On a hill a distance away from the battlefield, Violet and Cassandra observed the slaughter unfold.
The 20,000 Moon soldiers were just gone. Most of them were either killed instantly or fell when the battlefield was covered by lava and the average temperature reached a point where a pig could be turned to pork in just seconds. Voyagers had the protection of their armors, but the armors of Moon soldiers only served as frying pans.
The lucky ones that made it out were completely mentally broken. They would be fortunate if they could talk straight after this.
The Voyagers have been taken by surprise by the Empress’s powers, but they were, after all, battle-hardened. With Voyager rifles and Voyager blades, they have decimated the flame giants. The falling fireballs weren’t as deadly to them either.
But Violet wasn’t concerned. This was just the beginning.
Suddenly, she snapped around and pointed her Voyager rifle at two figures that have approached behind her and Cassandra.
She lowered her weapon when she saw who it was.
“Ah. Jean. I’m so glad you made it out of that slaughterhouse.”
Jean replied to Violet’s smile with a wide grin of her own. Neither mentioned how Violet tried to sneak away herself without warning Jean. They quickly sat down, but both kept a distance between themselves and each other so that in case things went south, they could have time to react.
Blink’s hand was never half a second away from her watch. Cassandra’s telekinesis was never offline.
Jean suddenly said something.
“The power the Empress is wielding. It’s not from this world, is it?”
It was obvious what the Empress was doing, summoning fireballs and flame giants, wasn’t in the same category as using runes to make weapons sharper and armors tougher.
“Yes.” Violet replied. This wasn’t anything important. “I got it from a Voyager I killed. It uses the locals as energy sources, but the way it uses those energy is much smarter than the means in this world.”
“I thought so.”
In the battlefield, suddenly, the Empress couldn’t suppress a groan of pain. Every second, she could feel her body disappearing cell by cell. She only used summons to fight before because she knew it would make her last longer, but since none of the 54 Voyagers have fallen, she knew she had to get her hands dirty.
As another wave of fireballs and flame giants spawned, the Empress suddenly landed on the ground. Without warning, she dashed toward one of the Voyagers.
The Voyager the Empress chose as target happened to be the axe wielding Voyager. Seeing the Empress approaching, the man knew he couldn’t back off. Fair enough. He was never a fan of retreating. All he did was draw his Voyager blade and slam down on the Empress with his full strength. On one hand, he believed he could force the Empress to back off and save her own head. On the other, he trusted his Voyager armor could take the hit even if the Empress decided to trade blows.
He was wrong on both accounts.
The Empress’s lance, empowered by the faith of millions, plowed through the Voyager armor with ease. Voyager armors were designed by the Protectors. Technically, given a power source strong enough, they could stop any attack in the Infinite Realms. Unfortunately, the orange crystal that powered this particular Voyager armor wasn’t quite enough.
Almost at the same time as his armor went on strike, the Voyager’s blade landed on the Empress’s shoulder, but it didn't do a thing. The last thing that Voyager saw was the Empress brushing off the Voyager blade before a wave of flames exploded from inside his body and fried him alive.
“Decimate!”
Seeing the instant death of one of their comrades, three other Voyagers immediately recognized the greater threat. One of them sent a spell toward the Empress while the other two readied their own tricks. The second Voyager knelt down on the ground and gave it a gentle tap. A sea of ice suddenly appeared and froze its way toward the Empress. The third Voyager placed a yellow crystal into his armor before leaped toward the Empress with a giant energy blade.
The spell landed on the Empress...and did absolutely nothing. The Empress answered that with a shot of fire from the tip of her lance.
“Shield!”
“Armor!”
“Protect!”
“Impenetrable!”
The wizard Voyager placed four protection spells in one second.
The shot of fire broke through all four spells and the wizard Voyager in half that speed.
The sea of ice finally reached the Empress’s feet. The Empress smirked. She was experiencing enough pain to break a man every second, and it was not her fault that the screams and death of her enemies made her just a little more happier. She didn't even do anything, but the sea of ice was stopped in its tracks.
The third Voyager leaped onto her, only to get grabbed in the throat by one hand. The second Voyager watched helplessly as the Empress engulfed the third Voyager in endless flames. He sent multiple shots of ice her way. Each of them was strong enough to punch through a line of armored vehicles. He has destroyed an entire starship with just one of these shots, but all of them were melted before they could make contact.
Finally, as the third Voyager was burned alive, the Empress fired another shot at the second Voyager for his effort. The kill was instant.
Jean frowned on the hilltop. The Empress was killing Voyagers like the Voyagers killed local peasants. She wasn’t concerned about her comrades, but she was concerned of her own safety. If the Empress finished off all the Voyagers and still had time to come after them...then they would be burnt by the flames they lit themselves. Pun intended.
But as she gave another glance at Violet, she realized she shouldn’t worry. If Violet didn't have a countermeasure, she would’ve been gone already.
Within moments, two dozen Voyagers were massacred by the Empress. It was just an unfair fight. The Empress didn't even have to defend herself because none of the Voyagers’ attacks really hurt her. Even the most powerful strike, an energy blast from a Voyager that could’ve ripped an entire fleet apart, was nothing when spread over millions. At most, it would make them feel some headache.
At this point, some Voyagers were eyeing the exits, but the Empress didn't allow them to leave. She didn't sacrifice her life and endure all this suffering just so she could kill most of the intruders. Adam has already explained to her how most extraction methods of the Voyagers were. Whenever a Voyager opened a portal or pulled something strange out from his watch, he could count on being delayed by a few fireballs. They would quickly fall victim to the Empress.
Eventually, there were only five Voyagers left on the battlefield.
That was when Violet typed something into her watch.
On the walls of Crown’s City, Adam was watching the slaughter unfold. Of course, he was rooting for the Empress. Whenever a Voyager was killed, he felt a sense of relief. Whenever the Empress took a hit or showed a sign of pain, he was concerned.
Suddenly, his watch notified him of a message. The rogue Voyager frowned. His betrayal was well known. Who would try to talk to him now? He glanced down at the message.
The moment his eyes saw the message, he froze.
Or at least his body froze.
The conscious of Adam, or at least the Adam that the Empress knew, suddenly found himself inside a strange environment. He didn't know how to describe it, but in this environment, the concept of space didn't matter. He didn't even know how it was possible, but he just knew it. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything. In fact, he no longer had a body.
Suddenly, he felt another presence.
“Who are you?”
His words didn't come out in the form of a voice, but rather as a thought. The other presence clearly received it.
“I’m on a timer and I have wasted enough time playing the little games, so I am going to be straightforward. I am the real Voyager Adam.”
“Impossible!”
“It’s not impossible. You see...I had a deal with Violet right after we came into this trash of a world. She’s the Voyager behind all this. Our plan involved me infiltrating the High Command of the Empire of the Sun. Of course, we knew a few lies can’t get me in that deep. So what’s the best way to tell a lie? Tell the truth.”
“No!”
Adam’s words left his mouth before he could even run this through his brain.
“A persona. That’s what you are. A soul created for our use. We knew if I go to the Empress as myself, I would eventually slip somewhere. But what happens if I’m not really me, but instead, I am a Voyager who publicly challenged a Protector? I’m someone with a guilty past who now seeks redemption? That...that is where you come in.”
“That is not possible!”
Adam could feel his thoughts getting more and more confused. Pieces of memories that he knew to be real were getting shady. He remembered he had a loved one in his first world...or was it his second world? What’s her name again?
“That’s not possible...” He repeated, trying to recall a battle he fought in in one of his previous worlds. “The Siege of…”
He couldn’t remember the name.
“All your memories are fake. They were implanted to make you as convincing as possible.” The second presence, the real Adam, pressed on mercilessly. “Your presence in the Empire of the Sun only aided in our plan! The battle of the Border!”
“We killed half a dozen Voyagers!”
“Nope. Violet and Cassandra killed half a dozen Voyagers under the cover of the battle you launched and looted six watches. Well, those watches ended up in the wrong hands...nonetheless, we used you to kill tens of thousands of experienced troops from both empires that could’ve stood against us.”
“I killed Druid! He would’ve wiped out the Empire…”
“As well as our plan. Did you really think we would satisfy with taking one of dozens of portions of the Protectors’ reward?” The real Adam smirked. “As I said, every single action you made, we’re behind it. While you played the hero, I lurked in the shadows and influenced your decisions. Whatever you think is a product of your free will, I authorized it.”
Adam groaned in pain. His conscious was falling apart as pieces of memories previously blocked from him were coming back.
“...and...and the Shieldbearers?”
“I think you would be happy to know you played a key role in their destruction. 20,000 dead. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“But...but…”
All of a sudden, a horrifying thought occurred to Adam.
If the conspiracy was indeed controlling his life, and he gave the Last Stand to the Empress…
“Yep.” The real Adam easily saw through his persona’s concerns. “Did you really think your precious Empress was sacrificing herself to save the Empire? No! Right now, she is only killing our enemies for us! The Empire of the Moon! The other Voyagers! She is nothing more than a sword in our grasp! And once she has outlived her usage, which is now, she will be terminated.”
“No…” Adam’s voice trailed off. He tried to get back to his body, to warn the others, but it was too late. What he just learned was shattering his belief bit by bit. He no longer knew what to fight for. What to stand for. After all, he was nothing but a piece of clothes. Once he was no longer needed, he was discarded.
On the city walls, Adam’s body started moving again.
All around him, the Sun soldiers were still frozen. No one had any idea what just went on inside Adam’s head.
Voyager Adam let out a cold grin. He would’ve loved to just destroy that soul, but that was the problem with multiple souls in the same body. Fighting wasn’t done with swords and guns. For some Voyagers, manipulate souls was a piece of cake. This wasn’t the case with Adam. He could destroy souls, but destroying a soul inside his own body without hurting himself was a little challenging. All he could do was use words to destroy the persona’s beliefs. Without the willingness to fight, the persona soul automatically yielded the body to him.
Now, he could do what he wanted to do since a long time ago.
The real Voyager walked to the altar with his double edged sword raised. He turned around and gave another glance at the battlefield before letting loose a golden energy wave at the altar.
The altar exploded into a million pieces.
As well as the last hope of the Empire of the Sun.
