Destroyers( (Pt I )))<) Annihilatio000000100n

Sunrise occurred as it usually would on the morning of December 26th. Many were still fast asleep in their homes as they enjoyed the vacation time associated with Christmas. Some would be returning to work in the coming hours. Others would spend the day silently staring at their walls and ceilings. Nearly all of them still held the brand of the Arcans’ magic, causing them to continually search for the Acolyte and the G.A.K.I. units.

Somewhere far away, Taki and Emi were hiding in their house, cloistering their newborn daughter close to their chest as they waited for Miu’s wrath to arrive. They had done what they could. Warnings were sent to as many as possible, supplies and knowledge were swiftly hoarded in hard copies, and doors were locked. Without knowing what was approaching, it was impossible to feel fully prepared. This would have to be enough.

What they did not know was that Miu and Yuki were currently in the facility, looking through a portal at the vast ocean awaiting them. Behind them, every G.A.K.I. unit was active and waiting. Faint pulses of pink light within their Manu-Crystals echoed the cadences of Yuki’s, confirming that the binding incantation had worked. Miu’s new glyph was hovering over Yuki’s human bed, also pink.

Neither of them could speak to what was about to happen. Neither was sure they were correct, nor if they would succeed. At most, they knew their fury was righteous as much as it was cruel. This world, as it was, had to end. But there was no desire to end all of existence. Even though life had been very cruel, there were almost small glimmers of kindness that burned through the emptiness.

Their orphanage caretakers. The adults at the guardianship hearing who honestly wanted them to succeed. The girls at the clothing store. Taki and Emi. The other G.A.K.I. souls. Decency and gentleness were there, and Miu was not so cruel that she would erase them just for her own pain. That was how the powerful behaved, and she wanted nothing to do with that.

All she wanted was to make their world burn.

Neon vermillion erupted across her body as her eye ignited. Every G.A.K.I. crystal mimicked the color. Yuki began to glow as lines of glyphs encircled him in cascades of Miu’s language.

“How does it feel?” Miu asked the other G.A.K.I. nearby.

“It’s working. I-I caaaaan feeeeel myself in allllll of them,” Yuki replied from one of the new units.

Indeed, his mind was now controlling every unit. Even though each had its own feeling and awareness, the hivemind concept had succeeded. Every one of them was unified in operating under Yuki’s protocols.

“Weeeee are r-ready,” said Yuki as every G.A.K.I. activated its new weaponry.

“Then let it begin,” replied Miu as hundreds of portals appeared before them.

Across the world, the portals began to open in the sky. Coordinates were confirmed through hivemind hacks into unsecured military databases. The first targets were below, fully unaware of the glowing barrels pointing at them from high above. The G.A.K.I. stood in position and placed their weapons through the mystical openings as Miu inhaled.

“Red hate split the sky! Turning ancient gods to ash!! WRATH BRINGS A NEW DAWN!!!” Miu screamed.

Barrels hummed and then ejected their fury. Beams screamed forth, carrying entangled, twitching hexes. With every moment, the beams grew larger and larger, until they were wider than city blocks and taller than the grandest towers. They met their prey with ravenous howls. Armored vehicles froze in place before being reduced to glowing outlines that faded with the breeze. Ranks of soldiers scattered across concrete and decks as they screamed for help, but there was no outrunning their annihilation.

Panic seized the militaries of every nation as the sky turned against them. Fortresses were reduced to memory in seconds. Careers of grand victories were severed like limbs. Missiles exploded in silos, unable to launch any form of defense against the incandescent verdicts that cascaded without end.

By the time the Arcan hexes appeared to counter, Miu was already done. The portals were closed, and new targets were chosen.

World leaders called one another in confused terror as they watched their might vanish in minutes. Then the beams came for them.

Through it all, the sky gained more red in its glowing clouds, until every spec of pearlescent pink was gone.

Before sunrise was even complete, every military and government across the globe was decimated.

Then gravity began to unwind. Whatever warriors and weapons were left trying to fight suddenly found themselves lifted into the air as they screamed for mercy. Mercy did not come. Snaking spells wound through the heavens and devoured whoever dared to raise a trigger finger or activate a launch code. Combat strategies collapsed, and prayer became the only desperate option. But the gods did not appear to save them. Only the beams appeared as they fell again and again, until the idea of resistance felt blasphemous.

Then it was over.

Only the military units stationed before the facility remained. As the thousands of soldiers scrambled to activate their attack protocols, the door to the facility opened, and the Acolyte stepped out into the red. Fire wreathed her body as she extended her hand. A sapphire staff appeared in her grip as the joint military operations unleashed their retaliation. Once more, not a single bullet, shell, or spell penetrated her barriers.

Miu stopped just at the edge of the barrier. Atmospheric anomalies pulled the clouds around them into a swirling storm. The armies stopped their failing attempts at violence and realized their only hope was surrender. Before commands had even been issued, thousands of guns clattered onto the grass as soldiers fell to their knees. But this new god was unmoved.

“My entire life, people thought my name meant ‘beautiful feather’...” Miu said with a sneer.

Above her, new portals appeared in the stormy sky. More barrels appeared.

“But the ones who named me didn’t use those kanji. My name is beautiful rain!! You created the G.A.K.I rainfall, NOW DROWN IN YOUR OWN MISTAKES!!!”

Torrential, earth-shattering beams of water tore like blades across the realm, disintegrating every body and machine. More panic erupted as the soldiers realized they would not be spared. Miu burst through the barrier and slammed her staff into the ground, opening up to more aetherial void. Claws of unknown monstrosities reached up from the darkness to gnaw at those that tried to run. Hexes appeared and stitched screaming mouths shut. Bodies were pulled into the void as the ground-splitting rainfall tore their legs and arms from their attachment points.

UNIT PSYCHE RATING: 33.33%. FAIL.

One thousand kilometers away, in Tokyo’s business district, there was an imposing office tower that rose well above its neighbors. Waterfall steps of polished glass and metal angled upwards before curving into geometric patterns adorned with light. Sitting at the top of the tower was a glowing, changing logo. It was a simple, bold “A”, which changed fonts every few moments. This was ArcanTech’s headquarters. On the penthouse floor, dozens upon dozens of affluent people from around the world were seated around an enormous stone table.

Every attendee was branded with a crown of crystal, with a personal glyph hovering over their head like a halo. There was an air of untouchable wealth within the room, and it was not just from the fact that the minimum buy-in to be a shardholder was 1.5 billion yen. These were the ones who owned portions of every manufactured crystal in existence. Every ArcanTech device was used, they received a fee.

Now, they were sitting together for their year-end stakeholder meeting, awaiting the CEO to begin his address. The doors opened and he entered. George Ripley was in his mid-fifties, with an unassuming height, drooping chin, pale skin, tired eyes, and wrinkled suit. But he had become the most powerful man in the world. When he entered the room, every other person stood and their glyph halos all switched to match his. The seventeen crystal implants that lined his shaved head began to shine as he sat down, sending the eerie glow into his eyes once more as he smiled.

“Friends. Welcome. Thank you for joining us today, and for those of you remote, we look forward to seeing you soon,” he said with a bow.

“I will be brief. Everything is moving according to our original projections. The G.A.K.I. program was ended before the Acolyte captured them, so we were able to gather all of the relevant soul-drift data. Our hypotheses were correct! Based on our tests, QuantumArc is possible. We received over nineteen-trillion data points that showed reliable soul transfer between units. Even with the prototype implants. Now, with the help of the Arcans, we will finally have true Arcan shards, which will never degrade. From there-”

Before he could finish speaking, the sky ripped apart and ignited in red flames. Building-sized glyphs appeared around the tower and bound it in darkness. Within the penthouse, screams began as light faded until only the glow of the crystals and glyph halos were visible. Then something appeared in the corner.

Something red and fiery.

The figure seemed to be a young woman, but her body was consumed by fire as her hair drifted around her in waves. Radiant blue light poured from her left eye as she stepped forward. Behind her, dozens of glowing Manu-Crystal lights appeared. Churning, heavy steps told the room that dozens of massive, metal bodies were approaching.

Ripley finally realized who it was and snarled.

“Acolyte!!” he shouted.

That caused the screams to devolve as the crowd flipped their chairs and shoved one another to the ground as they rushed to the exits. But the doors had vanished. Lines of blood-red hexes dripped down the walls as the floor slowly turned to fire. Yet the Acolyte never spoke a word. All she did was tilt her head to the side and watch as her legion of G.A.K.I. raised their guns towards the merciless shardholders.

Hands raised in prayer but were immediately eviscerated as red beams shredded every person into segments. Blood, bone, and chunks of muscle sprayed the walls like soup until every surface was crimson. Miu turned to Ripley and confirmed it was the civilian she had once encountered.

“Remember me?” she quietly asked as hexes wrapped around his ankles and wrists, tying him in place.

“Acolyte, you look tired,” Ripley taunted.

“Whaaaaaaaat ab-bout meeeeeee?” Yuki asked from one of the G.A.K.I. units.

“Ohhhhhhh, I know who you are, Yuki. Don’t you worry. Thanks for signing the waiver, by the way. You technically agreed to our little test. I hope you enjoyed yourself...”

Ripley merely sneered as the nearest G.A.K.I. approached and placed its barrel end into Ripley’s mouth.

“...and we drown…” was all Ripley muttered as he smirked and closed his eyes.

The beam ripped through the back of his head, and his body fell limp. Across the room, the G.A.K.I. were executing those who remained alive. Miu raised her staff, and the clouds once more pulled to her in rising fury. Every glyph that ensnared the building began to writhe around the skyscraper’s exterior, shattering glass and bending frames. As it pulled inward, it erased every molecule of the tower, leaving empty air in its place.

“Extinguish their light. Hexes rip concrete and bone. Till we are alone.”

The hexes accelerated their ravenous consumption of the tower and Miu listened to hear the hundreds of trapped workers screaming from the floors below. But she was unmoved. Her portal reopened, and she approached it along with the G.A.K.I. automatons.

Just as they all stepped through the portal, Miu heard a laugh. She stopped long enough to see pure golden tendrils rising from Ripley’s head as an Arcan portal opened beneath him. No other bodies were moving, but Ripley spasmed then lurched upwards as his face remade itself in crystal, just like Miu’s arm. He held up a peace sign with his bloody fingers and vanished in the portal.

“Miiiiiuuuuu?” Yuki asked with a hint of concern.

“How?” Miu pondered, slightly unnerved.

She stayed long enough to confirm the others were truly dead, then she entered the portal.

It was time to return to the Arcans. After seeing Ripley return, Miu could not help but shake the feeling that he would be there with the ancient crystal beings right at the end of everything.

After that, all that remained was breaking the world.