Ares, having lost his temper, his soul in turmoil, continued, "But what if we are on Earth? And everything you're doing is a deception to make us believe we've been moved to a strange new planet, so you can use us to fight against our own kind and open a breach into Atlantis, the last human stronghold against the machines? Maybe you're an alien who has taken control of our machines and wants to destroy our planet and steal its resources for your own, and New Atlantis is a thorn in your side for achieving your goal!"

Ivanov continued, "In any case, this war you're talking about is between you and Gladious, and we have nothing to do with it. If you're telling the truth, let us go so we can inform everyone of the truth you've told us, and then we'll know the truth from the deception. We won't interfere in your war, and we'll go back to Earth—if we're not really on planet Earth already, as Ares said—and we'll take back our planet from your wretched brother, and maybe we'll even smash Gladious's skull if he interferes with us getting our planet back. And so, we'll return your people to you, this crisis will be over forever, and we'll reach the happy ending you desire."

Gaia let out a booming laugh, which infuriated and angered Ivanov. When he finished laughing, he narrowed his eyes and looked at Ivanov with a sharp, malicious gaze. "Do you think it's that simple? You ignorant creature. You've thrust yourselves into a war as old as this universe, and getting out of it will be nothing but a path of madness. But if you join me, I will get you out of it and guarantee your safety."

Ares was annoyed by the constant manipulation of words and phrases that Gaia was using to keep them in a state of confusion, making them easier to manipulate. He made up his mind and shouted, "In any case, you don't deserve to live any more than this Gladious does! Now, organize yourselves. We'll get out of here and find out the truth from the lies!"

Gaia smiled sarcastically. "So this is your choice. Your luck is very bad. A person's thoughts sometimes lead them to their doom when they are led by compound ignorance. Now, die here foolish humans."

Gaia motioned with his hand for the robots to advance and finish them all off. They began to move as one, taking an attack stance. They raised their weapons and aimed them, then stopped, waiting for the command from their master.

Panic began to spread among the humans, who were like a mouse trapped in a corner. The women began to scream and retreat behind the men, begging for mercy. Ares shouted at them, "Are you fools? He destroyed his own people, do you think he'll hesitate to kill us all? It's time to defend ourselves, get out of here, and end this wretch's life with our strength and our unity! Organize yourselves now and unleash the human will that has conquered worse than this!"

Everyone holding a weapon began to organize themselves, their bodies trembling. As the saying goes, if you're going to die anyway, why be afraid? The humans raised their weapons toward the robots, waiting to see what would happen. One of the prisoners said in a trembling voice, "One last question, you strange being. Why did you name your planet Atlantis? And why does this name resemble the lost city on our planet?"

Gaia smiled as if he had been waiting for this question for a long time. "That is the greatest secret. If you were a little smarter and joined me, I would have told you. But alas, you will all die here."

He ran his finger over Ares, Sairi, and Ivanov and said in a sharp tone, "You three will be the cause of the demise of those behind you. You represent humanity with all its stupidity and foolishness. The white boy, the dark-skinned boy, and the Asian boy. Stupidity from all corners of the Earth will be the end of those with you because they cannot choose for themselves, having tied their fate to yours. This is what destroyed many civilizations on your planet.But anyway, I have rational humans on my side with better powers than yours. I only wanted all of you to join me so we can form a group that can defy the Enix. The Irony is that this Group is the creation of Gladious. This will be a sweet revenge for what he did to my planet. But sadly, death is what you chose".

Ares squinted his eyes, "Traitors helping this tyrant? Are they part of the Eight?", he said to himself.

Ares whispered to Sairi who was also thinking about Gaia's words, "I think you know your role."

Sairi nodded, exhaustion showing on his face. He turned his gaze to Ivanov, who also nodded.

"Time to die," Gaia said, pointing his hand forward toward the humans.

The machines opened fire with savage ferocity, without mercy or pity, toward the humans, while Gaia left the building, savoring the symphony of their screams and pleas for survival.

"Scatter and protect the unarmed!" Ares shouted.

Sairi leaped forward, raised his hand into the air, and pushed his body, gathering what was left of his strength, stopping all the incoming shots in mid-air. They hung there, continuing to resist the pressure of Sairi's energy. The rest of the humans ran out of the line of fire, heading to the right, and began to exchange fire with the machines. They took down some of them, while Sairi pushed himself, directing the bullets, plasma bolts, and rockets upward. They exploded in the building's ceiling, causing a part of it to collapse. Sairi fell to the ground, panting. He looked up and saw some debris about to fall on him. Ivanov pulled him away from the debris. Sairi caught his breath with difficulty and saw the humans and the machines exchanging fire, while the unarmed tried to hide behind them. Some of them dropped to the ground and began to pray to God to save them. Both sides suffered losses. Many humans and machines fell, and the firing continued fiercely from both sides, while the building began to crumble from the violent fight. Ares stood behind Ivanov, who was protecting Sairi with his steel body while blowing up the machines at the same time. Ares crouched next to Sairi, shouting loudly so he could hear him over the noise of the battle, "Do you see that generator over there? It's responsible for the robots' movement! And that flying crystal above it must be the Crystal of Life! It doesn't seem possible to destroy it, so we have to destroy the generator to stop the machines and escape from here!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.