15. The seven hours’ war

The full scale invasion had begun.

With our shared warnings and intelligence, at least for a while, the militaries and adventurers of every country stopped glaring at each other. Kisses might come after the victory, if we were to prevail.

Because when the real forces or invasion arrived, it still was a worldwide shock and awe.

Portals bigger opened, and monsters poured in like there was no end to them.

The central countries of the empire were falling in a matter of hours.

Thankfully, things were so obliviously dire, that the leading people took full measure of what we had meant.

And a UN led coalition of the same European kingdoms and Empire stood firm. Those who had for so long sought to nibble each other now faced the common alien enemy. As shaky as they could be, but reasonably.

It was now invading through huge portals opening throughout the central lands, and growing at visible speed visible from the horizon.

The swarm of deformed beasts and corrupted machines the system couldn't interfere with met the proper military response from humanity.

The heartland of the empire was submerged, but the alliance managed to contain it and push back in the following days.

My friends were supporting the main groups in this battle that was growing a frontline in the modern warfare kind of meaning. A continuous battle of overwhelming powers ploughing the land.

The flood of beasts seemed infinite however, and everything was looking challenged. The kingdoms were humans. And the adventurer's powers were weakening fighting these monsters.

The corruption from the other side was staining in, revoking human and humanoid accesses, gradually extinguishing our magical powers.

The malevolent end on the other side was gaining ground, and still had forces to throw against us.

The earlier portals and small scale invasions had been scouting expeditions for the threat to our biosphere and system. And they had prepared forces in a scale meant to prevail.

They knew what we could throw at them, and now the balance was tilting. Our system would fall and follow, and this would be the end.

Unless there was a grain of sand to glitch the system.

~

I flew above the field on Basileus's back. His friends were spearheading the only flying force able to go beyond the hellish frontlines. They were growing heavier as their level of authority was getting lowered steadily, but they were still the dominators. They were dragons.

Our flying allies scattered to face their corrupted counterparts coming in and opening me the way. I unleashed my most powerful spells against some of them. Plasma beams pierced our clouds to hit them and torch the flying forces coming our way.

S - Go, go, fast Ba!

Basileus was nervous and snorted, but the dragon once cowardly now was finding his bravery.

In front of us in the dying landscape, the disc of a bluer cerulean sky, beyond the portal to another world and time.

Beyond which the future system had gone crazy and beyond self-recovery.

A twisted ecosystem now pouring uncontrollably into ours through this light.

I brushed my eyes and cursed him who brought me here ne last time.

I closed my eyes as we passed the horizon of events of this wormhole through our relativistic understanding of space-time. I felt the urge to vomit as it twisted.

I felt the air changing, becoming unbreathable.

I felt the sun burning my skin.

And I heard the corrupted system vibrating, as if mountains and land were growling.

- SYSTEM THREAT DETECTED.

S - This time for good...

The world machine was twitching, convulsing. My gaze sharpened. The nanites I carried would rapidly lose their understanding.

But I had prepared and activated the sonar.

The closest beacon was detected and I yelled to Basileus to hasten.

S - Over there! The old beacon!

The dragon was shaky, his own relation to the system beginning to fail. He flew as fadt as he could, for the sake of the world we left behind.

~

Basileus was shot down by some weaponry they still had and we plummeted through the sky.

I used my extended authority to heal him before it was too far. We wouldn't make it back, not the both of us. We were too far.

I left him, urging him to go back and used another tremendous flying spell before he could refuse and catch me back. You could just save your scales old friend.

I bolted to the metallic spire, through the landscape that reminded me of Mars. The urban ruins of Earth were unrecognizable in this land.

Everything was dry, there were no more waters nor even clouds in the sky. No one would want to be isekaied in this world.

Hard to believe this planet in time could still hold onto such a biomass to throw at us. But they were only fodder to be thrown at us.

The relay node was there as it always had, albeit covered with a good layer of regolith now. I landed against it in a blast. It reacted and began to glow.

- ACCESS DENIED.

S - Nanites... Use my one shot authority override. Shut down the system.

N - Silvia. We won't have enough time to bring you back to the gate before it shuts.

S - Do it nanites...

And goodbye my first little friends I wanted to say. The tiny swarm left my body and corrupted the decaying system into a forced reset.

The growling voice quieted down as the transcendental cohesion began to fade.

Now every machine was losing its higher authority and they would scatter free, and harmless.

All they had built would die.

And this world would be free to restart evolution and everything else peradventure...

The palms of my hands began to slip from the glowing surface and I fell down.

Now it hurt me to no end. I wailed. I couldn't breathe properly anymore.

I had a little left before I would pass out and die here. I thought of my six dearest friends, and especially one. I didn't want to lose them...

I saw Basileus in the distance, harassed by the local monsters but still brave enough to come and help.

I jumped, giving it all. I didn't want to die!

Basileus caught me i flight and we rushed toward the now fading gate. To hopefully make it back in time.

I couldn't breathe anymore. And I couldn't see Basileus making it back in time.

Their faced and older moments we had shared flashed in my mind.

And especially that smile...

~

I woke up under a collection of worried faces. Now their eyes were swelling up.

If they looked at me like that I was going to cry.

They all hugged me tight one after another. They had feared for my life for real this time. Dominika, Orea and Felicia. Aster, Cécile and Josephine...

We made it back. Basileus returned to his homeland, leaving me in my friend’s care.

And we even made it at all...

The hostile intelligence was deactivated in its own ground, and all the attacks ceased.

My dutiful Friends received their rewards in grandiose official ceremonies, from their respective countries. We all inherited our lands in a world no longer under constant pressure from the appearing monsters.

Because the flow had been steady and slow for such a long time, no one had realised the world had been sick for a long time.

And now that I shut down its sad source, a pressure was lifted.

Criminality and backward social order would remain, but a threat was gone.

The authority levels that adventurers and others had lost didn't really recovered. The damages in our system might self repair over time, but affected people would move on with their lives.

As we would as well.

My authority was restored though.

N - Please don't do this ever again Silvia.

S - Ah ah... You too would miss me, don't you?

N - Yes we would. Existence is far more enjoyable with you under the spotlight.

I smiled a bit wry.

Was I their idol or something?

The weirder thing was, the war was over.

It had been brewing for decades, and then most tensions had fallen down.

Time was now for reconstruction and easing things between old enmities.

I liked what I saw on the news while I rested for a short while in my new home. The manor was still just a temporary shed while the main construction was happening. Quinn was busy overseeing it.

Gwynifar brought me a tea and soup in my bed.

Truth was, I already had fully recovered, but I enjoyed to be spoiled a little.

S - Thank you. Can I touch your ears?

G - You're welcome and no.

S - Come on, I saved the world! I deserve at least that.

G - The journalists and statesmen wishing to speak to you about that are continuing to gather at our doors. I doubt Quinn will be able to hold them out for much longer. You should do something about it my lady.

I sighed. No rest for the weary.

~