Marian didn’t know why she had done that. In the two years in prison her mind had taken serious damage, but not to the point she would have done this. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

In the middle of a desert on bare land, Alexandria stood in front of her. With her kimono and height, Marian had to raise her face to look into her face; she was rather young, but her face didn’t show it all. After the system, humans’ aging slowed at a tremendous amount; for Marian, it was her 30s, but Alexanderia was in her 50s.

"You smell like him." Alexanderia said with a disgusted face.

With Jade going on some job for herself, Marian had Ray to herself for 3 days, and all they did besides their usual work was fucking.

"You know, Alexanderia, I’m kind of sure that immortals won’t destroy earth by this plan of yours; they are using proxies. There is no reason for me to engage in anything." She had talked to Ray about it, and all he said to her was to do the thing she thinks is right.

Her apprentice said with a mocking tone, "Scared already? It has been only a month."

Ignoring her provocations, Marian continued: "Tell me what Hank’s plan is. If I acknowledge that it has no danger to earth, I will fortify."

Alexanderia was taken by shock, she had known Marian for too long that she wouldn’t joke or betray her promises like that, taking her hand to her chin Alexandria thought for a few more minutes.

"In my eyes it had no danger, and it would raise our power as humans, but I think your opinion might differ..."

"Just say it."

"They are working on a machine that can enhance human organs. They already have all the safety measures, meaning it’s safe, and the mother that controls all the smaller ones will be kept in check in each breath."

"Are you fucking stupid?" Marian yelled at her; her anger had reached a level that she herself didn’t know if it was possible. "Once we humans fought with our handmade machines for a long time; guess what happened? We barely survived a war that time with less than a billion humans remaining on the whole planet!"

"At that time humans didn’t have our system! We can destroy it if we want. Aliens use the same methods."

"This is the most stupid argument I have ever heard. Aliens eat their own kind to get stronger; should we do the same?" Taking a few deep breaths, she stepped near Alexanderia. "How many people’s brains have they sacrificed already?"

"With General Armstrong’s orders, any criminal on earth that is sentenced to die." Alexanderia didn’t know why she was stressed, but her voice shaked as she spoke.

"My god, whose brilliant idea was to power up your super machine’s brain with the consciousness of criminals?" Wondering that even she told the truth, Marian continued on: "When did you become like this?"

"Its design stops it from gaining human desires. At first I was against it, but if you see it from up close, you can’t deny the fact that it’s the tool we humans need!" If Marian stayed out of the fight, a huge obstacle would be deleted from their way.

Marian didn’t talk back, just stared at her face.

"Let me take you there. Ray has killed thousands; immortals have killed billions. A sacrifice is needed to stop them from doing whatever they want." As she saw no change on her face, her strategy changed, calling for reinforcement secretly and getting prepared for a fight.

"When did you become like this?" Marian repeated her question, this time with a dry tone.

Alexanderia answered with no emotion, "This is not me; this is the version of me that this world needs. Unlike your selfish acts, my goal is to help the people of this planet."

Hearing the words "shadows of the past" flashed in her mind; the sole reason that Marian had taken Alexanderua under her wings was because she had refused to hurt all the other children in their training camp after all the bloodshed she had seen on Mars.

After so long bathed in blood, she had long lost the ability to stay human; in her mind, she was a monster without any fragment of herself, but Alexanderia was a symbol of hope, a strong person that went against all pressure of the world and would stay true to her nature.

At that moment Marian lost all of her hope. Humanity was worth the protection; many innocent people still lived on the planet, and she would have protected them at all costs, yet deep down her soul let go of her last piece of hope.

"Draw your sword and I will kill you on the spot." Marian felt the change in her old apprentice’s magic; turning around, she wanted to get as far as possible. "From now onwards we are total strangers."

"No, we are enemies..." Her katana shined with a dark light in her hand as she charged toward Marian.

The landscape changed as the desert turned into silver lights covering the whole ground; gravity got so much that Alexanderia could barely move any more.

"I served 200 years on the front lines of Mars; do you really think you have a chance against me?" Marian’s body shone with a silver clone coming out of her body.

The clone gripped the katana of Alexandria; with a little pressure, the blade broke, turning into smaller pieces.

Alexanderia could only watch with horror; her body didn’t follow her instructions.

The clone’s hand touched her cheek; in a blink, the world returned to its normal state with Marian leaving the area.

Seconds after, two other generals came to her help, but it was already too late; fragments of her katana were on the ground, shining with the sunlight on them.

No one talked to her as they started to scan the area where she had teleported.

Clenching her fists, Alexandria had taken two fatal losses in one month; the pressure was building upon her.

"General Hank, I want to be the first test subject!"