The Almighty Ring

“Kill Jiang Fei!” the leader of the pack of Unknowns roared from afar. The ineffectiveness of Jiang Fei’s Domain ability spread far and fast.

“Protect Jiang Fei! He is not to be harmed!” Z0-11 roared in retaliation. All the men that it brought along quickly formed a defensive formation around Jiang Fei.

“My lord, the Energy Crystals that we brought are running low. If we continue fighting like this…” one the Z0-11’s men reported.

“It is true. Please reconsider this! It is best for us to retreat!” Bennette Straz chimed in. One did not need to be a Supreme Android with superior intelligence to know that the war was not on their side. The enemy had the numbers as well as adequate preparations. The enemy were well prepared having brought along vast quantities of Energy Crystals for resupply. Z0-11, on the other hand, had only brought along just enough Energy Crystals for a short battle.

The first few exchanges had already depleted more than half of their energy reserve.

Z0-11 kept quiet. Its eyes blinked madly with blue light as he glanced from Jiang Fei to its own men and back to Jiang Fei again. In the end, it made a decisive call and said, “Hold the fort!”

“Leader! You are going to kill us all for the sake of a boy?!” another Unknown complained.

“Silence! Obey the command!” Z0-11 bellowed with such ferocity that the one that complained shrunk away.

“You have my thanks,” said Jiang Fei. What else could he say then? Z0-11 had willingly dispatched all of its men from the moon base to help him fight a losing battle!

“No thanks necessary. We are allies. Although this is making me regret making that decision,” said Z0-11 with a weak smile.

Jiang Fei wanted to say something in return but the enemy attack had started growing more violent. All their shots were getting faster and to make things worse, they were all concentrated at where Jiang Fei was. The big shield that was protecting Isabella and Jiang Fei’s family were completely ignored.

“Leader, the enemy’s attacks are only focused on us. Based on my calculations, we would only last for two more minutes before the shield collapses,” said an Unknown that was operating a shield generator.

“Leader! I plead you to consider retreating now! We are going to be eradicated!” Straz stomped toward Z0-11’s side and said.

Again, Z0-11 ignored him and continued to stare into the muzzle of the enemy’s cannons.

“Leave,” said Jiang Fei when Z0-11 was about to make another tough decision.

“There’s nothing you could do here for me. I am truly sorry to drag you into this mess,” said Jiang Fei. Z0-11 had already stuck out its neck to protect Jiang Fei and for what it’s worth, Z0-11 had done plenty. If today was the day Jiang Fei would bite the dust, he would do so without dragging others down with him.

Jiang Fei did not know that all of this was caused by Z0-11, the same person that he was eternally grateful for. If it were not for Z0-11 leaking all of Jiang Fei’s information to the enemy, revealing that Isabella was severely weakened, none of this would have happened.

As of then, Z0-11 was regretting its decision. Things had escalated too far and too fast. Z0-11 had lost many of its men, just to protect Jiang Fei from a stray beam. All of them were gone and there was no way for Z0-11 to replace its losses.

The opponent were confident in their attacks. Although they had not expected Z0-11 and its men to appear, it was all within expectations. The enemy leader had brought out the big guns, even though he knew it would be overkill to do so. He did not care then and was glad that he had brought more guns than necessary. Z0-11 might want to protect Jiang Fei, but it was likely that it would fail.

“Retreat! Make preparations for a retreat!” Z0-11 finally gave the order. The war was over before Z0-11 could even start fighting. The strength of the enemy was just too much. No matter how many simulations Z0-11 made in its computing mind, failure was the only result. Retreating was the only option that would ensure their continued survival.

Straz quickly leaped into action and spread the order to the other Unknowns. Everyone, even Straz himself did not bother to hide their relief when Z0-11 finally gave the retreat order. Even though they were all Androids, their system core, or soul, was still that of a person. Even though they had gained self-awareness and superior intellect, they could not erase the fear of death from their system core. No one then was willing to die with Jiang Fei.

At that moment of despair, Jiang Fei bade everyone farewell. The end was nigh and there was nothing Jiang Fei could do besides taking the fight somewhere else so that Ariel, Isabella, and the others could still live.

Straz and the others had their own means of escape; by signaling the teleportation pad on the moon base to beam them back.

Just when the shield that was protecting them was about to break, and Jiang Fei was about to sprint toward the other side of the island, a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky. It split apart into multiple electric flares, covering the entire island like a cage.

“Oh no!” Straz froze in place.

“What’s wrong?” Z0-11 asked.

“The enemy has created an interference field! We are all trapped here! There is no getting out via teleportation!” Straz yelled. The literal thunder dome was created to disturb any signals from coming in and out of the barrier, nullifying any means of teleportation.

“Haha! Z0-11 the betrayer, you shall know death today, along with that wretched human!” the enemy roared.

Z0-11 did not bother to snap back. To be honest, there was no need for it to retort. They were indeed losing and a banter would not change that conclusion.

The enemy’s attacks remained relentless. The shield was still holding but the shield generator was blaring warnings.

“Leader, the shield will be destroyed in less than 30 seconds,” said the operator.

“Stop the attack. Focus all energy into the shield!” said Z0-11.

All of Z0-11 men stopped attacking and quickly took their battery pack to the operator. Even so, it was merely stretching a thin paper.

“50 seconds until the shield collapses!” said the operator.

“Jiang Fei, it seems that our end is near. Before we die, I have something to tell you,” said Z0-11 out of the blue.

“What is it?” Jiang Fei asked. The end of near yet Z0-11 still found the time to speak to him.

“My name is…” Z0-11 spoke slowly whilst attempting to remove the cloak that was covering its entire head.

Just then, a deafening explosion, louder than all the beam explosions on the shield, was heard coming from behind Jiang Fei’s house. Out of the mushroom cloud of debris, a silhouette zoomed out.

“Bella?!” Jiang Fei cried out with joy. Z0-11 noticed it and quickly stopped pulling back its cloak.

Isabella zoomed out of the mushroom cloud and out of the shield faster than anything Jiang Fei had ever seen. Literally, in the blink of an eye, Isabella appeared behind an enemy Unknown.

WHAM!

The Unknown’s self-generated shield received a powerful impact that its integrity almost collapsed.

WHAM!

Another blow landed and this time, the shield, as well as the Unknown itself was torn apart. The defeated Unknown dropped to the ground. Even though its memory chip was not destroyed, it was defeated and rendered inactive.

“How strong…” Jiang Fei gasped at the sight of Isabella literally tearing the Unknown like a piece of paper.

Right now, Isabella was completely conscious of her actions. Her combat power was stronger than any other Level 5 Metahuman. The source of her strength, unexpectedly, was herself, and not from being in the state of Berserk!