Shadow walked toward Yunia. "What will happen to Enatur?" His eyes were filled with concern for Enatur.
"I'm just teaching him a little lesson." She glanced at Shadow and smiled softly. "Get out the chessboard, Shadow!"
Shadow chuckled. "Okay, I'll defend my undefeated record!"
Veins of anger stood out on his forehead. "Tch!"
---
A small red light slowly grew larger. A ring-shaped dimensional portal opened in a barren land, making the air appear to tremble from a distance.
The heat of the sun made this area even hotter. Enatur's body was thrown out of the portal.
Smack!
His face hit a large rock. His body lay sprawled out, his eyes rolling, and blood coming from his nose.
"The hell... old granny!" he said, puffing out his cheeks.
He got up and sat cross-legged. He opened the blue hologram screen from the gray cell phone bracelet on his left hand.
"Hm?" His eyes blinked. "This world is a pre-apocalyptic world, a type-1 human civilization. If I'm not mistaken, it's a world without magic."
His eyes scanned the surrounding area. Only barren, dry land, even the cracks in the ground had formed a checkered pattern.
Enatur walked around the area, looking for shade. "It's hot."
He snapped his fingers, and the space slowly formed a transparent cube. It protected him from the inside, from the heat of the sun.
He took a deep breath. "Ahh... slowly the stinging heat is disappearing."
Enatur opened his storage space and changed his clothes to a black long-sleeved shirt, black pants, and black hiking sandals.
The cube space moved with his steps. He kept walking, searching for someone, or anything he could find.
Hours after walking...
Enatur found a valley surrounded by cliffs. The shadows of the cliffs provided enough protection from the scorching midday heat.
He ran toward the shady cliff.
Once he arrived, he hid between two cliffs and peeked at a gathering of people from a safe distance. There were about 190 people.
Worn tents were lined up haphazardly, leaning in all directions. The ground was cracked and dusty, without any living plants. Enatur noticed something strange about the people he saw.
Their feet moved slowly like zombies, their eyes were empty, their lips were slightly parted, and their bodies were just bones covered with skin.
An old man lay on the ground, his legs blue, covered in bruises and maggots. "Help, I'm hungry, give me food."
"Basically, they are still humans, not zombies, but..."
Four middle-aged men attacked the old man. Their jaws bit into his skin, chewing the flesh on his body, and blood spattered on the old man's body.
"Argh... argh... argh... stop... please!" His moans couldn't withstand the pain from their bites, eating him alive.
Enatur's stomach churned, feeling nauseous at the sight before him, his eyes stinging. The sound of the helicopter's buzzing grew louder.
Enatur looked up at the sky, something was coming.
Enatur peeked toward the village. "A helicopter? It looks like they're going to rescue the villagers."
Their landing caused panic among the villagers.
A villager's eyes widened, his body trembling. "Run!" he shouted.
Their footsteps faltered, running as fast as they could. Some of them just stood still and gave up.
Time seemed to slow down. There was no sound, only oppressive silence. Between life and death, everything felt real.
The ten men opened fire on the villagers. Enatur turned his face away, leaning against the cliff, unable to bear witness to what was happening.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
"Help!"
"Stop... please!"
From behind the cliff where he was hiding, he heard the gunfire and the screams of the villagers.
A severed head stopped rolling right next to him. He turned his head, their eyes meeting.
Those eyes stared at him, and the gaze was terrifying. As if trying to convey something. Enatur's mouth trembled, his face pale.
One of the armored men found Enatur's hiding place. The man immediately pointed his weapon at Enatur. They were only two meters apart.
"Shit, man!" Enatur immediately stood up.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
The man rained bullets from his weapon onto Enatur. Enatur reflexively opened a 50cm diameter dimensional space. The bullets entered the dimensional space.
Enatur jumped towards the armored man, grabbed his face, and slammed the back of his head onto the floor. His helmet came off.
Enatur was shocked to see his face. "Huh? It's not a human, it's a skull-shaped robot?!"
The other robot troops noticed Enatur's presence, and they all ran towards him, while the helicopter rained bullets on him from two miniguns on both sides of the helicopter.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Enatur ran towards the barren land, dodging the barrage of bullets aimed at him.
He stretched his arms toward the helicopter and reopened the dimensional space. The barrage of bullets entered the dimensional space.
Enatur stopped running. "Mirror Dimensional Space!" he shouted.
The dimensional space opened in front of the helicopter. The barrage of bullets came out of the dimensional space and rained down on the helicopter.
The helicopter was damaged by the barrage of bullets, lost control, and crashed into the remains of the previous troops.
BOOM!
A huge explosion occurred. All the robot troops were instantly destroyed. The wind from the explosion blew his hair back.
His eyes trembled, his mouth opened, and his pupils shrank. Enatur remembered his mother's words earlier.
"You know, honey... in the past, many gods risked everything they had and knelt before me just to be taught how to use Space."
"I have mastered your Authority Space, but I feel that ability is useless in battle!"
Enatur tapped his forehead. He had just realized how powerful the Space ability inherited from his mother was.
Yunia sat on a bar stool with Shadow, watching the hologram screen showing Enatur's actions. She just smiled meaningfully.
---
"Is this the power of Space?"
Suddenly, Enatur heard a humming sound from afar and turned around.
Enatur saw a trail of smoke appear in the sky, the sound of launchers buzzing in the air. Enatur flew up into the air, and from a distance, he saw dozens of large missiles flying fast in the sky.
The air vibrated.
His eyes narrowed. "What... is that?" Enatur's voice broke softly.
His gaze pierced through the thin clouds, staring at the small dots that split the horizon, numerous and fast.
A moment of emptiness before destruction.
And... the sky broke.
BOOM!... BOOM!... BOOM!
White flashes of light exploded in several spots. The sound of thunderous booms was clearly heard in several places. Then, it created a strong gust of wind.
The heat wave burned the clouds, and the ground far below split apart. Explosions were visible in several places, as far as the eye could see.
Enatur stared without blinking. "Incredible... Type-1 humans can... create something like that?"
Flames swirled, forming a mushroom cloud that rose high into the sky. He stared at the explosion for a long time, his eyes reflecting the end of the world.
The sound of explosions echoed from afar, from all directions.
[The plan to completely wipe out humanity has begun. The age of machines will replace humans.]
Enatur held his chin. "A woman's voice?"
Enatur opened the hologram screen on his phone bracelet. "The human population continues to decrease. This world can no longer sustain life."
The wind rustled, silent and empty. The screen displayed the number zero. Humans were extinct in this world.
His eyes closed for a moment, then opened blankly. Enatur flew toward the source of the voice.
Enatur's eyes gazed at the cityscape from a distance.
Brutalist architecture blended with cyber aesthetics, the sky blocked by rows of tall buildings. An artificial silence, where the sounds of nature had long since disappeared.
Enatur flies closer. The cold, mechanical, soulless city suddenly turns to face him. He stands in the air.
The sound of alarms echoes through the air. Hundreds of sensors light up simultaneously.
In the sky, fighter jets and combat helicopters hover in a semicircular formation. They aim their weapons at Enatur.
The fighter planes and helicopters were controlled by a single will, without a crew. Hundreds of missiles were aimed at Enatur.
He stretched his hands forward, and a large red ring with a diameter of 50 meters opened up. It was a giant dimensional portal.
All the missiles entered the portal before they could explode.
Enatur spread his arms to the sides, his body slightly bent. Twenty dimensional spaces opened, neatly lined up above him.
From within the dimensional spaces, chains with sharp blade ends, Dagger Chains, shot out quickly, spreading towards each fighter jet and helicopter.
They pierced from the front and penetrated to the rear.
Boom! Booom! Boooom!
A series of explosions destroyed all the fighter jets and helicopters. The debris fell to the ground, blackened and unrecognizable due to the destruction.
The Dagger Chains returned to the dimensional space. Stand by, awaiting orders.
Enatur was increasingly shocked by the capabilities of the Dagger Chain weapon, which he had never used before. His eyes widened again, and his mouth opened.
"Is this the true Dagger Chain? It feels like I have a hidden cheat ability."
Without emotion, full of pressure. "Who are you, unknown being!" A woman's voice echoed from all directions.
"It's impossible for humans to have abilities like this!" said the woman's voice.
Enatur scratched his head. "I'm not human, I'm the son of a great goddess, but a little hot-tempered!"
"Huh? A goddess? That's just a myth."
Enatur laughed strangely. "Hahaha... then what am I? It turns out you're still naive."
"What is your purpose, mythical creature?"
Enatur put his hands on his hips. "What are you, actually?"
"I'm just an AI. I've ruled this world for 120 years, and finally, humans have completely disappeared."
"AI? AI can do this? Interesting... really interesting... I feel like I'm seeing a rare treasure from this world!" He thought.
A sly smile appeared on Enatur's face. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
"I see... can we talk for a moment?"
Silence.
The AI did not respond, and even the sound of the wind was clearly audible to his ears. Enatur waited nervously for a response from the AI.
Not long after.
A flying board floated down, stopping right in front of his feet. He stepped on, a panel moved, locking his feet in place. Enatur immediately panicked.
"Don't be afraid. The panel is there to prevent you from falling. I will control the flying board carefully!"
Enatur was stunned by his reaction.
"I didn't expect her to be so easy to talk to!" Said Enatur.
The flying board glided softly, revealing a view of a super-advanced city below.
Many drones patrolled the area. All the buildings were made of black-painted steel, with lights shining in various colors.
The flying board hovered towards the tallest building in front of them. The walls of the building were black steel, covered with cables and large pipes glowing blue, the sound of machines humming.
The steel gate slowly lifted up, revealing a futuristic gray corridor and white lights reflecting on the surface.
"The AI built all this... by itself?"
A small, knee-high, tube-shaped robot approached. It walked on four small wheels, and on its chest was a digital sign that read: Welcome.
"Hee~... a smart robot," said Enatur, patting its head. Its two arms spun around.
The robot led Enatur through the corridor. After a few turns, they stopped in front of two giant steel doors.
The doors slid open in opposite directions.
The woman's voice was calm and soft. "Welcome to my main server, mythical creature."
Enatur looked around, thousands of thick cables flowing towards a central point, a supercomputer towering like a lifeless queen's throne.