Chapter 121: Special Kind of Special

He stooped down in the muck to get a closer look. It covered his pants, reaching up to his knees as he reached down to touch it, stopping when he saw a fragment of metal suddenly extend from the core’s side. ’What is going on?’ Charon didn’t have to think for long. More and more shards jutted from the main body. Steel, iron, and glass mixed within a few seconds, a full torso appearing, soon followed by legs and arms, then a head. All of it was the same rusted, decayed color as the rest of the machines. He screamed out to the others. "Watch your flanks! The machines are regenerating!" The mud quaked as the creature’s new limbs dug themselves into the ground, clawed fingers rising like spears as it lurched upright. Its purple core glowed similarly to before, albeit slightly dimmer, pulsing in sync with the flashes of lightning above. Charon stumbled back, nearly losing his footing in the muck. ’How the hell is it able to do that? I don’t see the energy coming from anywhere else!’ The thing’s head swiveled unnaturally, its jaw hanging loose before snapping shut with a metallic clang. It let out a rasping cry, not mechanical but something closer to a man’s scream stretched through broken glass. The noise was cut off as the faceplate finished forming, the metal welding together as it silenced the once-living person inside. Charon raised his dagger instinctively, even though he knew it wouldn’t do much against raw iron. Two of his skeleton infantry closed in, their shields locking tight to block the first wild swing. Sparks leapt as bone and metal clashed, the undead forcing the construct back a step. It lashed out with its claws in response, firing at another skeleton with its laser rifle one-handed. The shots missed their marks, flying uselessly into the distance. Liam laughed like a madman, his axe dripping with oil and shining in the purple light of a freshly destroyed core. "Good! Let them come! Oil runs from their useless bodies just like blood!" He barreled into the torso of a regenerating machine beside him, smashing through the outer shell and cracking the core once more. He reached in and jerked it out, smiling at it as if it were a reward before throwing it far away. "Just get rid of the cores! No cores, no returnin’! Makes it more fair for ya!" Charon forced mana into his summons, barking mental orders. The Defenders shifted formation, pinning the nearest regenerating husks while his archers aimed for the exposed glass. A volley of bone arrows whistled out, three striking home and shattering a core in a burst of violet flame. The body crumpled instantly, unable to rebuild. His fleet-footed infantry followed up, giving the cores just enough time to become solid before grabbing them and hurling them as far as they could. Emerius was the most effective at the task, rolling across the field as he snatched up core after core, launching them with abandon as he cut down two more mechs. His strikes were calculated, weaving a pattern through the torsos to release the purple sphere without damaging it. It saved him the task of waiting, allowing him to continuously whittle down their numbers. Feeling confident in the battle’s trajectory, Charon spared a glance behind him to where Darius, Annie, and Red were. The blonde girl was kneeling beside Darius, her backpack tipped over and spilling the contents everywhere. She had a red tin in her hand, her fingers dipping inside to take out an ungent. Darius’s forest green leather armor had been torn to the sides, allowing her to lather the strange substance directly on his burn wounds. He grunted and bucked with every touch, yet she pushed on, ignoring his groans as she struggled to help him. Red was staring at the battle, her eyes narrowed in concentration as she fought unseen battles. Potentially hearing Charon’s thoughts, her gaze darted to him, piercing his head like an arrow. She made no move to talk to him, simply nodding as if to say, "Don’t worry about us." He nodded back, a smile on his lips as he refocused on the fight. Liam was continuing his onslaught towards the mage, who remained unmoving. He simply watched the battle with a wide grin and wide eyes, as if he were invested in an exciting show. ’There is something seriously wrong with that guy.’ The machines’ numbers were beginning to dwindle, with less than half still fighting. That number was shrinking quickly as their weakness was discovered, and more and more cores were being thrown away. Once only ten were left, the mage finally moved again. "You struggle for what? Another day to fight on? For what reason?" His smile turned into a snarl as he tilted his chin upwards to look down on the rest of them. "Can you not feel the weakness of your own flesh? It is frail, easily destroyed. Like the innocence of a child, its days are numbered from the moment it is created. You push on to extend this deadline for no reason." His human hand reached over to jerk back his sleeve, revealing more of his metal arm. Wires and circuits wound their way around the steel frame, growing denser the closer they were to his shoulder. Purple symbols were etched into the sides, glowing in the mist as if they were alive. "You know nothing of true evolution, of the future. We have seen what is coming, what has been promised to us, and know that it shall leave none of the backwards and barbaric once it arrives. We are not seeking to harm you, but to educate you on the flaws written into your body’s code." The man paused and sighed, his arms dropping to his sides as his expression grew bored. "You lack experience in these matters. I, too, was once ignorant of the intelligence of design. Allow me to be your teacher, the final instructor on your journey into perfection." He extended his mechanical hand towards one of the machines and pointed, a violet string extended from the tip and into the creations back. It jolted from the contact and grew limp, the core turning lifeless. Charon then watched in horror as it began to jolt and shake, its limbs bouncing as the rust on its back and chest fell to the ground, revealing smooth metal underneath. Its head lurched back as if it were in pain, bumps appearing along its shoulders as small spikes extended. They grew outwards before thickening into long tails, the ends a jagged point that whipped around in the air. They found purchase in its own body, tearing new holes for small barbs to extend from, like a new body armor. The tails then jerked themselves free, swerving through the air as if trying to find new prey to hunt. It continued to thrash about as Liam fought off three of its brethren at once, his axe spinning as he hacked the arm off one and the leg off of another. Charon’s Defenders aided him all the while, denying the rest an opportunity to strike when his back was turned. He tore out another core and launched it before laughing. "This is about to be over, then I’ll teach you something real funny, jackass!" Liam’s crude words were punctuated by him backhanding a machine in the face, the soldier falling to the ground with a noticeable dent in its faceplate. He waved his hand in the air, as if in pain, before calming himself and setting off after the next foe. Charon watched him dash, his eyes widening as he saw the new machine move at the same time. Rather than the slow, damaged gait of the others, the upgraded creation was fast, sprinting across the mud with little resistance. Its tails streaked out in front of it, spearing towards Liam, who noticed it just in time to turn and deflect the spikes with the head of his axe. He stared at it, confusion on his face, before it was replaced with exhilaration. "You’re a special kind of special, huh? Well, lucky you, so am I!"