Slowly cruising through a dense forest, a creature made out of wood and leaves sailed across the forest floor on its two root-like legs as if it was skating on ice. Its limbs were made from wooden tendrils held together with vines, leaves, and more wood, while the leaves on its head shook gently in the air.

‘Find the source of the disturbance in the north.’

The creature had clear instructions given to it by its lords, and it was willing to finish this task even if it was the last thing it did.

The walking tree stopped in its tracks as it raised its head in alarm. A dozen group of men emerged from the forest foliage, all armed to the teeth with axes and mauls. Many of them wore bits of bloodied animal parts over their bodies, while some even wore collars made from tree roots.

“A kojan!” one of the men called out. “Burn this demon before it spreads its corruption!”

‘Mere human fanatics…’ the kojan thought as it took out its metal blade from its hips, then unrooted itself from the ground. Holding the one-sided blade with both ‘hands’, it maintained a calm and defensive stance.

As the first human got close to its range, the kojan immediately cut him down before the fanatic could even react. Blood spewed out as the man kept walking, unable to accept the fact that he was already dead. Before the second man even got in range, the kojan’s tendrils launched out and skewered another careless attacker.

The kojan turned to attack once more, but its attack was chambered and countered by one of the armored fanatics. The man wore a bleeding boar’s head on his head, and his face was covered with a metal mask which resembled a hand.

“For the sake of Humanos! Die!” the man screamed as he swung his axe furiously against the kojan.

Though the kojan tried to keep a distance, it was surrounded by several enemies at once. These human searers were not just simple rabble that took up a personal holy war against the kojans, these were trained veteran warriors who had already ventured into kojan territories multiple times.

If the kojan stayed on the defense, it will only be withered down, so it had to go on the offense as well. Every swing was met with several retaliatory strikes by the furious humans, though most of the attacks simply glanced off from the kojan’s masterfully crafted metal plate armor.

The fanatics were trained, but the kojan had trained for far much longer, and it was beginning to show the gap between its skill and theirs. It raised its sword then slashed it against the air just before thrusting it forward against a surprised opponent. As soon as the stab was made, it flawlessly flowed into a slash against the adjacent enemy.

The kojan, despite its clumsy-looking appearance and size, was faster and stronger. It was able to bait out feints, dodges, and blocks in its offense while keeping its defense up.

Blood gushed out, limbs fell off, and the kojan’s blade did not stop until the last head rolled onto the ground. As silence returned to the forest, the kojan sheathed its blade. It wanted to honor its opponents, but it was too deep in enemy territory, and it still had an important task to finish. With great reluctance, it continued its journey to Varangia.

Up in the bright clear sky, there was an ugly blue bird flapping its wings against the air. It had no head, no feathers, no legs, and in fact, it wasn’t even a bird. It was a metal cylinder with a pair of glassy wings attached to its sides.

It had been flying towards the same direction for a long time without trouble, but now, it was starting to lose its power. The further it continued flying, the weaker it got. It wasn’t long before the blue winged cylinder was not only losing speed, but also altitude.

[Warning: Drone losing contact with mainframe.]

Despite the warning, the drone continued flying until it eventually crashed on top of a mountain. Its crab-like legs kicked around for a few more seconds but stopped when the drone shut down.

[Warning: Drone no longer in communication range.]

‘So, that’s how far it can go…’ an entity watching the drone commented. ‘I had hoped it can go further… to where I estimated the signal was in.’

[Analyzing drone reports…]

‘Skip the report. Just tell me where my drone crashed at.’

[Location: Hetten.]

‘Too far. I’ll send a pick-up team later once I am done dealing with the pesky humans at home,’ the entity concluded.

[Warning: Leaving a drone disconnected might leave it susceptible to having its control overridden.]

‘By who? The guy I signalled? He’s probably dead or too far. Even I am having trouble advancing far from home. Ignore further notifications on this, Foreman.’

[Muting notifications…]

‘Good. Now, let’s take the fight against the Greatians.’