He kept repeating it like a madman as he screamed. The giant, surprised by his state, said, "I thought you wanted me to watch your back while you headed west to go to your home, but I was surprised when I saw you heading east toward the city of the machines! What were you doing there?"
"Damn it... Damn it, what’s going to happen now? I have to stop the capsule immediately."
Keno ran like a madman toward the capsule, the flames pushing him at a tremendous speed, leaving the bewildered giant behind him. But after he had covered half the way to the capsule, he saw that the machines had gotten there first. They began to appear on the horizon, firing at him. He stopped, cursing them, and stared at them with a look of anger and hatred, sparks flying from his eyes. "We’re finished," he said, screaming so that his words reached the giant’s ears. "Everything is finished. What a fool I am. I’ve destroyed everything."
Keno fell to his knees and began to punch the ground with his hand in great anger and rage. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. He made a quick call to one of Gladius’s followers from the Enix. "Do you hear me? Do not activate the towers. There’s a change in the plan. An army of machines has crossed. If you activate the plan, we’ll lose everything we’ve risked. Do you hear me? Please respond quickly, this is an emergency."
But he received no reply. He knew that his last hopes had vanished and that what he had expected would happen. Despair wrapped around him, seized his weakened body, and took hold of his heart. Meanwhile, the giant had approached him and bowed its head, saying in a tone tinged with sadness and sympathy, "What’s wrong with you, little one?"
"A lot. I’m sorry, but I may not be able to take down Gaia as I promised you."
The giant’s face turned red, and he felt his hopes were extinguished again. "Then let me understand what’s happening," he said in a calm tone. "I might be able to help you, little one."
Keno was silent for a moment, an idea turning in his head, then disappearing and returning. He turned to the giant. "Wait, there might be hope."
He stood on his feet, having regained some hope. "Giant, can you eliminate the incoming robots for 20 minutes, as I asked you before?"
"Then do it. As for me, I will go back. There may be a small hope of success. And as I told you, don’t let a single one cross."
"I won’t. I will fight to the last breath."
Keno ran toward the west, bidding the giant farewell. "Goodbye, giant. I will never forget your kindness."
The giant smiled. "My name is Odin."
"And I’m Keno. It was an honor to meet you, and I’m sorry for what I did."
Keno left, setting off toward the forest, thinking about the hope that had come to him of catching up with the robot armies and stopping them before they set foot in Atlantis. He decided to call his squad that he had left at the plain, but he received no reply. His anxiety grew, and he thought that either they were now engaged with the robots or they had met their demise and had all fallen. But he held on to some hope that they were still alive and thanked God that he had asked the other two squads to return to Atlantis. This would make them stop any approaching robot or at least delay them, but this was not enough, as they had to get supplies, for he did not know how many robots were heading toward Atlantis.
After a few minutes, Keno heard the sound of gunfire in the forest. He headed toward it quickly, feeling a glimmer of hope. But he saw the robots surrounding a number of soldiers, having encircled them. He set off to help them and eliminate the robots. After he had eliminated them, he told them to head to Atlantis immediately and protect it, while he quickened his pace toward Atlantis, heading at a very high speed, hoping that the number of robots was small and could be eliminated. But he saw what made his heart pound. He saw a crimson beam shooting into space from three separate places. The blood froze in his veins, and his feet could barely carry him. Suddenly, three white, cloud-piercing towers fell from space toward the three places that Keno had previously identified with the soldiers.
"Damn it!" he said, clenching his teeth so hard he almost broke them. "The towers have been activated! Atlantis is now exposed! Atlantis is now without defense! Noooooo!"
The towers settled in their places, and suddenly a blue beam shot out, connecting the three towers. It gathered at a point, then shot toward Atlantis. A few seconds later, the energy shield that formed the dome moved and began to expand and extend, passing over Keno, covering the sky as it connected to the three towers. This entire large area was now Atlantis, and there was nothing left to protect the city from any enemy inside. But the dome would only protect it from any enemy outside.
Keno set off, cutting his way toward Atlantis, his heart pounding violently. He called the Minister of Defense, screaming at him as he panted, his breath ragged, "Prepare the army now! The robots are inside! I repeat, the robots are inside! There is nothing protecting Atlantis! The mission was a success, but an army of robots had already crossed before the land expansion process. They are inside now!
"What are you saying?! What do you mean? You bastard, how could you let them cross? Everyone in the city is going to die now! This is all because of you... because of you!" Chapters fırst released on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
Keno hung up the call, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him whole. Overwhelming anxiety swept over him, his heart hammering like a drum, shaking him to his core as he imagined the horrors that were now about to unfold.