Super Gene

A giant city was nestled into the slopes of a metal mountain. The city was made of the same black metal as the mountain, and it looked like it had been carved from the mountain rather than built.

When viewed from afar, the city and mountain blended together until it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

Two metal peaks that were one thousand meters tall formed the gateposts of that massive city. The two enormous doors made those that passed between them feel like ants.

From far away, Han Sen could see that the title on the gate read, “Metal Giant God City.” It was written in a language Han Sen had seen in the geno universe before, but the words themselves looked so powerful that it was easy to imagine them leaping to life and sundering the skies of the world.

Seeing that giant city, crouching on the mountain like a beast, Han Sen frowned and said, “This city is so big. Not even the largest races I have seen would require the sort of space this place provides.”

Kahn spoke in a hushed tone. “Long ago, the Giants were one of the ten higher races. They were part of a group called the Breakskies. The Breakskies had difficulty breeding, and their population gradually decreased until they became extinct, aside from a few who interbred with other races. We believe that this city is a deified location that once belonged to the Breakskies.”

After a pause, Kahn resumed his dialogue. “After entering the city, we unearthed some text that made mention of the Breakskies. The carvings revealed that this place was a Breaksky city, but at some point, there was a battle that brought the city to ruin. Oddly, while we were in the city, we discovered no remains or corpses.”

Since the main gate was shut and no one had been able to open it, Kahn led them to the left side of the city where there was a broken wall. Without that broken wall, it seemed unlikely that anyone would have made it inside.

Entering from above would doubtlessly have its own challenges. The creatures that had built this city would have safeguarded against that.

When they crossed over the wall, Han Sen noticed a few camps on the other side. The camps looked as if they belonged to other races, and indeed they did. Quite obviously, they belonged to the Buddha, Dragon, and Destroyed.

It was odd that the other races hadn’t placed any guards at the city’s broken wall. There was no sign of anyone being around, actually.

“That’s weird. It looks like they’re not here anymore. Or is this some kind of trap?” White Real looked at the camp with concern.

Odds and ends were strewn about the camp. It didn’t seem like there had been a fight, but it looked as if people had made a quick getaway.

“This is not a trap. There really is no one here,” Yuya said.

Han Sen took his team into the camp to have a look around. When they determined that the other teams really were gone, they began gathering up the numerous supplies and resources that the others had left behind. The unhappy campers had left quite the store of geno fluid in their camp.

“It looks like they really did leave in a rush. They did not take the geno fluid with them.” Han Sen looked at Kahn.

Kahn understood Han Sen, and he quietly said, “When the Demon first came here under the blue storm, we saw the Dragon. They had vanished by the time the red storm ended, though. Perhaps they found something big, and they were too excited to pack up and head for the deeper recesses of the ruins. I wonder what could have made them break camp so quickly?”

“Perhaps it wasn’t that they discovered something. Perhaps something went awry, and whatever happened forced them to flee,” Yuya said.

“It is possible. But we haven’t seen signs of fighting,” Kahn mumbled, deep in thought. Then, he suddenly stopped.

It wasn’t just Kahn, either. Everyone in the group grew pale as they looked back outside the city.

A multitude of red eyes hovered in the skies outside the city. The eyes grew closer as they watched, revealing the bronze, dragonfly-like bodies of the creatures soaring through the air. They were five meters long, and a buzzing sound accompanied their flight that set Han Sen’s teeth on edge.

There were so many of them that the swarm seemed endless. And they were now headed for the broken wall.

“What is going on? This is the time of the blue storms! Why would metal xenogeneic creatures appear at a time like this?” Yuya looked at Kahn.

“I don’t know. We have never seen metal xenogeneics under a blue storm before. And even during a red storm, they never approached the city. This isn’t good… Let’s run!” Kahn cried. Then, he led the Demon further into the ruins.

Han Sen and Yuya looked at each other. They took the Sky Palace people into the ruins, as well.

Those dragonflies were as strong as Marquises, and their numbers were legion. They could be fought off, possibly, but not without a price being paid. It’d get dirty.

Sky Palace and the Demon Marquises headed for the shelter of the ruins together. Kahn was leading, and he shouted as he ran, “There is a palace up ahead. We can hide there!”

Han Sen had already seen the building he was referring to. The palace was like a mountain itself. It was so large that Han Sen figured even the blind could probably see it. But the palace’s gates were shut, and he didn’t know if they could open them.

“I have been here before. There is a gap in the palace wall. We can slide through, get inside, and barricade the entrance. A bottleneck like that will be much easier to defend,” Kahn said, and then ran for the other side of the palace.

Han Sen was emotionless throughout all this, but he led the Sky Palace students after Kahn. Up ahead, he saw a giant cave. It was shaped like a fist, and it seemed that it had been punched into the metal wall.

The metal xenogeneics were coming fast, though. The teams had no time to hesitate as they slid through the wall. Han Sen and Yuya jerked the last of their people into the palace just as the dragonfly metal xenogeneics buzzed toward them.

The Marquises that guarded the cave entrance released their godlights, killing the two nearest metal xenogeneics.

Then a Demon Marquise summoned a giant shield to barricade the entrance.

The metal xenogeneics slammed into the shield repeatedly, but try as they might, it wasn’t going to let them through.

Han Sen quickly looked around the palace they had stumbled into. It appeared to be some sort of side room, but before he could examine it further, his attention was drawn to the bodies lying on the floor. The corpses were both Dragons and Buddhas, and it looked as if they had died gruesome deaths.

Their scales and skin had been stripped from their bodies, but strangely, their flesh was left whole. There was blood everywhere, though. The sight washed over the teams in a horrible chill. Even Han Sen, who saw blood often, felt sick.