Supreme Paragon Reborn: Humanity's Rise To Galactic Supremacy-Chapter 219: Fuel For The Machine

As the crew followed after Ruby, their expressions gradually twisted into grimaces.

First it was Robert’s, since his realm enchanted his senses.

Then Michael and the others followed suit, beginning to pick up a familiar smell.

"Not that again..." Enzo grumbled in disdain, remembering the last time they followed such a stench was when they found the human experiments in that forsaken lab.

’I have a feeling that we aren’t chasing after alive beings...’ Michael realized somberly, throwing a glance at Ruby.

For a moment he considered warning her that perhaps she shouldn’t get her hopes up. Yet when he noticed the determined look in her eyes, he knew she had arrived at the same condition as him and continued nonetheless.

’I am slow...’ Ruby thought inwardly, she was much faster than she had ever been before. Yet her speed still paled in comparison to her teammates. Barely a few minutes had passed since she had taken the lead, and yet she was already starting to pant out of exhaustion, while the others’ breathing remained composed.

It didn’t take a genius to conclude that they were limiting themselves for her sake.

’That won’t do! I might have become strong, but it’s far from enough!’

Making a decision, she leapt gracefully high into the air, landing softly onto Cyberfang’s back a second later.

Instantly she took a firm hold of the mechanical beast as she proclaimed. "Little brother! Full speed ahead! I will guide you from here!"

Roar!

With a powerful uproar, the beast accelerated, the rest of the crew speeding up.

’Good.’ Michael sighed in relief. Truthfully, the true reason for putting her in the lead wasn’t due to her superior sense of smell, it was a test.

Pretty recently, she had become one of the fastest people to attain the Early Expert status. And power usually corrupts people, altering their attitude and their thinking process. By now Michael had seen it many times with his own eyes. Once somebody realizes that they hold a talent for cultivation, they will start looking down on others, never truly doubting their own capabilities.

That was, in a way, the explanation as to why so many people that held true power were so selfish and detached from the world. In their eyes they were above all and could do no wrong, akin to a deity that wouldn’t blink twice before sacrificing others for their agenda.

Fortunately, Ruby didn’t seem to be one of these people. It took her only a few minutes to realize that she was holding her team back, which wouldn’t have been possible if she had started to feel overconfident with her abilities.

Continuing to run across the long tunnels and passing over several intersecting paths, the stench grew more intense, sounds of battle echoing ahead.

Boom! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Until finally the squad reached the source of the smell Ruby had picked up. However, what greeted them wasn’t what they expected. There weren’t deformed humans that were battling against mechas in a last stand to earn their freedom.

Instead there was a battlefield split into two sides. At one flank there were mechas and robots not designed for prolonged combat, smoke rose from their barrels as they fired everything they had.

As for their challengers, they were the familiar Hreh’tar. These ones, unlike the others before them, didn’t seem to be a horde of the same evolution, varying in shapes and sizes. Though what united them were the threatening tentacles that sprouted from their bodies.

[Introduces!]

Grow!

Unsurprisingly, Michael and the squad were immediately spotted. Part of the aliens and mecha paused their fight and pointed their fangs at them instead.

"So it’s true..." Robert heaved a sigh, seeing how eagerly a few mechas were about to fire at him.

He had been informed that there were AIs that were a threat to humanity, yet knowing and seeing were two entirely different things.

"To think that our own creation can be turned against us..."

He flipped his hair to the side, his violet eyes starting to gleam with a dangerous edge.

While the others got ready for combat, Michael’s eyes narrowed.

’Among the aliens there are a few Elites, and yet they seemed wounded... could it be that these robots have done something?’

"Watch out for their bullets." He warned. "I suspect they’ve been tampered with. Don’t rely on your realm to protect you, just because they aren’t supposed to use spiritual energy doesn’t mean they can’t hurt you!"

As if on cue, at that second a laser beam moved past him, colliding with Enzo straight in the chest. Thanks to one of his techniques that turned his skin tough like stone, he was able to survive.

However...

Cough!

Enzo leaned forward, coughing up a handful of blood.

"How?" He murmured barely above a whisper. The shot that had hit him didn’t look threatening at all, yet it had delivered devastating damage!

Understandably, Michael wasn’t one bit happy about his theory being confirmed.

"Move! Don’t you dare stop even for a second!"

Upon his command everyone sprang into action, even Enzo, unwilling to be hit again.

Pew! Pew! Pew!

Numerous projectiles headed towards Michael only to miss him by a hair’s margin as he dodged them all with his masterful evading skills. Sadly, he couldn’t relax, aside from the mechas, a few aliens had set their hungry gazes on him.

Swosh!

’That’s more like it!’ Devil’s Tongue laughed in Michael’s head as its blade severed the heads of a few aliens.

’How come these robots are able to damage us? The reason humanity doesn’t rely on technology against the alien races is because bullets usually aren’t supposed to work on beings above the Elite tier for aliens and the Expert realm for humans due to their lack of spiritual energy. Yet they easily damaged Enzo, who is a Middle Master...’

His eyes trailed across the battlefield, pausing at one particular scene.

A mecha that had approached a freshly slain body of an alien halted momentarily, its hatch opening wide. Among the white steam it emitted, a drained body of an alien dropped out, collapsing on the hard ground.

Then several mechanical tentacles ending in sharp spikes came out, wrapping themselves around the freshly fallen alien corpse. They pierced deep into its flesh, blood starting to be drained along their metal tubes.

In a matter of seconds the mechanical tentacles lifted the fresh body into the mecha’s hatch, swallowing it like a hungry beast, its hatch closing tight a second later.

Not lingering more than necessary, the mecha turned its attention back onto the battlefield, eager to exterminate humans and aliens alike.

"Hell... they’ve found a way to extract spiritual energy?" Michael realized grimly. The possibility had never even occurred to him, having never witnessed anything of the sort in his past life.

"From bad to worse, these rogue AIs wouldn’t just stop at civilians. If left unchecked, they would go straight towards the soldiers, which would weaken us even more, painting us as an easier target for the aliens." He mumbled dejectedly.

[Error...]

The mechas, which were in the middle of their respective fights, suddenly came to a halt.

Abruptly, wide cuts became visible across their metal armor, splitting it in two.

Thud!

Silence signaled the battle coming to an end.

The outcome wasn’t surprising. After all, there was currently a Lord trailing along Michael’s team.

"You might be able to harm others, but you have no power over me."

Robert didn’t spare his victims a second glance, aliens and machines starting to litter the ground.

"Hey!" Richard bellowed angrily when he noticed what had happened.

"You stole my kill!"

Slowly Robert’s eyes widened. "T—This wasn’t my intention!"

Ava shook her head. "Goodness, Richard, shut up! Be grateful that we have him on our side!"

While Richard didn’t seem happy about the outcome, Enzo and Leo certainly did. This was their first time fighting against machines and aliens simultaneously, so they were drained quite fast.

"I must admit, though. The difference between Grandmasters and Lords is staggering." Claire exclaimed, studying the aftermath.

Victoria nodded. "True, there is a reason Lords are considered deities by some."

Claire giggled as she watched how Robert was trying to make amends with Richard for stealing his kill.

"Fortunately not all have lost their minds to power."

Chatter echoed in the large underground room, the squad theorizing why there were aliens underground.

Meanwhile, Michael noticed that Ruby didn’t seem relieved, standing frozen like a statue over one of the fallen machines.

"Is something wrong—"

He halted mid-sentence, noticing the tears that streamed down her beautiful face.

Gazing lower, Michael saw the mecha that had been split cleanly with one of Robert’s strikes, revealing the inner department created to store corpses.

There a silhouette lay, not entirely human, with feline ears and a tail like Ruby’s. A man with an altered soul, his face sunken like a ghost, having his very essence drained to be used as fuel by the machine.

The source of the smell that Ruby had picked up earlier.

"..."

Eventually Ruby’s lips parted as she whispered quietly.

"I am sorry..."