Chapter 25: Rescue Operation

The day went by rather uneventfully. They were ready.

After checking out of their room, the girls were bristling with energy. All roles in the plan have been assigned.

Omni-Knight would be the distraction.

Nam would be the infiltrator, heading into the building first to deactivate their security system. The Magician would be the rear guard, protecting from behind. And Divine Flash would be the support; that speed of hers could be used in multiple different situations. The sun begins to set. The steel knight quickly arrives in his own portal, behind the three of them.

The group is about a kilometer away from I-ledgers. Nam has already procured a couple security cards but that won’t get them far. They will have to either steal a higher clearance one, to gain access to the tenth floor or deactivate the entire security system in the security office on the 9th floor. They chose the latter. It was hard to keep track of the workers in these buildings, not merely since they constantly changed every day, when they were spying earlier in the week, but also because of the massive amount of security personnel surrounding them. Most of the people going into those buildings were the big wigs or high clearance researchers, so the companies protected their precious little birds heavily.

Luckily neither of the girls were caught when they were doing earlier reconnaissance but they could not count on that. There were dozens of drones and machine slaves on every floor, it was a fight against time to find their friends. So, the solution was clear but risky.

Get the Omni-Knight to draw the attention of all of them. That will work for some time but not forever. Especially when the Chaos Knight starts to act. Who knows what else they have in store for them?

They predicted they would have about fifteen minutes to turn off the security system in I-ledgers. As soon as they rescue the villagers imprisoned there, they will have to reach the twenty-fifth floor of Ivante. That building has more lax security but it still would be difficult to get there with all of those non combatants. So, the magician offered to warp the two girls into the building and will catch up as soon as the sly mage can.

The Sun has almost set. At seven O’clock, they will begin their infiltration. It is 6:30pm. While they are whispering in a corner, sitting in front of some cafe, a familiar face approaches.

That lewd hyena from the other day, the woman stands obscenely in front of them.

Now wearing a very revealing silk dress, which further shows off that gorgeous toned body.

And that terrifyingly huge weapon in between her legs, literally almost the size of their arm. Why is it even more visible now, wonders Nam? That damn woman isn’t even excited right now! The red-haired girl shudders. It is clear why few want to have sex with this woman, that's way too much to work with.

“Lookie lookie here who I found. Just the right person.” The hyena woman licks her lips, playing coy. Divine Flash merely gives the sister a thumbs up, chuckling at the young adult’s discomfort from being blatantly flirted with.

“Look, don’t get it wrong! I just met this prostitute on the bus. Nothing happened, I swear!”

“Hun, you are an adult, don’t have to pretend you don’t have urges. But since you are so vehemently denying this, I will believe you. So tell us, stranger, why are you really here? You clearly found us for a reason.” A big smirk emerges on that pretty black hyena lady.

“I’m here to help ya’ll. Word around town was you two are trying to save some of those villagers? Some of these people were my friends, like that old blacksmith Ryan and Nathan, the combat instructor. I owe em a bit so. I just didn’t know until Mr. Wells and some other kind folk told me.” An astonished look appears on Nam’s face. Mr. Wells?

The scummiest, most filthy Informant in the entire city?

Giving out information for free?

“Guess slaughtering those cultists put him in a really good mood. He did slip out the words ‘Thank you, Ms. Nameless’ after I showed him some of their cloaks and limbs, so good deeds do pay off, don’t they? Well you know what, why not? This will be dangerous but I have a feeling you are acquainted with danger, Ms.?” Asking for a name out of courtesy.

“I am Amelia. Also, I will be frank. I do like ya, Nam.”

“W-w-what! And what does that have to do with anything?!” The hyena slams those strong-looking hands firmly on the table.

“Everything! It’s the first time I felt this way towards someone, damn it. So let me prove how I feel, by helping ya. Then you can decide to return the feelings back if you want. I won’t force you to like me, jeez, okay?” A slightly embarrassed look emerges on this woman in her late thirties, so used to sleazy scumbags for company.

But finally a good person worth being around. Amelia was determined to not let her go. She wanted to make a really good impression to both her and that older sister. The Divine Flash chuckles, embracing those feelings happily.

“Go ahead. I don’t mind. I don’t mind sharing sis with you.”

“What do ya mean by that? You two aren’t dating, right?”

“No. I am just saying if you want to date her, you are going to be sleeping with me next to you, okay? So you might as well say you want to date me as well. Me and Nam are inseparable. You think I am going to let anyone else take her away from me when I sleep! Never! So if you date Nam, I am gonna be there too! Take it or leave it.”

Unexpected but not deterred, Ameila nods her head and agreement. The two quickly handshake, making the deal.

Poor Nameless literally had no say and groans. Oh well, she thought. If this hyena was going to such lengths, maybe it was worth giving the older lady a little consideration.

The Magician laughed at this sight.

Truly the sign of youth. Beautiful buddings of love, it was glorious. She then coughs.

“Ahem. I know you all enjoyed that but back to business, we have people to save, remember?”

“I didn’t forget damn it! Oh, what the hell just happened? Screw it. Well, Amelia, you are going with Omni Knight.” The hyena looks curiously past Nam, then sees the Black steel knight just walk out from a nearby alley way. He does attract a little too much attention in the open, after all.

The mighty machine god is seven feet tall and made out of some strange unique armor.

“Whoa! Huge. What a tall guy? Maybe you are big down there too, hmm?”

“Machine gods aren’t equipped with human or beastman, or any genitalia, for that matter. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Amelia. It seems you want to date the Nameless warrior of red? Prepare yourself.” An inquisitive look rises on that slightly tired face.

“You might get more than you bargained for. But I don’t really care much about that, honestly. Back to our business. The two of us will make a large noise and explosion, distracting most of the security in I-ledgers. Ms. Amelia, I can sense you have some experience in combat, so it will be of help.” The woman had been trying to hide it but now it was out in the open.

She confessed. Ameila was the queen of the underground boxing ring and never lost a fight. That was her side job and the one that gave her the most money, really. As much as she enjoyed being a prostitute, it was quite difficult, due to her race and well, that body of hers. Smashing those hardened fists into others made her feel alive, so she enjoyed it almost as much.

Almost as much as she enjoyed sex. No matter. It was time to focus on this operation.

It would be challenging, to say the least.

“Did you have to oust me so readily, Mr. Tin-man? Hehe.”

“I think you enjoy being the center of attention, really. But it is almost time. Enough banter. The two of us will be ready at your command, my comrades.” The Omni-Knight nods and Amelia follows him, the two position themselves in a position a little closer to the building.

When the time was right, the two would spring their distraction.

It has reached past seven O’clock. The operation has begun.

Nam quickly dashes and lands on the exterior of the front courtyard. The woman throws up a flare.

The signal.

Omni-Knight lands from high in the air, smashing most of the courtyard into pieces when he lands.. Bushes and little garden ornaments were sent hurtling skyward. The unsuspecting guards in the courtyard were knocked on their behinds. They quickly see the intruder and dial in back up.

Dozens of machine slaves and drones descend upon the Omni-Knight who begins fighting them all off. A drone begins shooting a laser beam at the steel warrior.

Only to be teared in half.

A roar can be heard, Amelia the queen emerges. Those fists are now covered in a powerful steel gauntlet. Made for tearing metal to shreds.

The two carry on, fighting off the increasing number of personnel that are now storming the place. Nam sneaks past them, with her sister and the Sage behind. They walk straight into the front entrance unnoticed.

Since the security guards left their posts mindlessly.

They take the stairs up to floor nine. Greeted by nothing at first.

When they walk up the door, they peek inside. A lone mighty looking machine slave is watching the security cameras, eyeballing that strange huge knight that is slaughtering his personnel to bits.

What a pain. If this keeps up, they will have to bring out the big guns. The president won’t like this, the man just wants to be on vacation. Just as he ponders this thought, he gets knocked out cold.

The two sisters have been fighting this type of humanoid machine for some time now and have started to understand how to fight them more efficiently. All of them have low-level energy barriers but have an easy to hit weak point on the back of their mechanical skull.

Clearly built cheaply. Even this one had the same flaw, despite being slightly more outfitted with better weapons and armor. Why were they so cheap? Typical corpos.

Even good security was too much to ask for.

With that mech knocked out, nothing stood in their way. By sheer luck. They knew this would not last for too long, it has been six minutes already since they reached the control room. Quickly, Nam deactivates the security system for the whole building and locks down the lower floors, preventing the drones from returning easily upwards. Well, for a bit.

Soon they will bring out the aerial drones, a bigger problem.

The blue-haired warrior of the wind does not wait. The youth flash moves out of the office, then quickly upstairs. On the next floor, the Divine Flash finds about twenty people, locked up. They disabled the electronic barrier in front of the prison but not the physical steel bars locking them up..

“It’s our savior! Young Divine Flash! We are so grateful to see ya!” An older woman yells, happy to see their friend after that horrible day.

“Same but we don’t have time; we have to get y'all outta here! The others are trapped in the nearby building. Stand back.” They do as commanded. The cell door is literally punched open by her bare fists, shocking all inside.

“What strength? Were you always this strong?”

“We will talk about this later. Mrs. Linda!” White hair appears behind them, along with red. The two have caught up after a minute or two. They had safely freed about twenty prisoners. The other thirty or so were in the other building.

No sign of Nathan or the blacksmith.

“Damn! Well. It’s your turn, lady that can make portals. Please get us into that other building over there!” The two look to the right, seeing Ivante only a couple hundred feet away from them. A blue portal quickly opens next to them and they can vaguely see another on the tenth floor of Ivante. It was time.

Time to head straight into that nest of demons.

“Be careful. It will take me some time to safely transfer the villagers into the Builder’s ship. I have not been on that ship but the Divine hammer is making room for them as we speak; I managed to steal one of the guards' cell phones and used it to contact them.” Fitting for a crafty woman.

“So, I will open a portal for all of these people but it will take some time. I would rather use a teleportation circle but time is of the essence; takes too much time right now to set that up. I’ll get those two and we will chase after ya’ll when we can, hmm?” A cheery smirk rises on that pristine face of hers. With nothing else to say, the two jump through the portal, the portal sending them straight into danger.

The two rush quickly. This time, they did not have the luxury of stealth. Several drones immediately start shooting at them, the two dodging in sync.

One was cut into three pieces.

Another had its head kicked off cleanly.

And the third merely blew up after being cleanly set on fire.

With great haste, the star warriors run towards the emergency stair case. Every step they took was slowed down by the constant flood of little drones, a couple machine slaves, but none of them could slow them down by much. These girls have grown quite a bit stronger since the last time they were in Lunace, running away in fear.

Now they ran with courage and determination. With the will to rescue their loved ones. In another twenty minutes, the two had reached the twenty-fifth floor.

Only to be greeted by an unwelcome sight. A great, large machine was waiting for them.

One that looked very similar to the Omni Knight in a way. Rather, this was similar in that size. But this person looked different. He had a jet black red skull, painted with red. His eyes were red and narrow but patient. Those fists were huge, almost as big as Nam’s Head, Divine flash thought. The man had strange steel armor, strange symbols were etched into that black steel. The machine god had his arms crossed.

He was waiting. Waiting for them to get here. Behind him, the rest of the villagers stood, in fear. Waiting for a long time in fear. And to their right, there she was.

The spitting figure, though slightly bruised-up. That damned person that nearly killed the Divine Hammer.

“The proctor unit! God damn it! So he was right, this was a trap.”

“What else would it be? Come on now, we were leading you here. Who do you think leaked the location of the villagers? Some guy in this little, pathetic city below us? No, it was us. The Chaos Warriors. I, the fake demon lord, am their leader. I have met the other three, now it is time to meet you two. Greetings star warriors!” That cackling laugh only served to unsettle them but the two kept their guard up.

It was unwise to let their guard down or react prematurely. That one, after all, easily toyed with their friend. What could that machine standing to her left do? Perhaps the same or more. The Machine of Chaos remains motionless, merely observing them with interest.

Waiting for them. Demonic babbling carries on, trying to draw them into anger.

“Oh and I have more to tell, yes, yes! Who do you think sent that little Chaos Knight into your village? Or had my little battle sister follow into space? Oh I have been playing the long game. And our game is just beginning.”

“Game? You think of this as a game? You, who slaughters people with no regard. Toys with life. You truly are a demon, aren’t you?” Nam says, irritated, but not letting herself become angry. That was exactly what that one wanted. And as if to further this attempt, the Chaos Knight herself appears, next to her older leader.

A bit subservient to that one. The Chaos Knight walks out from a door and gets on one knee, staring at the two with venom in her eyes.

But only stares. Today was not the day she would fight these two again.

“You. Can't say I am surprised you are here too. But you don’t seem to want to fight, do you, you murderer?” Nam spits out nastily, only getting a laugh in return. The Chaos Knight enjoys this response, this was how a rival needed to be! Oh how delightful, the mad woman thought.

“As much as I would enjoy fighting you, that is not my role today. Do not worry, we will get our chance to settle our score soon enough! No, the Machine of Chaos wants to fight you two. He has been waiting for a while. Very patiently. Haven't you, my friend?” He nods, still very patient.

In fact, far more calm and patient than the other two. It was strange. Despite having this chaotic energy flowing from him. This machine was different.

Different from those two entirely. The giant machine god has this air about him. This stature. Like he had a greater purpose. Even while viewing these two, he was almost viewing them with respect. Like he wanted to test their great potential.

Or make sure of his suspicions. No matter what, the great battle machine would wait patiently until it was his time to unleash the mighty chaos that was held in his fist. He begins speaking finally, for the first time. A loud booming voice erupts. One that commands authority, one that demands respect.

“Yes, my comrade. I am the Machine of Chaos and today I have been waiting. Waiting to test you two, children of the star gods. I want to see your overwhelming latent potential with those two old eyes of mine. I have heard stories about your exploits. Now, I want to see, no, feel them with my own body. Whenever you two are ready, of course.”

“So patient. But why? I have so many questions.” Flasie begins speaking, standing in front now. This godly machine was so mighty.

Yet so patient. Was he truly one of Chaos?

“Questions some of which I will answer.” This earns a crackle from the woman and a groan from the Chaos Knight.

“Why answer, my friend? What need do you need to-”

“What need? What need do I have to listen to your squalor? These two have fought bravely, ran here, are boldly standing against me and the Demon of Legend. Even with the knowledge they cannot win, they stand there, masking their fear with their determination! Do not sit there and tell me how to act, when you can barely act on your own, little Chaos Knight. Do not anger me or I will punish you. Yes, you, not them. I am not one that will tolerate disrespect from anyone, whether they are mortal or god.” Such arrogance, the sisters thought. But in some way, they could not dislike him.

The man was bold, clear, and stated his opinion. Even if you did not like it, it was not completely unreasonable. The king of the jungle does not need to bow to a mere servant. The seven-foot behemoth turns back towards them, slightly softening his expression.

“What knowledge do you seek? Brave warrior.”

“Why do you want to see our potential? They call you the Machine of Chaos, yet you are so patient and rational. Forgive me, I feel like the Chaos Knight is more like the opposite of you, if I am being frank.” The man nods, agreeing. He does not fully show his true feelings, but he knows.

That the Goddess of the Underrealm is a petulant little man-child residing in the body of a powerful knight. Damn woman needs a beatdown.

Soon enough, soon enough, he hopes.

“Mmm. You have met my brother, Omni-Knight right? We were made in a similar manner but all of us ‘machine gods; we have different personalities, methods. That brother of mine swore to aid you in your time of need. Me? I want to see you two prove your worth. I am not saying you two have no worth, it is more of, I need to personally see what you two can do myself. What you two can do in a battle. The other machine gods will do something similar, probably. One day you two will meet them. For sure. As for being patient, well. I am a King that wades in the path of Chaos! Why would a King need to be impatient? I only want to fight the strong. I will wait until I can. The weak that annoy me will perish, if they do not heed my wor-” As the chaos god was finishing that long speech, something was thrown onto him.

Salvia. From the blacksmith. It seemed Ryan did not like what the intimidating warrior was saying.

“Listen o here u dastard. None of us want to be keep on hearing you yapp about chaos and rule and what not? I’d say, no I’d say!” The old man gets closer, further spitting on the hand of the patient machine king.

That ceaseless patience was being pushed by this old fool.

“I will only warn you once, worthless old man. Cease.”

“No, stop! You old dumbass!” Nam yells but Divine flash knows it is too late.

“And what if I don’t ya little!” The man throws his shoe at the machine of chaos. The last thing he would do.

In less than a second, the body of the blacksmith was vaporized. The two could barely see it. A powerful chaos blast erupted from the left hand of that giant god and with extreme precision, completely burnt away all parts of that old man’s body except his head. As the head hits the floor with a sickening thud, blood drips from the severed head, causing the other villagers to back away quickly in fear. The chaotic king picks up the head with his left hand and tosses it right next to Nam’s feet. The girl falls down, refusing to cry but sad.

Sad that the man had to die in such a stupid way.

But this was how it had to be. That machine god was not one to be disrespected. The old man can only blame himself for his own early death. She moves the head away from the two of them, focusing back on the real problem in front of them.

They could not even be mad. It was hard to, rather, it was more depressing.

“I will not say I enjoyed that nor will I say that it was pleasant for you two to watch. That was merely what the man deserved. He earned his untimely death. “

“Not going to say I liked what you just did to our friend but I would never defend stupidity.” The two sigh. Another friend lost without them being able to do a thing.

How many more would have to die? As these thoughts wander into the back of their mind, they hear a sound.

Ms. Magician, Ms. Amelia and Mr. Omni-Knight have finally caught up.

About time.