The leaders turned from their positions to see the creature approaching the supreme leader, Zeus. A unified "No!" echoed from both sides of what was left of the building. Some closed their eyes, thinking it was the end of their lord's plans with the boy's death. However, they then saw that the creature had released him for no apparent reason and moved a bit forward, screaming so loudly that they heard it from where they were. At that moment, they saw the hound striking Urion from behind.
"Firehead!" Podbe thought to himself, barking loudly, appearing somewhat battered from the previous battle. But how is it possible that they are alive? How did they manage to escape from there? Urion wondered as he saw his tentacle fall to the ground, releasing Aiden.
Moments earlier, the floor above was collapsing on Podbe and company. "Quick, everyone, form up behind me!" she instructed. Quickly, she looked in all directions as if searching for something, and once she found what she was looking for, she threw one of the cards she had over the area where The Dark Knight was, transporting him to her side. Then, instantly, she placed her staff on the ground and created a large dome that supported the structure that had fallen on them.
"But, what are you doing?" the two scientists accompanying them asked, startled to see beside them the person who almost killed them. "He's one of the bad guys," added Dani, seconded by Gin.
"We are not like them". Despite the evil he has done, I cannot let him die here. "It would be something I cannot commit, and that makes us different from them," she told them firmly.
"The same as always, wanting to help others," said Eduard, even though he ripped my arm off, laughing on the ground with a somewhat muffled voice.
"He's alive!" the children indicated, wanting to approach where Sir Larot was.
"Don't get close," said Marie, pointing her weapon at the unconscious man. Look, his helmet is broken, you can see an eye. "I don't think he's a monster like we thought, huh, Billy?" Marie asked.
"Yes, it's true", he's human. "But he must have been a very strong human, so strong that he almost killed us all, even Podbe," Billy replied.
"Yes, it's true, he has a dark blue eye," said Elena, scared, thinking that Sir Larot had risen.
"Indeed," said Sir Larot, grabbing Elena by the leg, causing the other two children to become frightened and try to kick him, but they felt the impact instead, as his armor was very hard.
"How would you still be alive if that thing was very strong, stronger than me?" "And why am I next to you if I was far away?" he asked, sounding out of breath, with two voices, because it seemed he used a device that made his voice sound more sinister.
"Calm down, cowboy," said Gat, pointing his shooting ability at him. "Maybe I can't hit you in the armor because it's hard, but I can hit that cracked part you have, and that would be your end," he added.
That guardian really doesn't understand the reason. "He's very stubborn, he reminds me of someone I know," Reia noted to Podbe in the mental space.
"Really? Who?" the hound in his human form asked.
"No one, forget it," she replied. "Sometimes you don't catch the hints."
"Is there anything we can do?" Podbe asked Reia.
She began transforming the white place they were in into a library.
"What is this, Reia?"
"Let me search. Maybe in this library, which is within the system, I can find something to help us. Meanwhile, go growl at The Dark Knight. He's here with us, well, next to the children."
Podbe left the mental space and began growling at Larot, who had Elena's leg in his grasp.
"You heard the hound, let her go," said Ezequiel, held by Lidia and Rino.
"Calm down, stop," Adia said in a strained voice while using her power to lift the dome. So, you, Mage, brought me here and, on top of that, you placed a barrier. I think you're the strongest here, but not the smartest for bringing me. Besides, the barrier wouldn't hold. "How do you plan to get out of here?" Larot asked arrogantly.
"Eduard, can you move?" Adia asked.
"Yes, a little," he replied.
"Good." "In that case, do you always carry that robot control I gave you as a spare in case I lose mine?" she asked.
"Yes, I have it here," he said, taking control with a red button in the center out of one of the pockets of his backpack with his remaining hand.
"Press it, it's an emergency," she said.
"We haven't tested that functionality yet."
"Yes, but that guy created it, it must be good, and it's our only chance," she added.
Eduard pressed the button. The button's light intensified to a stronger, brighter red, enveloping them all.
Above, while Urion was making his bloody path, Adia's robot, Tron, started to feel a flashing light in its stomach. From the rubble, Tron began to revert to its almost human form: a round face where its eyes, like lenses reflecting the outside, gave the impression of looking at you like a person. It had no nose, but it had a sort of mouth, a rectangular monitor where frequency waves moved with each word it spoke. Where its ears would be, there were two antennas. Its arms and legs were retractable, composed of some elastic hoses, except its hands and feet, which were made of a hard but moldable material, transforming into whatever it needed. In the center of its chest was a square the size of a mini-fridge, within which a small window containing an old-style radio with several buttons, one of which was blinking red, would rise.
"Oh! It's the signal. "I must press the button," Tron said, its mouth changing colors and wave movements. It pressed the button, revealing a hologram showing Adia and the others in trouble.
"What do I do? " "What do I do?" the robot repeated, while on the other hand, Adia and the others could also see Tron, but they only heard static and couldn't understand each other. The children tried to say something, as did Eduard and Adia with what they could. Lidia and Rino also tried desperately, but received no response from the robot.
After a while, overwhelmed, they gave up and were sad and discouraged, about to throw in the towel, when Eduard realized the audio wasn't working.
"Maybe we can signal him." "Alright, do it," he said, while Adia tried to support the massive rock above them.
"We were never good at that sort of thing," said Lidia and Rino. The three children didn't know how to do it either. Maria and Billy only said that at the orphanage they were taught several languages, but not sign language.
Suddenly, it was heard: "Marie, you are excellent at signaling. Plus, you were trained to understand any type of language," it was Ezequiel's voice, still tired and held by the two cadets.
"Hurry, do it!" they all said. "I don't think Adia can hold on much longer, and he will understand," Marie indicated. "It's an agency robot made by Squadron D, it understands all languages."
"I understand," said Marie, although she didn't know about these robots, hence her surprised expression.
Immediately, Marie began signaling to Tron through the hologram viewer. The robot understood they were trapped deep underground, on the lowest floor to be exact, and were buried under a lot of rubble.
"And what do you want me to do?" the robot signaled to Marie.
"It's true, what do they want him to do to get us out of here?" she asked Adia.
Sir Larot, laughing, interrupted: "Is that your plan? Ha! We're all going to die here. I don't think that a robot is fast enough to get us out."
Adia silenced him for a moment. "Let me think," she said, observing the little time she had left as her dome began to crack. Small pieces of debris started to fall where they were.
"Hurry!" Adoa told Elena. "Give me control, bring it to me."
Elena took control of Eduard's hand and handed it to Adia.
"Marie, quickly, told Tron to show me the other side, like a cellphone switching between front and back cameras." "Change the view, show us your surroundings," she signaled.
The robot switched the image to the desolate site above, and they heard "Bingo!" in a somewhat pained voice from Adia. "Alright, Sir Larot, we are getting out of here, despite your pessimism." But in return, you'll help us defeat that thing. After defeating it, you can continue with whatever you have to do. It's a deal. I expect a quick response."
Larot looked at her somewhat skeptically and, with his distorted voice, replied: "Alright, if we get out, I'll join you to face that thing, but then we'll go back to being enemies. Of course, if you get us out of here."
"Then we have a deal," said Adia. And before the dome breaks and the big rock falls on us, this will drain my mana, but there's no other way. "I hope it works."
Adia spoke some words of a spell: "INTERCAMBIUS."
Suddenly, the rock fell, but everyone had disappeared from the place, which was completely destroyed. Before disappearing, Sir Larot thought: "That magic". "I think I know it," as it all vanished.
Soon, everyone present appeared next to Tron. A sense of relief was felt among them, but it didn't last long when they saw the scene involving Urion. He had Aiden with one of his hands transformed into a scythe. Podbe, a bit battered, barked at Urion, but not in a biting or attacking manner.
"Oh! " I think the hound wants you to throw him as hard as you can towards that individual, Tron said.
"What, you understand canine language?" the others asked.
"A little." I was programmed to understand many forms and dialects of humans, animals, and other beings, the robot responded.
"No time, we'll talk about that later," Adia said, tired and kneeling on the ground, supported by her staff. You promised, Larot. Support the dog, maybe they have a chance.
"Alright, dog. But it's a long distance. Can you make it in time?"
"I have an idea," Adia said, calling Rino, who quickly approached after laying Ezequiel down with Lida. "Boy, can you shoot that weapon and hit that monster?"
"Yes, ma'am, I think so," he replied, somewhat scared.
"No, what do you think? " "You must be able to!" Adia said, encouraging Rino. "Alright," said the boy. "Give me one of your bullets," she instructed.
Immediately, he gave her a bullet, and with her last strength, she activated her teleportation ability on that object and on both Podbe and Larot.
"Use it well," and she fainted, but before falling, the three children caught her.
"Damn, I wanted to ask that witch, but she had already fainted," Sir Larot thought to himself.
"They're ready," she indicated. "There's only one chance."
"Why doesn't Gat shoot instead?" Marie suggested. "I'm not good at long-range shooting," he replied.
Lidia interrupted and said that Rino was the best in his class and that, well, because of her fault, they couldn't become agents, but she would tell them about it later, she added.
Rino, somewhat fearful, was sweating because they had placed this great responsibility on him.
"Come on, you can do it, you can do it," he told himself.
Someone approached him, it was Lidia, and taking the trembling weapon from the fear of failure in her partner, she held it firmly and said:
"You can do it."
At that moment, a strong determination entered him. Knowing that everyone trusted him, he aimed his weapon, saw Urion's back through the scope, and fired, putting everything into that bullet.
The bullet flew with great force, and before it reached Urion's back, Larot appeared, grabbed Podbe, and threw him even harder towards Urion's back. The dog activated his "Firehead" ability, and with the added force, inflicted more pain than Urion expected, distracting him. Sir Larot took advantage of the moment, cut the tentacle, and moved the child away from the guardian as if he had transported it.
"You?!" Urion exclaimed, turning to see who it was. "How dare you harm me and take what is mine?"
Zeus felt relief at not losing the key to the new empire he planned to create with Aiden. His life, as well as those of Laos and Swang, had been extended. His captains remained calm as they continued searching for survivors, especially Aragon, who saw his disciple alive.
The creature kicked Podbe, sending him flying towards The Dark Knight.
"Minus thirty health points," Reia indicated to Podbe. Podbe, you only have twenty points left. "I don't know what will happen if you reach zero."
"I can't give up." "I must keep fighting," the dog said, getting up from the ground.
"Wow, I admire your fighting spirit, little animal," Larot remarked.
Urion now charged at them with both hands transformed into scythes, saying, "The three of you will die at once."
The enemy approached with such force that everything around me trembled. Larot managed to grab the guardian's two arms, blocking the attack, but he didn't expect Urion to shoot a ray from his eyes, sending him flying far away.
"One down," Urion said as he approached the nearly motionless dog. Podbe launched his final attack, seizing the moment. He activated "Golden Claw Slash," which didn't even scratch Urion. He laughed maniacally and impaled the dog with one of his scythe hands, lifted him, and threw him next to Aiden. Blood was everywhere, and Reia, through tears, said:
"Zero health points. You have failed the quest."
Aiden, after a moment, woke up and got up from the ground to see his canine friend lying with blood coming from his stomach. He couldn't believe it. Crying, he approached him, saying:
"Podbe, react, my friend, react. What happened to your promise that we would go on adventures and search for my mother?"
He asked Reia in the mental space, and she confirmed the news.
"No, it can't be. " "In the short time we've been together," "I consider you part of my family," he said through tears, sad and in great pain.
"None of the people present could believe that a dog would sacrifice himself for someone, and that is why it is always said that a dog is humanity's most loyal companion." In this situation, it was more than proven. They all thought in unison as they watched the heartbreaking scene. Some were unaware of the dog's power; others, like Zeus and Laos, speculated that perhaps this animal was the product of some experiment of theirs or that something had given it its powers.
"Now it's your turn, boy," Urion said with a threatening look.
The boy kept his head down, his eyes lacking the sparkle of life they once had, as he went to face his fate. The guardian used the scythe he had used to finish off Podbe, placing it at the boy's neck.
"This is the end of you," he said as he lowered his scythe toward Aiden.