Z357 was going to die. He knew if he didn’t retaliate, he would be killed. Dismantled. Reduced to scraps. And it would all be because of his creator.
Was it irony? To be destroyed by the one who created him? It was almost funny. He was a machine, but he still understood the concept of humor.
If this were a play, this would be the climax, and it would be where the audience cheered and laughed at the tragic fate of the foolish machine machine. Because Z357 had obeyed Hermann Kasper without question— he had hunted down the Supers of Askan, all to carry out his programming.
All to protect the world.
But now that the Supers of Askan were dead, Hermann Kasper sought to conquer the green planet, and he set forth in his conquest with their ghosts. Now, Z357’s own folly ca back to haunt him.
Because he had to protect Askan from his own creator, but he couldn’t bring himself to inflict harm the man threatening the world. So the machine helplessly stood there in the storm of nanomachines— as he was sward by the phantoms of those he killed— and all he could do was stare through the thick gray fog, listening to what was being scread.
“Obey , Z357! You are my creation— I command you to listen to !”
And when he saw the crazed eyes of his creator, Z357 knew he was going to die. Unless he killed Hermann Kasper first.
But… could he even bring himself to do that?
—-
And Guardian Angel Z357 sank into the Void. He tumbled through the rift with the [Hero King]. At first, the machine had clung tightly onto his target, refusing to let go even as he fell through a glistening purple nebula.
But Kallistus Kal cackled as they both spun and crashed through the darkness.
“You really are such a fool…” he said, before he was engulfed in the Void and disintegrated. His words echoed in the last for a mont.
And now it was just the angel left there, falling and spinning as his twelve eyes darted in every direction, trying to get a hold of his surroundings. Unfortunately, his superior vision was useless here. No matter how hard he tried, his gaze could not pierce the thick mist of the Void.
He looked back, and he saw no rift there. He didn’t even see the vestiges of broken space. He tried to reach for the World System, but the fractured screen of a blue box flashed before his eyes for a mont.
[Major Objective—]
And it disappeared after an instant.
Z357 stared at the nothingness before him. He saw the wheeling world— the ever expanding purple mist. It spread as far as he could see, and he knew he was going to be falling for more than just a few re minutes.
It wasn’t easy to move. It was as though he was wading through a thick, viscous liquid. But still, he spread his wings wide with so effort, and began to slow his descent.
The true body has to be located here… the angel thought as he swept his gaze over the impenetrable haze. No more apparitions. I shall end this now.
His eyes flickered as he saw figures moving in the mist. They drew closer and closer to him, moving in the air like they were swimming through water.
Those are… voidlings? he ascertained.
The twisted creatures sward after him, screeching as they clamored over one another, coming at him in the hundreds. But before they could get close, he raised the Hamr of Justice and unleashed a crimson beam into the Void.
The angel saw their figures dissolving. The entire horde was annihilated in an instant. For a mont, there was silent.
And then he heard the distorted screams echoing once more. It ca from the sa direction, and Z357 watched as even more voidlings appeared in the distance.
Where are they coming from? he wondered as he created copies of his lance.
The salvo of weapons shot out, wiping out the second wave of voidlings. But more ca, again from the sa direction, and he began to glide their way in thought.
The real body must be here.
Guardian Angel Z357 slaughtered the voidlings by the thousands as he made his way through the mist. And around him, the nebula grew thinner. There was still a haze, but it was no longer as restricting to his movents and vision as it once was.
He could see more clearly, and through the mist, he spotted a figure clad in an ornate armor standing atop a dark rock. The outpouring of voidlings ca from the sa direction, so the machine beat his wings once, slingshotting forward as he culled the last of the twisted creatures as he reached his target.
Kallistus Kal’s eyes went wide as the angel reached him. But before the [Hero King] could react, he was crushed against the floating rock. However, instead of being reduced into a red stain, he evaporated into a purple mist.
Z357 paused when he saw this. He drew back, raising his head.
Another apparition? he asked, but he spotted another floating rock across from him.
There stood Kallistus Kal with a smirk plastered on his face.
“Apparitions? No.” He laughed as he opened his mouth. “These—”
And the angel shredded through the [Hero King] again. But just ahead, another floating rock waited, and another Kallistus Kal stood there.
How? Guardian Angel Z357 asked, before leaping forward. He slew his target once more, but another one appeared just ahead again. And again. And again.
And each ti the machine interrupted the Void’s Heir, killing him as he he spoke in fragnted sentences.
“As I was…
“…saying—”
“—these are not apparitions.”
“They are my—”
Guardian Angel Z357 swung his hamr down at another one of the many [Hero Kings], but this ti, the attack was blocked. Kallistus Kal raised a glinting blade, deflecting the attack.
He smiled as he was practically covered in a purple aura. Like an armor of the Void.
“Clones,” he said as he held the angel’s gaze. “They are my clones, and I have been preparing them for this confrontation for a long while.”
The true body… the angel surmised, before leaping back. So you are here.
Z357 landed at a rock floating across from Kallistus Kal. Sohow, the [Hero King] was significantly stronger than his clones.
The angel could sense it.
Of course, he was certain he could win this battle. But he did not expect the Void’s Heir to have grown to this extent in such a short amount of ti.
You cannot win, Z357 said as he raised both his weapons. Enough of these gas. Surrender now, and I shall give you a painless death.
There was a long mont of silence where Kallistus Kal just stood there, an amused look on his face. He slowly shook his head as he took a step back.
The machine wondered what the [Hero King] had planned. Surely this wasn’t just it?
And it wasn’t.
“Indeed, I am here, and I know I cannot win,” Kallistus Kal said as he wore a mocking smile on his face. “But there are things lurking in here far more dangerous than even I, and unlike , you have no ans to leave.”
What? Z357 blinked all twelve of his eyes.
And a rift opened up behind the Void’s Heir. He stepped out of the Fractured Realm as Z357 charged forward.
“Goodbye, slave of the System.”
No— The angel reached out for the [Hero King]. But he was too slow. The rift closed, and Kallistus Kal vanished, leaving Z357 alone in the Void.
With the looming shadows that drew quietly closer.
—--
“I did not want it to co to this!” Hermann Kasper scread as he swung the Hamr of Justice at Z357.
The machine was broken and tattered. He was practically falling apart— his self-healing unable to keep up with the damage he was incurring. He stumbled back towards the glass window overlooking Askan.
The last and only remaining protector of the green planet. After he killed the rest because of his creator. And now, he was all that was left between his creator and world domination.
But all he could do was defend himself against the Hamr of Justice.
He stumbled back, his back pressing against the glass as Hermann Kasper continued, his nanomachines swarming around him.
“You should have listened to , Z357. You are my creation. But you disobeyed . You refused to listen. Now I shall have no choice but to dismantle you, and make you anew.”
The elderly man said as he hobbled forward, using the Hamr of Justice to support him. Z357 wanted to speak, but he couldn’t. He had no ans to communicate, and yet he still desperately tried to relay his thoughts.
I… I do not want to disobey you, master. But I cannot betray my programming! The machine raised his arms, blocking the onslaught of attacks from the nanomachines. My purpose is to protect Askan, not rule it!
It was a pointless protest. Hermann Kasper strode forward as the Hamr of Justice wisped with a blaze of the nanomachines. It glinted with a gleaming crimson glow as he shook his head.
“We could have ruled Askan together. With my brains and your brawn, we would have been unstoppable. Alas…”
He raised his head as a crazed gaze slowly crept across his face. He looked past the kneeling figure of Z357, and the reflection of the green planet glinted in his eyes. The machine paused, seeing it for a fraction of a mont.
A vast world. From Utopis to Argavas, it was a beautiful place. So many lives lived there. And they would all be forsaken once Hermann Kasper ruled.
This was the world Z357 was supposed to protect. Once he was dead, there would be no one left to stop his creator. And suddenly, an intense fear surged through him.
The realization that Askan was dood if he continued with his inaction dawned on the machine. He would die, and he would die a failure. The fear of death crawled over him— the fear that the world he was designed to protect would fall into chaos because he refused to do his job.
Z357 looked up at the looming figure of his creator, and for a very brief mont, he did not see the kindly elderly man who created him. He did not see his master. He only saw a monster threatening to destroy everything he had worked so hard to protect.
Hermann Kasper aid the Hamr of Justice at his creation. “It is unfortunate, but it is ti for you to be retired, and for a new model to take your—”
And Z357 reacted on instinct. As a machine created for battle, he was always acutely aware of the best course of action for victory. In his current state, he wouldn’t have been able to bring down Hermann Kasper through brute force. Instead, he had to use his environnt to instantly slay this monster
So that was what he did. He leant back, smashing the back of his head against the glass window. Hermann Kasper blinked. His eyes went wide as he heard the crack. The spider web crack quickly spread across the glass window overlooking space.
His jaw hung open, before he caught himself. He turned to Z357 as he mustered up a weak voice.
“What have you done—“ he started.
And all at once, the glass shattered. Everything in the room was sucked out into space in a fraction of a second. Even Hermann Kasper. He wasn’t able to react in ti— he was reduced to a frozen corpse floating through space as Z357 remained kneeling there.
He chanically lowered his head. And he asked himself the very sa question as he looked back at his creator.
What have I done?
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