Resonance of War

-What did you say? Are you pregnant? Akira said, surprised.

-Yes! said Elena with a joyful look.

-I'm going to be a father!

-Yes! You're going to be a daddy.

-Is it a boy or a girl?

-I've just found out I'm pregnant, how would I know?

-You're right! I'm just too excited. I hope it's a boy with blond hair like yours.

-Well, I hope it's a girl with black hair like yours.

-Well, whatever it is, it will be our child. Akira said with joy in his eyes.

"Well, let me explain how we got to this moment."

"It seems that in this world, elves don't wait long to get married after confessing their love. Her parents instantly agreed to me because they saw she feels good around me. After we got married, our intimate moment arrived. It's been around 11 months since we've been at the castle, so in a month, it will be time to prepare for the attack on the enemy, so I was chosen to go and spy. Of course, I won't let Elena fight. She will stay in the village alongside the guardians who wear the armors developed by me. In the last months, we've made much better progress, these bionic armors can reach almost the speed of light if charged with mana. Their defense is much better, and the weapons I've made can neutralize the opponent in a few seconds. This battle will be easy for us."

"During my time here, I've learned almost all the essential things for magic. I can produce very advanced magic, and with the help of the two cores, I never run out of mana. Besides that, I've learned to use mana throughout my whole body at the same time to have all four styles: endurance, speed, strength, and perception. I've also obtained the Eyes of Truth and built artificial wings that are part of my body. They function just like those of angels, except mine can change their size to be small for spying or large, about two meters each, to reach higher altitudes. They also have technology on them that allows me to reach much higher speeds than I could normally. They also have a gravity device that lets me set the gravity as I wish. In addition to all these things, I've invented the most important thing. A sword that required all my knowledge. This sword consumes my mana and restores it as something I desire. It's extremely powerful, being infused with pure mana like the spells."

"I've invented something similar for everyone, but there's a mana limit they can use because those with only one core, if they use too much mana in the sword, can end up dying from mana exhaustion, it's a sort of defense system. On the other hand, mine doesn't have a limit, which makes it much more powerful. I've named it Zenkuroken. Well, it's not necessarily a flashy name, but I liked it."

"The sword resembles a katana from my world, but when I use mana, it transforms into a demonic one. If I were to describe its appearance, it still has the shape of a katana, but it becomes completely black with reddish lightning on it. It also enlarges when infused with mana. The armors don't have a system where you can input mana, but they can still function similarly because being over a body infused with mana, they gain greater powers. What I meant to say is that the better the body of the wearer is in a domain, such as speed, if they are faster, the armor will make them much faster than others more specialized in other domains."

"I had to put a limiter on the swords because once you start infusing mana into them, they will absorb your mana until you release them or reach the limit. The limit is different for each because the sword calculates your total mana percentage and takes 80% of it. If you use mana for other purposes, this percentage will decrease to avoid putting the user's life in danger. However, in these last months, most soldiers have improved their abilities and have reached the point where they can use the sword without other magics for an entire day."

"To be honest, at this moment, I could destroy the hero's barrier with the help of the sword, but I won't try because we need him at full capacity. My goal now is to go as a spy, to implant a virus on their computers, and then to attack. This decision was made one month before the actual war because it's uncertain how long I'll stay there. Even if I don't succeed in time, the war will still begin, but if I succeed earlier, the war will be unleashed sooner. That's why I have to do everything possible to infect their computers."

"You may wonder why I chose to build swords instead of ranged weapons. Well, swords can function both as regular swords and as ranged weapons. Furthermore, having magic on your side greatly aids you in battle."

"We have a well-structured plan for our invasion, so there's no way we can fail!"

-Soldier Akira! I wish you success in your mission. Our hope lies in your hands. Said the king.

-I won't fail!

"Before being teleported into the Void world, I hugged Elena and told her that everything would be okay, that I would return unharmed."

"I had everything I needed with me: armor on me, the sword, and my other devices. And with the help of magic, I could create an illusion that they didn't even exist. Behind the armor, I made two holes for the wings when I take them out, but I don't think I would need them on this mission."

"And so, with one last look behind me, I entered the portal..."

-Oh, it seems like I still have some nausea. Akira thought to himself.

-It looks like I'm looking pretty good! This black hoodie fits me well, and these black jeans look perfect on me.

-Whom are you speaking to, sir? A passerby said.

-It seems I was speaking aloud... my apologies.

-How strange. said the man as he left.

"I should not lose sight of the main goal, so I headed towards their security area."

"Even though I haven't been here for long, I remember these places. The hotel where I slept, the casino where I won so much money. Ah, what beautiful memories."

"It seems they haven't made major changes . They're not expecting war. I'm curious, though, if they're still invading worlds."

"It seems I've arrived where I needed to be. There was a very tall building in a very large area, with various different ships behind it. Before entering, I made myself invisible to conceal my presence. I had a device I had been working on. inside it was the virus that would disrupt their communication. It attached to the control panel and signaled a short circuit through which the virus was introduced. Even if there were multiple control panels, it would infect them all."

-Beep-beep-beep!

-Huh? What's that sound?

"He looked carefully. The sound was coming from the armor."

-Oh no!

"It seems I forgot to attach another antidote for my virus. The last dose was 20 hours ago, so it will last for another 18. Besides the other developments, I managed to make the antidote from 24 hours to 38. However, today I forgot to attach it to the armor."

"I was only planning to spy for the first few days, but it seems I don't have much time left. I'll have to do everything today and then take the antidote. Well, even if I don't take it, it won't be spread around since I have the armor on me. There's still the possibility of infecting the entire population with the virus, but only if I entered into war alone, and if the others came, they would be infected too. Anyway, I haven't told anyone about the virus to avoid worrying them."

"Up until now, I've only been paying attention to the movements of the guards to see their routine. It seems they change shifts every 2 hours, but my advantage is that they're not expecting anything, so they're relaxed. Being invisible, the sensors can't detect my movements, but the infrared sensors can, so I made sure which sensor is which. It seems the control room is located beyond a corridor, but I can only enter if someone else does to open the door. So, I seized my chance when someone used their card to enter, to slip in."

"After entering the corridor, I saw things I wished I'd never seen. It wasn't just a corridor, it was a very deep room where failed mutants were incarcerated for further experiments. If mutants with six eyes were terrifying, these mutants were much more frightening, with deformities on all their limbs. However, fear wasn't the emotion I felt. It was disgust and sadness. To turn innocent people into weapons of war, and to torture those who failed by putting them in an isolated room with tasteless food... They'd be better off dead than to be tortured like this."

-Oh... no! I looked with a gaze that cannot be described. Such immense hatred towards those who did this... The one in the room was just a child. A child...

"I must succeed in placing the virus to stop these things."

"I was close to the control room. I knew I would succeed, but suddenly a powerful alarm started ringing. It seemed I had been detected, so I was moving quickly at maximum speed to place the virus."

-I... I did it!

"I managed to place the virus. Now I just needed to announce that I did it."

-Congratulations, you managed to place the virus.

-Huh? Where does this voice come from? "I haven't told anyone yet."

"There was a man in a black cloak hiding his face."

-Who are you? I said, surprised.

-Oh, Akira, but you know me very well.

-That voice... Alexei?

-It seems I no longer need this costume. Alexei said, smiling.

-Alexei, tell me you came here just to help me.

-If I said that, Akira, I'd be lying.

-Why are you doing this?

-Let me start from the beginning. Survival and power are everything. To survive, you need power, and to have power, you need to survive. This world called the Void is just a facade. It's not the true place, or better said, it's not the mother planet. That one is located in another place called the Overvoid.

-Akira, those people could have killed me, but they chose to do something better with me. Those people call themselves gods, but they don't act like any. If I don't do what they tell me, they'll turn me into one of those creatures you saw coming here.

-Gods?

-Those individuals called gods do much more harm in that place. What you see here is just a fraction of the people from there. The only thing you did wrong, Akira, is that you introduced a core into your body. Those individuals have a very terrifying technology, but they still haven't figured out how to introduce a core into your body to use mana on your own. That's their goal. Akira, it's not my fault, but yours!

-My, fault...?

-It's entirely your fault! Akira! It's your fault!

-What about your friends and family there?

-To survive, I don't need friends or family. By the way, I'm the one who came up with the idea to destroy this world. I'm the one who suggested you to go, and I'm the one who decided for you to evolve technology because I knew your potential. And I can say you're almost at the technology level of those gods. You're impressive, Akira, but now you must submit. You know very well that you can't affect me, and with this armor you provided, I can easily defeat you.

-Do you wear the armor made by me?

-Yes. Why?

-Alexei! I don't care about your reasons. The fact that you wanted to harm me and my family can't make me forgive you!

-And what are you going to do to me?

-Voice command! Bionic armor. State your name.

-X3E5

-Voice command. X3E5 removal!

-Voice command accepted.

"Alexei's suit fell off him."

-Did you implement voice commands? Why?

-Well, I did it for two reasons. First, in case someone couldn't fight anymore, the suit has a mini-rocket implemented to help them leave. Second, it's for people like you, traitors.

"I specifically made the first one for Elena in case she was nearby, but after she became pregnant, I knew she wouldn't fight anymore."

-Even though I don't have the armor anymore, I still have my ability. Let's see how you can defeat me.

-Are you sure about that? Zenkuroken!

-What's that sword? He said with a frightened look.

-It's the sword that will take your life. Look closely, Alexei.

"The sword emitted such great power that it cut right through Alexei and the building. It was a cut so powerful that Alexei's body no longer existed."

-You're as impressive as always, Akira! A person said from behind him.

-Who are you?

-I am one of those gods Alexei told you about.

-Huh, it seems like I just need to kill you, and I'll be done here!

-Don't even try. We have superior power to yours. However, I came here for only one purpose. How did you obtain that core?

-As if I'm going to tell you. Zenkuroken!

"The sword cut right where that god was."

-I told you I'm going to kill you.

-An impressive cut, but if you had touched me it would have been even better.

-How come you weren't touched?

-You're not paying attention when I talk to you? I told you that you don't stand a chance against us.

-It's impressive that you managed to accomplish so much in such a short time, but your story ends here.

-If I had more time...

-I already know you're not going to tell me, so I don't have a choice, Akira.

-You will pay for this!

-We'll see.

"The only thing left for me to do was to use my EMP"

-EMP! Huh? Why isn't it working?

-I've already deactivated all your devices. You don't stand a chance, Akira.

"The so-called god approached Akira and used a device that acted like a tranquilizer."

-Is this the end? Akira said without any hope in his eyes.