For a brief moment, silence fell over the battlefield. Or maybe it was just Arthur who couldn’t hear anything at all. His entire focus was on his body, on how, inch by inch, he was losing control over it. The triggers and valves inside his mind vanished, replaced by an uncomfortable coldness.

  Still, he tried to move the fingers of his mech form. To no avail.

  He would have sighed if he could.

  Fine…

  And just like that, Arthur let go. A quick notification followed his decision.

  Warrior Matrix disengaged. Aether Drive returning to slumber.

  Within seconds, his new vessel once more turned into a large ball of molten steel. Then, just as quickly, it reformed into the body he had grown used to over the past few days. Wheels, tracks, a large rectangular hull, and the cannons.

  The old, familiar triggers also fell back under his control. Arthur didn’t hesitate. He fired up the engine and activated Silent Observer. Two HE shells also slid into the cannons, ready to fire if any of the distant demons dared to attack in his moment of weakness.

  None did, though.

  At first, they just seemed happy watching him from afar. Yet, when Arthur’s reformed turret turned toward them, one of the Hellhounds at the front raised its head and howled. The sound echoed across the battlefield, earning an irritated caw from Athena as she circled overhead.

  Still, no attack came.

  Rather, following the Hellhound’s lead, the demons turned away one by one and began to retreat. Within a minute, there were no more monsters on the field. Only Arthur, his trusty bird companion, and the cut-down tree remained.

  Thank goodness… he thought, allowing himself to relax. Not that his tired mind really let him. There was still the aftermath of the battle to deal with.

  The demon corpses. The fallen tree. The damage to his parts. The entire thing with the Warrior Matrix. And so much more.

  It would be a while before he could rest.

  Checkup first, Arthur decided, ignoring all the other notifications for now. Full Status.

  Armor: Damaged | Engine: Pristine | Primary: Healthy | Secondary: Operational | Mobility: Operational | Generator: Pristine | Sensors: Operational

  That seemed about right. Black scorch marks and fire-made holes marred his hull. And while he had missed the moment the Primary degraded, his cannons definitely looked worse for wear. Still usable, though. More than usable, really.

  As for Mobility?

  Arthur honestly felt no different despite the fall in quality. All he noticed was the louder grinding of gears when he turned his turret. A bit annoying, but nothing he hadn’t experienced before.

  So, Armor is the only issue. Not for long, hopefully.

  Humming to himself, he dismissed the status and summoned the first pending notification. He barely read the first two words when the ground beneath him shook lightly.

  Right away, the eyes of his cannons and machine gun snapped open. He might be almost without Ether and ammo, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Based on Athena’s chirp across their link, she agreed.

  Now, where are— Oh…

  The shaking stopped. No new demons emerged. Instead, a breeze even Arthur could feel in his bodiless spirit washed across the battlefield.

  Then, the demonic tree caught fire.

  Not with ordinary red flames, though. No, these were much darker, almost black, and left nothing behind as they consumed the entire tree, roots and all.

  For a second, Arthur thought that this was it.

  Yet, the flames returned, devouring every bit of Hell’s corruption in the area. Not even the strange crimson flowers were spared.

  The demon corpses, however, remained.

  So that’s what happens when you destroy those trees, Arthur mused, scanning the land that, while still ruined and empty, no longer carried any signs of Hell’s influence. Roots of Corruption indeed.

  With a quiet laugh, he ordered the Armory to process the fallen enemies and returned his attention to the notifications. There were quite a few of them.

  Battle won! 11 UP awarded. Your Core has grown stronger and advanced to the final tier(V) of Inferior Rank.

  Feat achieved! 1st Guardian-type enemy slain. 5 UP awarded. 1 Nemesis Core obtained.

  Arthur almost stopped at that last reward. Nemesis Core? Before he could ask about it, another System message shoved itself into his view.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Mission success! A source of Roots of Corruption has been destroyed.

  Rewards obtained:

  -15 UP

  -2 Utility Items of your choice

  -Entry-level Vanguard Database access

  The System didn’t even give Arthur a chance to gather his thoughts. It forced another window on him, one with all the items he could currently craft. A countdown hovered above it, ticking away with a little over fifty seconds remaining.

  Really? He drawled, exasperated. Ah whatever.

  In the end, there was only one sensible choice here.

  Repair Kits.

  Their value and utility were unmatched right now. That he could take two of them for free made the deal even sweeter.

  Now, onto the—

  Just like before, the System cut him off with yet another message. At this point, he didn’t even have it in him to be annoyed.

  Vanguard Database is now available with Entry-level permissions. You may now learn more about the world and your situation simply by asking or observing.

  Arthur blinked, or well, tried to.

  Hold up. Does that mean…

  He trailed off, his gaze straying to one of the demons his Armory hadn’t processed yet. Only a moment passed before another notification popped up in front of him.

  [Dead Fiend - A weak 1st Circle Demon. Killed by lead poisoning.]

  …Hilarious, System. Truly.

  Arthur dismissed the message and checked on the other demons. They all pretty much gave him the same description. A shame the Armory had started with the Guardian. Maybe that one would have told him more.

  Or not.

  Okay, onto the next matter. Just what the hell is this Warrior matrix really?

  As with most new things, the System happily offered him an explanation.

  [Warrior Matrix - The Ace of every Vanguard Warrior. Transforms your vessel into a time-limited advanced combat form. This process is possible thanks to Aether, often referred to as the power of Annihilation. Aether enhances all parts of the original vessel and allows the use of unique abilities. To learn more, access the Matrix menu.]

  Annihilation.

  The word echoed in Arthur’s mind, just like it did when he swung that sword at the tree. He couldn’t deny it, that power… it had been intoxicating. Even now, back in his normal vessel, he still felt its lingering touch.

  Getting to use a humanoid body again was also nice, he mumbled to himself. Tank supremacy aside, he had missed having proper limbs. All right. Show me the menu.

  [Warrior Matrix (Tier I)]

  Status: Charging (0%)

  Subsystems: Aether Drive, Blade of Ruin

  Aether Abilities: Annihilation

  Upgrade Requirements: 3 Nemesis Cores, 2,000 Omnimatter(I)

  [Welcome, Warrior, to the Matrix menu. All details displayed here may be expanded to access more information. Each upgrade may unlock new subsystems or simply strengthen existing ones.]

  That simple, huh? Arthur mused, smiling inwardly. Let’s see then.

  [Aether Drive - Critical Matrix system. Responsible for Aether production and vessel transformation.]

  [Blade of Ruin - Primary weapon of the Matrix system. Its form may be adjusted to fit the Warrior.]

  [Annihilation - A concentrated charge of Aether released in its purest destructive form. Best used with a weapon.]

  Just like that, everything clicked into place. Well, almost everything. He would have liked to know just what this Aether really was, or what was its link to Ether, given the similar names. As with all the more mysterious parts of his new life, though, the answers remained out of his reach for now.

  Again, he didn’t mind that one bit. It just gave him another goal to chase, even if he already had a few of those at this point.

  Nothing I can do about that.

  With a mental shrug, Arthur dismissed all the System messages and scanned the battlefield. By the looks of it, Armory was nearly done recycling. Only a few corpses remained, one of which was claimed by Athena, who happily gorged herself on the blood seeping from the demon’s remains.

  Thanks for the wonderful image, he said dryly to her through the link. I will treasure it forever.

  He received a sharp squawk in reply. His Mutual Understanding translated it into the avian equivalent of flipping him off.

  Rude, but it also made him a bit proud.

  His little murder drone was growing up so fast.

  Athena squawked again.

  Arthur raised a mental eyebrow at her. Oh? You aren’t? Need I remind you who dropped all the grenades of those poor fellas? Or who is currently drinking the blood of their enemy?

  This time, the bird-drone stayed silent.

  He chuckled.

  That’s what I thought. Finish up, and let’s go. Gotta find a way out of here… whatever here even is.

  After Athena gave him a chirp of agreement, he glanced at the new notification floating before him. Almost a thousand Inferior Omnimatter from all the demons. Not bad. Not bad at all. He would have to throw some of it into research.

  For now, though, he had a lot of Upgrade Points to spend as well as some questions to ask his new Vanguard Database. Basic data about enemies could be useful, but he wanted more.

  Okay. First things first. Can you tell me where I am? Planet? Continent? Maybe a map? I will take anything, really.

  To his surprise, the System answered, just not in a way he had expected.

  [Vanguard Mission Status]

  Designation: Planet of Taran

  Sector: Fringe Worlds

  Classification: Magic-Dominant

  Threat Level: Planetary (E)

  Threat Type: Hell Invasion

  Status: Brink of Extinction

  Agent Dispatched: The Warrior (V-969)

  Failure Consequence: Loss of Planet. Deploy the Sleeper.

  Arthur stared.

  Oh. That’s… bad, right?

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