The casket contained a piece of ancient technological relic…okay, that sounded super vague. Like, what the fuck did an "ancient technological relic" even mean? It was like saying a standard template construct was a 3D printer or something, but it didn't actually explain what it actually looked like.
It looked like a metallic fragment, a gleaming rectangular thing that was embedded within a plastic black case. I stared at it, not sure what I was looking at.
"Uh, what exactly am I looking at?"
"An ancient technological relic," Aegis replied. Very helpful.
"Um, exactly what kind of ancient technological relic is this? It looks like a flash drive. Does it contain valuable data or something? Am I supposed to plug it into my computer to access the files in it?"
"No, it's an upgrade chip," Arondight explained. That was a lot more helpful. Thank you, my sword. I didn't even have to ask for details before he continued elaborating. "You can insert it into Aegis and upgrade her."
"Not you?" I was surprised, but Arondight did the equivalent of shaking his head. More like vibrating in my hand, actually, but…no, not that kind of vibration, you filthy-minded readers.
"No, I'm not compatible with this upgrade. It is more suitable for Aegis, and she will benefit from it a lot more. I propose that you install it in her."
"Understood." I turned to Aegis. "If you don't mind."
"I am at your disposal. The decision is yours to make, Commander."
"Who cares about my decision? I want to know your opinion."
"I don't have an opinion. I am not a sentient AI. My only directive is to serve you better."
"Fine." I sighed. "What about your tactical advice? Is it advisable for me to install this in you?"
"Yes. I share the same conclusion as Arondight, and believe that I will be able to assist you much better with upgraded functions bestowed upon me by this device. All you have to do is slot it into this component here."
One of her components clicked open, revealing a flash drive slot. I nodded, picking up the ancient technological relic and slotting it into her. There was a bright flash of light, and I could see subtle transformations spreading around her, making use of nanotechnology to modify and install changes. Less than a minute later, she split up and demonstrated her new upgrades.
"The cannon upgrades have been fully installed. I now possess eight different armaments, including a plasma railgun, six laser beam cannons and a single plasma cannon. Those are in addition to my shielding functions, which have not been affected."
"Uh, that's a lot of guns." My eyes went wide.
"We make use of the Dragon system, or the Divisive Rapid Armament Gear Operative Network system, which is a remote-controlled swarm weapon system connected by quantum channels and allowing for three-dimensional offensive and defensive maneuvers. As you have observed in previous engagements, I can already divide into eight separate components, each with their own plasma thrusters and shield generators, but now I have been upgraded, they each contain their own built-in beam cannon or and plasma armament."
"Impressive." I couldn't help but be excited. I had been lacking a ranged armament, having depended solely on Arondight for my offensive maneuvers, but now I had eight floating beam cannons. Well, six laser beam cannons and two plasma weapons, but you get the point.
"Um…"
I turned around, almost forgetting that Lin Xue and Shang Xiao were there as well. Lin Xue was folding her arms and clearing her throat, glaring at me. The entire exchange had taken place in my mind, and so neither of them were privy to the conversation.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, nothing. I just found another ancient technological relic. You're not asking me to surrender it to Sprue, are you?"
"No, of course not," Shang Xiao cut in before Lin Xue could say anything. He jerked his thumb toward the dead four-armed Sagittaur. "You defeated the enemy by yourself, you get to claim your spoils of war. It's only fair this way. Besides, what is Sprue going to do with alien technology? We already benefited heavily from you bringing the portal back to headquarters and have our hands full with it. I'll have to ask you to share a blueprint with us so that we can try to figure out how to reverse engineer and duplicate the technology. If your, uh, devices don't mind, of course."
"Not at all," Aegis said, this time projecting her telepathic voice to include both Shang Xiao and Lin Xue as well.
"Excellent. Then I see no problem with you keeping your weapons and devices to yourself, as long as you share the means to create them."
"Of course, whether you are able to successfully produce and recreate devices like us is up to you," Arondight said. "We are unable to help with manufacturing."
"Understandable, otherwise Tian Xing will be running around with an entire armory instead of just the two of you. And you would be able to arm those knights from Carmarthen."
I was glad Shang Xiao was reasonable. He seemed to have figured everything out on his own, without needing me to explain anything.
"What's next, though? Are we going to leave now that you've recovered your relic?"
"You can't be serious!" Lin Xue exclaimed, giving her superior officer a glare. "We can't just leave Knight-general Johansson and his legion to fight on their own! We should continue helping them!"
"I'm not against it, but frankly, I don't think the addition of the three of us to their ten-thousand strong legion is going to make much of a difference."
"Nah. It still pays to help people. What goes around comes around, and so if you're kind to others, it'll eventually find its way back to us."
Shang Xiao raised an eyebrow at me. "I didn't think you were an adherent to Kamado Tanjiro's beliefs. Did you watch too much anime or something? You don't sound like a ruthless and edgelord Chinese protagonist, more like a 'beta' goody-two-shoes Japanese protagonist."
"I would rather be a good Japanese protagonist than an edgelord Chinese one," I retorted. "Sometimes this whole edgy 'ruthless' Chinese culture of kill or be killed makes me sick to my stomach. Insulting people for being kind and raging in the comment section when the protagonist spares the lives of his enemies…what has the world come to? Are they really that bloodthirsty?"
"More like edgy, nihilistic keyboard warriors who rarely leave their parents' basements and want to drag everyone into their toxic bubble," Shang Xiao replied. "But let's not waste time breaking the fourth wall. If you want to help, we should hurry, or Johansson and his knights won't leave many Sagittaurs for us to fight."
We hastened out of the chamber and followed the corridor that Gawain took, catching up with his knights. Fortunately, it didn't take us long before we emerged into a cavernous chamber that was massive and spacious when compared to the other confined corridors and narrow rooms spread across Mount Excalibur, where the Sagittaurs were making use of the wider space to keep to a distance and fire devastating volleys from their energy crossbows.
"They have us pinned down," Gawain said without preamble when I reached his position. The knight-sergeant had taken cover behind an outcrop of rock, flinching when another emerald bolt hammered against his refuge. "We can't move out without taking heavy casualties."
"Leave it to me," I said. "I'll create the diversion you need."
"How?"
I didn't explain, instead vaulting over the outcrop and into the open. As expected, the Sagittaurs concentrated fire upon me, a thunderous bombardment of crossbow bolts pounding the shield that Aegis threw up. I waited for the onslaught to ease before nodding and telepathically commanding Aegis to split up.
The eight components darted across the air, firing ruby and bluish-white lances from multiple directions, attacking from in front and above. Sagittaurs were cut down by surgically precise beams of laser or disintegrated by superheated streams of plasma, the wrath of a star engulfing their positions. Within seconds, their lines were in disarray, and they began panicking, firing at the rapidly swerving and evading components above them.
That was all the cue Gawain and his platoon of knights needed.
Amidst the smoke and dust thrown up by the vicious bombardment of the Sagittaurs, now using the effects of their own firepower against them, the knights charged. Bolt weapons fired, micro-missiles streaking through clouds of dirt and piercing through furry bodies, detonating deep within twitching Sagittaurs. The alien centaurs realized too late the diversion and tried to turn their crossbows back toward the knights, felling a few of them as they charged.
But the majority of the knights crashed into them before they could reap a sizable toll.
I was at the vanguard, Arondight in my hand flashing and scything through the front rank of Sagittaurs. Heads and limbs rolled, broken crossbows scattering across braying aliens. I was now in their midst, fighting and cutting my foes apart, my black blade and blue disruptive field speedy blurs that reaped alien life like grain. Unable to fire because of the press of bodies, the rearguard of the Sagittaurs retreated desperately, and their middle section ended up being routed as they struggled to turn to flee in the chaos.
That wasn't the worst of it.
There was another battle cry from the rear, and a new host of black, silver and crimson armored knights erupted from another colossal corridor, their breastplates and pauldrons slick with alien blood. At their heads were Lionel Johansson and Rex Luther, their two forces having converged at some point when the labyrinthine networks of the mountain caverns linked up somewhere in the middle.
The Sagittaurs weren't without teeth, however. Lumbering from somewhere inside the cavern, three of the four-armed Sagittaurs I had confronted earlier emerged, swinging four brutal weapons each and swatting several unfortunate knights aside. Some had their helms smashed and they crumpled, others had their armors laid open, blood spurting from their chests.
With a roar, Lionel Johansson leaped at them. I tried to help him, but I found my path impeded by a tide of panicking Sagittaurs, who were still a threat with their crossbows even at close range.
He didn't need my help.
I watched in awe as Johansson decapitated the first one instantly, landing in front of the stunned creature and deftly deflecting its blows. While it was reeling from having all four of its weapons parried and struck aside, Johansson struck, his blade lashing out and slicing its neck. It grunted, then its head fell off before the rest of its body toppled over.
Johansson didn't wait for it to fully fall over. He vaulted over the carcass, planting a foot on its toppling body and propelling himself over. A huge blade swung through the space he occupied, completely missing him. Instead, Johansson crashed into the other melee Sagittaur feet first, using his metallic boots and his considerable weight – the combination of his physical bulk and his metallic armor – to crush the second Sagittaur under his feet.
The alien centaur wasn't a pushover and withstood the impact, snarling and retaliating with its scimitar, axe and maul. Johansson ducked under the first, caught the second with his greave and sent the blade sliding to the side in a shower of sparks, and parried the third with his sword. He spun his weapon, Victory, around and amputated the Sagittaur's hand at the wrist before reversing a riposte into its chest and obliterating its heart.
Then he spun around and seized the maul of the third four-armed Sagittaur with his gauntlet, crushing the brutal weapon with his armored fist. Unperturbed, the Sagittaur swung its remaining three weapons, but Johansson lowered to a crouch, taking the axe against his pauldron and allowing the curved blade to bury itself deeply within his muscle. The scimitar brushed against his helm, missing it by a hair's breadth, while he was able to yank Victory out to deflect the massive blade aside with its pommel. Twirling his sword about, he then cleaved the stunned Sagittaur from shoulder to hip.
For a moment, the alien centaur stared at him in astonishment. Then its two halves split apart, sliding away in cauterized chunks.
"Good heavens," I gasped inwardly. Lionel Johansson was truly a demigod. I had so much trouble against just one of those things, but he dispatched three of them at once near effortlessly.
Well, it didn't matter. As it turned out, this was the final bastion of the Sagittaurs. We couldn't single out their commander, so we ended up exterminating them to the last alien. Even after that final battle, led by the triumphant Johansson as he secured that last cavernous chamber, he assigned individual squads of knights to purge the mountain, ensuring that even the last pockets of Sagittaurs were flushed out and eliminated. There were a few holdouts, but eventually even these fell to the brutal and methodical search and destroy tactics employed by the Knights of the Order. We took no prisoner.
We refused to tolerate the presence of even one foul alien on a human planet.
And with that, the war for Avalon ended, and the humans emerged victorious.