the city.

Tony, who was watching this unfold from the safety of the building, bursts out and confronts this strange phenomenon. Surprised.

“What, who are—what is going on?!?” Tony exclaims, completely baffled. The golden eye woman merely just turns to look at Tony, then turns away again.

“Ah. Anthony.” The woman, who is possessing the Divine Hammer’s body, remembers. She remembers the time she spent with Anthony.

“I remember those peaceful days we spent together; those times that we were here. And those other times, where you were.” She cuts herself off, intentionally.

Forcing herself to not tell her friend what might befall him.

Forcing herself to focus on the present.

“I was what? And who are you? You don’t sound like the person I know. I demand you identify yourself!” Tony exclaims. He is quite confused.

Tony is staring at his boss but she sounds completely different than her usual self. And it is scaring him.

“It is best if I don’t. And even if I did, you wouldn’t believe me anyway.” She stares at the sky, embracing its beautiful blue hue. A rare sight for her.

“This universe hasn’t progressed to such a state of decay, yet. Not at this time.” Tony, still confused, stares blankly.

“This time? Are you a time traveler? Only something theorized, as far as I know.” He does not get the answer he desires. Instead, she continues onwards, answering his question vaguely.

“The future...No, our future is full of stranger things.” She sighs, full of feelings she cannot express at this moment. She does not have much time left.

She can only provide aid at certain times. And now was one of them.

There was no point in revealing her true purpose here. That, in fact, might unravel the moment itself.

“I can’t tell you much. I can only tell you one thing. That we will meet again. There is nothing else I can say to you at this moment.”

Cutting the conversation short, she turns her full attention back towards the imprisoned beast in the sky. Tony, defeated, sighs. He merely shrugs and turns around.

“Just as stubborn as the person’s body who you ungraciously took over.” He just walks off back, into the building, silent. He is frustrated but he knows he will not get the answer he seeks from whoever this interloper is.

The golden eyed woman stares at the beast and closes her eyes. Some kind of star shaped symbol appears below her feet, then begins to rotate slowly.

“Come forth, my eternal partner! My steel knight of the stars, my friend!”

The star expands in size, enveloping the space around her and in front of her.

A hole space is open, forced open. A mechanical knight, clad in steel, slowly rises through. It is a giant machine, one that resembles a human. But it is not.

It has a large cape, made of some kind of fabric on its back. On its shoulders are two giant swords, made from an unknown metal. It is nearly through and the lower body, steel legs, can be seen.

The entire being rises and the hole in space closes, as quickly as it opens. The machine is over eleven meters tall, standing far above the height of the building in front of them. It is merely floating in the air, then crosses its arms.

“O’ great star knight, the almighty primordial instrument of the heavens. It is good to see you again.” The voice seems masculine but loud and verbose. She nods her head.

“It is always a pleasure meeting you, Omni knight. Even if it’s—”

“No need for words. I am here; you have summoned me in this world, this place. For a reason.” He stares at the beast floating in the prison, trying to break out.

“We do not have much time left, my friend.” He does not mince his words.

“Board me and we shall slay this creature.”

“As you wish.” She jumps into the air. The Omni’s knight’s chest opens. Inside, there is space. An area to sit.

Seats for five individuals. The others are not here, for now.

She sits on the middle seat and raises her hands. A digital control panel emerges from the air, allowing her to pilot the large humanoid machine. The two fly into the sky, an energy trail rendering behind them. Some kind of energy is being left behind him as he rises into the sky, then propels towards their target.

“We have three hundred seconds left of operational time. Her body cannot withstand the force of my spirit on her, any further.” The golden eyed woman sighs and doesn’t reply. The machine knight continues speaking.

“Expanding the golden containment field. Preparing for combat.” As they close in, the cage grows in size, accommodating them and the beast. The beast seems to be glowing silver

Energy is gathering around it. It wants to strike at the strange new being.

But it does not get the chance.

In a flash, they grab its jaw and snap it close, making it scream in agony. Omni knight then twists his hands, smashes the bones in its head into pieces within seconds. An earth-shattering crunch can be heard.

Clearly, he is used to combat.

But several moments later, the snake seemingly heals the wounds, regenerating its head back into its proper place.

An aberration that needs to be silenced, he thinks. Striking its energy core will not be enough to destroy it, he thinks.

“Enemy fragment has commenced a regeneration cycle. Two hundred fifty seconds remaining. I suggest complete cellular annihilation to prevent constant regeneration cycle from occurring, O star warrior.” He speaks with certainty and clarity, as if he is used to killing such beasts daily. She nods, moving her hands forward. The right one rises into the air. A large star appears in the great machine’s right hand, raised towards the sky. An energy ball forms quickly, increasing to a moderate size. The Omni knight, despite his large size, moves quickly towards the snake. He forces its jaw open with his left hand and thrusts deep with his right into its gullet, leaving behind the sphere of energy. Then immediately moves away from the snake.

“Executing Sol annihilation technique.” The knight continues speaking, the woman remains silent.

“By gathering an excessive amount of photon energy, one can create a small miniature sun that can self-destruct at the user’s will. Perfect for vaporizing such creatures. Or destroying many small ones at once in a controlled environment.” The sphere reaches its maximum size, engorging the insides of the snake. Then it explodes violently.

Its entire flesh is asunder, torn into thousands of pieces. The bones and cartilage holding it together are being burnt away by the power of the sun. The entire snake screams in agony as it is being quickly destroyed on a cellular level, preventing its natural regeneration.

Within sixty seconds, the silver eye snake no longer exists; it has been completely destroyed.

“190 seconds remain. We’ve destroyed the snake faster than anticipated.”

“Seek to the injured in your remaining uptime. As for me, well...teleport me to a certain place.” She does not say where out loud but inputs the coordinates into his system

The knight wants to question her but decides against it.

He follows the will of his friend, nodding his large motionless mechanical head.

“Then. Safe travels, my friend.” The golden eyed divine hammer gets up, leaving the cockpit of the machine. She flies outwards, turning to look at her friend. The machine knight. The sentient god machine she called her partner. A white orb surrounded her, him preparing to teleport her to a different location.

“My partner.” She responds, sad to see him leave her view.

The blazing white orb surrounds her in a massive sphere, leaving a white blind white light. It moves far into the sky, then off the planet. Away from her home.