Lost Kingdom II: Humanity’s Last Gamble

Atena continued chasing Lina until they reached the end of the long tunnel and entered an enormous chamber filled with broken glass containers of various sizes.

“What is this place...?” Lina muttered.

She approached a nearby metal desk and blew away the thick layer of dust covering it. Several pieces of decaying paper and a handful of faded illustrations lay scattered across its surface, somehow having survived the passage of time.

Lina leaned closer, squinting as she tried to understand what the chamber had once been used for.

Suddenly, a glass jar appeared in front of her face, revealing the preserved corpse of a hideous creature.

“WAAAAAAHHHHH!” Lina screamed, jumping backward and bumping into Atena.

“BWAHAHAHAHAHA!” Atena burst into laughter. “I didn’t know you had such a girly scream in you after all!”

“WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!” Lina shouted. “I ALMOST WET MYSELF!”

“Obviously, that was payback for calling me Mother earlier,” Atena replied with a wink.

Lina glared at her for several seconds before eventually cracking a smile, causing the two to burst into laughter.

After laughing together for a moment, they finally turned their attention toward the strange creature Atena had placed on the desk.

“Master... you do realize this isn’t food, right?” Lina asked cautiously.

“No shit,” Atena said, lightly smacking the back of Lina’s head. “This was one of humanity’s last gambles.”

“When the Automatons finally rose against humanity, it became a one-sided slaughter,” Atena continued. “Since they were created to work without food, sleep, or rest, those same qualities made them nearly unstoppable in war... if you could even call it that.”

“How ironic,” Lina muttered.

“You can definitely say that,” Atena replied with a faint smile. “With humanity on the brink of extinction, the survivors gathered their brightest minds to find a way to fight back.”

Atena gently tapped the glass jar.

“Those bastards eventually created creatures like this—biological weapons they called Manavores.”

She gestured for Lina to follow as they continued deeper into the chamber.

“So the surviving humans created something dangerous again?” Lina asked. “Weren’t they afraid their creations would turn against them too?”

“Of course they were. That’s why the Manavores were created without emotions or survival instincts,” Atena explained. “They wouldn’t become angry or defend themselves, even when attacked. The only thing that could attract them was the unique mana produced by an Automaton’s Mana Core.”

Lina glanced back at the preserved creature.

“Wait... they created them without any emotions or basic instincts?” she asked. “Isn’t that cruel?”

“It was extremely cruel,” Atena replied. “Manavores couldn’t feel pain, anger, fear, or happiness. Even when seriously wounded while fighting the Automatons, they would continue attacking until their bodies were completely destroyed.”

“That’s barbaric,” Lina said, unable to understand how anyone could do such a thing.

“It didn’t matter to the humans at the time,” Atena said. “This was humanity’s last gamble, and it paid off. The Manavores were relentless against the Automatons. They could drain an entire Mana Core within minutes, leaving the Automaton as nothing more than a lifeless metal statue before moving on to the next one.”

Lina sighed. “I doubt the Automatons went down without a fight.”

“They sure didn’t,” Atena replied. “To fight creatures capable of draining their life force, the Automatons began overloading their Mana Cores.”

Lina’s eyes widened. “They blew themselves up?”

“Pretty much,” Atena confirmed. “Unfortunately, the explosions caused nearby Mana Cores to overload as well, creating an unintended chain reaction. One explosion became ten, ten became hundreds, and massive chain reactions spread across the world.”

“I assume this was what brought the Age of Chaos to an end?” Lina asked.

“You are correct,” Atena replied. “The chain reactions released so much concentrated mana that they disrupted the natural flow of mana throughout the world. Without a stable flow, forests began to wither. Rivers, lakes, and even seas began to dry up. Worst of all, the mana inside living creatures began leaking away, leaving their bodies shriveled like mummies.”

The two continued walking and eventually entered a narrow hallway lined with small rooms. Unlike the enormous tunnels they had explored earlier, everything around them appeared to have been built specifically for humans.

Broken beds, tables, and personal belongings remained inside the rooms. Faded children’s drawings still clung to the walls, showing green fields, blue skies, and families standing beneath enormous trees.

“Where are we now?” Lina asked. “This place feels much cozier than the other corridors.”

“These were the living quarters of the humans who survived the initial destruction,” Atena explained. “When the surface began to die, they escaped into special underground bunkers like this one. The walls prevented the remaining mana inside their bodies from leaking out.”

“What happened to the Automatons and Manavores?” Lina asked.

“The Manavores were wiped out by the explosions caused by the Automatons. The disruption also caused the mana inside the Automatons’ Mana Cores to leak away, eventually killing them—but not quickly enough.”

Atena pointed toward the walls ahead. Long claw marks cut through the metal panels, while dried human blood stained the floor.

“Even as their Mana Cores slowly lost mana, the surviving Automatons continued hunting the humans who had escaped underground.”

The two continued through the damaged hallways until they reached an upper walkway overlooking what had once been a massive gathering hall.

As Lina looked down at the open floor below, a sudden glint caught her attention.

She narrowed her eyes.

At the far end of the hall, an enormous Automaton hung against the wall. Eight razor-sharp legs and dozens of metal tentacles dangled lifelessly from its body. A familiar golden spear had been driven through its chest, holding it in place.

Lina sighed. “Did you at least bring me my sword?”

“Umm... I did not,” Atena admitted.

“Then can we call off this training lesson?” Lina asked.

“Hmm... Oh, I know!” Atena exclaimed. “This could be good training for finding your own weapon on the battlefield!”

“YOU CAN’T KEEP MAKING UP BULLSHIT TRAINING IDEAS EVERY TIME YOU FORGET SOMETHING!” Lina shouted. “YOU JUST SAID AUTOMATONS HATED HUMANS, SO YOU CAN’T EXPECT ME TO FIGHT ONE WITHOUT A WEAPON!”

“QUIT YOUR WHINING AND GO!” Atena shouted.

She grabbed Lina by the back of her nightgown and hurled her over the railing, sending her plummeting toward the floor below.

“AIR CUSHION!” Lina shouted.

A burst of wind formed beneath Lina, slowing her fall and allowing her to safely land on the ground.

“CAN I AT LEAST USE YOUR SACRED ARMAMENT?!” Lina shouted, pointing toward the golden spear.

“Hmm... no,” Atena replied. “That one is mine, so if you want one, you need to get your own.”

Atena raised her right hand into the air.

“RETURN!” she shouted.

The golden spear began to tremble before ripping itself free and flying straight into Atena’s hand.

Without the spear holding it in place, the enormous Automaton collapsed onto the floor. Dust filled the chamber as mechanical shrieks echoed around them.

“Good luck!” Atena cheerfully shouted from above.

“I HATE YOU, MASTER!” Lina shouted.

The Automaton’s eight legs slowly unfolded beneath its enormous body. Dozens of metal tentacles stretched high into the air, their sharp pincers snapping wildly as it readied itself for battle.

The Automaton’s red eyes scanned the chamber, detecting Lina as she frantically dug through a nearby pile of rubble for a weapon.

“Umm... no, this is useless,” Lina said, throwing the toilet plunger away.

“AHA! THIS COULD WORK!” she shouted as she yanked a dented metal pipe from the rubble.

The Automaton rushed toward Lina, its metal legs clinking rapidly against the floor as several of its tentacles extended forward, attempting to tear into her flesh.

Lina tightened her grip around the dented metal pipe and parried each attack, causing the sound of metal striking metal to echo throughout the chamber.

The Automaton shouted something in an unknown language before suddenly leaping backward and slamming itself against the far wall.

It spread its legs and tentacles across the wall and floor to secure itself in place before its chest plate opened, revealing the glowing red Mana Core inside.

Without warning, a hot beam of compressed mana shot directly toward Lina, followed by a massive explosion that engulfed the area in dust and debris.

Hot steam poured from the Automaton’s body as its chest plate slowly closed, while the light from its Mana Core noticeably dimmed.

As the dust began to settle, its red eyes scanned the chamber in search of Lina.

After failing to detect any sign of her, the Automaton seemingly determined that its target had been killed and turned its attention toward Atena, who watched from above with an amused expression alongside the Pixies of Light.

It began retracting its tentacles and prepared to leap toward Atena, but stopped when she opened her mouth.

“YOU BETTER LOOK UP, TIN CAN!” Atena shouted.

The Automaton looked up, only to briefly catch a glimpse of a cartoonish bunny pattern before a metal pipe struck one of its red eyes.

“I REALLY HATE YOU, MASTER!” Lina shouted. “WHY DID YOU WARN IT?!”

Lina jumped off the Automaton and landed back on the ground, immediately grabbing another metal pipe she had spotted earlier.

The Automaton shrieked, seemingly unable to understand how Lina had survived its beam attack.

“SHUT IT, TIN CAN!” Lina shouted, hurling the metal pipe toward the Automaton and pinning one of its tentacles to the ground.

The Automaton froze, unable to react to Lina’s sudden attack.

“HOW DARE YOU SINGE MY NIGHTGOWN!” Lina shouted, holding up the burnt corner of her outfit. “I REALLY LIKED THIS ONE TOO!”

The Automaton stared at her in complete confusion, unable to understand why Lina suddenly appeared even angrier than before.

“IS THAT REALLY WHAT YOU’RE UPSET ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!” Atena shouted.

“SHUT UP!” Lina shouted as she charged toward the Automaton. “I DESERVE TO LIKE GIRLY THINGS TOO!”

She grabbed hold of the metal pipe still lodged in the Automaton’s eye and violently yanked it free, causing the machine to release a shrill cry that almost sounded like it was in pain.

Atena burst into laughter as she watched her student fight the last surviving weapon of mass destruction from the Age of Chaos.

“You really are impossible to kill,” Atena muttered. “Most people would’ve died from that first attack, but you escaped with nothing more than a damaged nightgown.”

Atena smiled as she continued watching her student.

“So this is what you meant, Asclepius,” she thought. “There really is joy in passing your knowledge on to the next generation.”

An absurd amount of foul language suddenly erupted from below as Lina ripped off one of the Automaton’s tentacles and hurled it toward Atena.

Atena casually knocked it aside with a flick of her right hand.

“Although I could do without that potty mouth of hers,” Atena muttered. “I wonder if there’s any kind of training that could fix that?”

From that point onward, the only sounds echoing throughout the chamber were Lina’s angry shouting and the Automaton’s increasingly painful shrieks.