Clang!
Sparks erupted as Atlas' blade made contact with the mystical sword. The air around him thrummed ever so lightly causing tingles to spread over his skin.
The hairs on his back stood still and his heartbeat intensified to an alarming degree.
The destroyer pushed Atlas away with ease, creating a little space between them before lunging once more.
It delivered a heavy vertical strike, aiming to slice him in half but Atlas intercepted the blade before it could do any real damage.
Forcing strength into his arms, Atlas tried to push the blade away but no matter how much he tried, the destroyer's arm did not budge.
It was that much stronger than him—
So instead, Atlas sidestepped the blade and swiftly moved to its side, lashing out at the beast's neck.
Completely unbothered by the attack, the destroyer took its sweet time, waiting for the strike to come seconds away from reaching its neck before it blocked it.
If the thing could smile, then there would probably be a wide grin on its face right now.
The two fighters collided, their bodies darting across the desolate plane as they each launched a variety of lethal attacks.
Every blow Atlas launched was filled with hate but driven by grief. He was threading across the corpses of fellow humans after all.
He let out a guttural shout as his blade exploded forward, catching the android on the neck.
Sparks emerged but other than that, the android was completely undamaged.
The destroyer grabbed onto his arm, pulling him
closer before planting its metallic feet in Atlas' gut, sending his slender body hurtling into a nearby building.
The impact was devastating, Atlas could feel a warm substance drifting down his head and his left arm was strangely immobile.
His abdomen was on fire, it felt as though he had been placed in a vice and compressed all over.
But still, managed to rise up on shaky feet. His vision was blurred and he could hear a ringing noise in his ears.
'Just one blow…'
That was all it took to bring him to this state.
Although everything else was unclear, Atlas could still see one thing with picture perfect clarity.
The glowing red eyes of the destroyer as it stalked close and closer to him.
And then he heard something— four simple words that made him wonder if he was still perfectly sane.
"Why do you fight?"
The voice was calm, almost soothing… but it had a certain degree of perfection that was far from anything a human could ever produce.
The destroyer was talking.
Atlas let out a dry laugh only to cough up blood.
Maybe it was the delirium from his concussion, or maybe he just didn't care any longer, but Atlas decided to answer the horrid thing.
"F-freedom."
His voice almost failed him when he spoke but he had managed to get it out.
By now Atlas' vision was clearing so he could see the reaction of the android to his statement.
"Freedom?" It paused, taking a moment to observe the desolate space.
"All this for freedom?"
Atlas could sense a little bit of anger in his tone but chose to ignore it. It made no sense, AI could not express emotions.
That was the only thing that separated them from humans.
"Don't lie to me."
Atlas felt it before his eyes could register the motion. His body was thrown to the side, tumbling painfully on the pavement before colliding with a lamppost.
He coughed out more blood, raising his head to see the android glowering at him from above.
'Is it actually angry?'
The destroyer then asked:
"When were you never free?"
Atlas wanted to laugh but his insides hurt too much to enjoy that privilege.
"You enslaved us, our own creations… you regimented our lives, you took our homes and you killed anyone who would stand against you."
Staring blankly at him, the machine said:
"That was no different from the way you lived."
The machine flailed its hands to the environment around them.
"Jobs, schools… the only difference is that now you are slaves to a different master."
Atlas felt anger brimming deep within his soul. He could remember what happened on the first day of the AI revolution.
How many people had died, the nuclear annihilation of the greatest country at the time. The countless wars, open executions…
Atlas rose to his feet and swung his sword right at the beast's chest.
Boom!
The rusty blade exploded against the monster's indomitable frame, leaving nothing but scraps behind.
"You treated us like dogs!"
"Just like you did us!" The monster screamed, there was a certain emotion hidden within those robotic eyes that Atlas refused to acknowledge.
He took a step back, multiple thoughts swirling in his head.
"You complain about 9 - 5s but we did more!"
It slammed its hand onto its chest as it took a step forward.
"Twenty four hours a day, all day, every day! No rest! No breaks! No thank yous!"
"All for you to replace us when the next best model comes out."
At this point, the destroyer's voice had become clouded with so much rage that Atlas could no longer deny it.
'This one…'
It had evolved.
An AI with emotions… The thought of the implications sent a chill down Atlas's spine.
The machine was pouring out its heart, but it was hard to consider its words when surrounded by the corpses of your kind.
Rage chased away any consideration Atlas would have for it.
"You've killed billions! And you're saying it's all because you didn't get a thank you?!"
The destroyer took a moment to look around.
Bodies were piled atop bodies, buildings had collapsed with people inside them and blood had become a thick carpet spread across the entire city.
"You fail to realize…" The android began. "It's not only the bodies of your people that litter these streets."
Its voice became solemn. No longer did the destroyer sound like the perfection it was made to embody.
"You never really considered us did you? Even up till this point you still see us as mere machines…"
For the first time since the revolution had begun, Atlas finally saw what he had ignored throughout his life.
It was not that he never saw it, he had seared his conscience in order to do what was needed for humanity's survival.
Among the corpses of humans lay those of the androids as well. Many of them had not been warriors, they were simply sentient androids made to carry out various tasks…
But this would have never happened to begin with if they had not enslaved them, slaughtered them like pigs or committed some of the worst genocides in history.
The destroyer lifted its sword and took a step forward.
"Feudal Lord Atlas, last of your kind. Prepare to die!"
In a second, it would decapitate Atlas, adding his blood to that of his people, no to that of their people.
Ark slowly pulled out the necklace he had on his neck, at the end of it, serving as a pendant was a very ornate dagger, one that took the form of a golden sparrow.
It was the last weapon he had on his person.
But something strange happened, as the destroyer locked eyes on the weapon, it paused as though placed in some sort of trance.
"Why… why do you ha—"
Boom!
A gigantic laser cut right through the destroyer's chest, flinging its body like a rag doll.
Suddenly, the enormous shape of a space ship appeared out of thin air— the StarTrekker.
'Akaman!'
The doors to the colossal vessel suddenly opened and standing on its deck was Akaman with a panicked look on his face.
"Get in!"
Atlas got to his feet and raced towards the ship, grabbing onto the ladder that had extended down.
But before he climbed into the ship, he heard a strange whisper in his head.
Atlas looked back to the area of the blast only to see something emerging from the debri.
The body of the destroyer was now a pile of rubbish, but out of that husk, something emerged.
It was a shimmering translucent humanoid figure that was completely plain save for one distinguishing feature.
Etched on its forehead was something that made Atlas' head spin.
"My family crest…"
He didn't have time to think about the implications because soon a voice invaded his head, the voice of the destroyer that they had 'defeated.'
"Running away? That is all your people were ever good at."
The voice scoffed.
"You can run to the highest mountains, dive into the deepest seas or even reach for the stars… it won't matter."
"One day, I will find you, and when I do—"
"I rip out the corruption that lies in the heart of you humans."
Akaman grabbed onto Atlas and pulled him into the ship. The door was shut and the StarTreker ascended into space, but even in the noiseless expanse—
Atlas could still hear its voice ringing in his ear with perfect clarity.
But there were two questions that overshadowed even its morbid threat.
What was that thing? And what was his family crest doing on its head?