Machina Arcanis: Two Worlds Collided
Chapter 118. Rematch RvJ

118. Rematch RvJ

Rhok, clad from head to toe in sleek black armour, paused for a moment, enhancing the image on his HUD screen.

Fiery red eyes, those of a boy who had just screamed his name, his emotions raw.

There was no mistaking it. Jack Squire. His former ally.

He couldn’t fathom how Jack was back from the dead, and now in the body of a teenage boy. His bet was on highly sophisticated arcane. After all, he’d witnessed a grandiose battle between Celestius mages with his own eyes.

Anything was possible with arcane. It operated beyond the comprehension of a Mechanii like Rhok. Still, he dismissed the thought for now.

One thing had not changed: his mission to transport Princess Aurelia to Ironhearth.

***

Whirlwinds brushed against his skin, fluttering his silver hair.

Zetius lifted a finger, focusing the surge of mana at its tip. He condensed it, then unleashed. “Empyrion ~ Fire!” he roared, as a powerful fire beam shot from his fingertip.

Rhok brought both arms forward. His unyielding barrier formed before him.

The fiery beam splintered into multiple slivers, tearing through the platform beneath him. A loud metallic strain rang out — it was crumbling.

Smoke burst forth, obscuring Zetius’s vision.

“Did I get him…?” Zetius muttered, instinctively grabbing Aurelia behind him.

But Rhok floated down with smooth, regal motion, his cloak slowing his descent. He emerged from the smoke, his armour humming eerily, like an Armatus engine.

Zetius glared in disbelief. “This must be the latest personal armour… it even tanked a full blast of Empyrion…”

“Are you in such a hurry to die twice, Jack?” Rhok taunted, advancing.

Ziyue and Friederich fell into attacking stances, knees coiled with anticipation.

Aurelia tugged at Zetius’s coat. “Zetius… we should flee.”

But he was clouded by fury. Her words went over his head.

“Fight me!” Zetius bellowed through gritted teeth, a storm brewing in his chest, spiralling out of control.

For Lupus… I’ll kill you with my own hands, he vowed in his mind.

“Why, yes. A rematch,” Rhok said, snapping his gloved fingers.

Beep—Beep—Beep!

An erratic alarm rang beneath the cell where Aurelia had been held.

Time slowed.

“A trap!?” Ziyue dashed in, slicing open the black spherical shape hidden below.

“An arcanite disruptor!?” Zetius muttered, pulling Aurelia and Friederich back.

Slash!

Ziyue dissected the shell with deadly precision, revealing the Arcanite Harnesser at its centre.

Her fingers outstretched in a desperate attempt to disarm it—

VVVRRRMMMMM!

A storm of pulsing energy surged in every direction. Ziyue was hurled three metres through the air and collapsed to the ground, rolling lifelessly.

Zetius hunkered down, shielding his friends with his body. The blast shocked him. His limbs went numb and weightless from the disruptor’s effect. Aurelia and Friederich lay unconscious.

“Ziyue!” he cried out, straining his battered body through sheer will.

Step by step, Zetius limped toward her.

Her peculiar cloak lay in tatters, her wounded skin exposed — especially her arms. Blood streaked across her body.

“No… not again…” he muttered melancholically, gently rolling her towards him. His trembling fingers ran across her cheek, wet with blood.

Cold as ice.

Her eyes twitched slightly at his touch.

“But she’s alive…” he whispered. Her pulse was faint, but there.

“Thank the gods. Thank Gaia.” He trembled, a surge of emotions rushed through him. Guilt? Regret? He couldn’t tell.

Unbeknownst to him, Rhok loomed behind.

Instinctively, Zetius spun around — only to be kicked square in the face. His world spun. He hit the floor, iron flooding his mouth.

“Heh? Please stay dead this time,” Rhok rasped, pulling back his fist for the final execution.

Slash—!

“Ahh!” Rhok screamed in agony as one of his legs buckled. A throwing blade had pierced through his armour, grazing his calf.

“See this, handsome?” Ziyue chuckled softly, holding up a gem before collapsing from exhaustion.

Stolen novel; please report.

Rhok’s eyes widened. “She disabled it, partially?!” His mind reeled.

In his peripheral vision, glowing blades hurtled toward him. He raised his arms, deflecting them with his barrier.

“Yaaah! This is for betrayal!” Aurelia rushed forward, launching fiery-imbued punches and kicks.

It was quite a creative and spectacular display of Empyrion power. Zetius watched her with awe-inspiring eyes.

“Futile,” Rhok rasped, countering and swinging a heavy fist.

Aurelia ducked, defending herself. “Magnetos!” she chanted.

At the same time, Zetius tackled him — Rhok’s face slammed into the magnetic field.

“AH!” he cried, his vision swimming.

Rhok rolled aside, narrowly evading Aurelia’s Empyrion.

He spun and backhanded her with full force. She countered with another magnetic burst, but the force overpowered her, hurling her across the chamber.

“Ah!?” she yelped before Friederich caught her mid-air.

In the heat of the brawl, Rhok spun into Zetius’s punch. The blow connected — shattering part of his helmet and revealing his face.

“Foolish!” he spat, eyes blazing as he struck back with a quick jab.

But Zetius bent his knees, anticipating it, and landed three devastating blows before Rhok could react.

Rhok’s knee buckled. He collapsed, groaning in agony as he rolled on the floor.

Strangely, his armour hadn’t absorbed the impact.

Zetius stood tall, fists clenched like hammers of judgement. He turned.

“Aurelia, use Iasis on Ziyue. Friederich, on me.” They followed without hesitation.

Cough! Cough! Blood poured from Rhok’s shattered helmet as he pushed himself up—

Clang!

Zetius kicked him in the gut, sending him flying into the hangar where over 50 Armatus units were stored. Most of their pilots had already perished in the assault.

“Ahhh—bloody hell…” Rhok groaned, scrambling upright. Zetius’s shadow loomed over him. Friederich followed close behind, keeping watch.

“This is the end of the line…” Rhok muttered, vision blurry. Because the executioner before him… wasn’t quite Jack anymore.

He was something worse.

Zetius… was a vengeful spirit. No.

A god, perhaps.

“Rhok Wagner!” Zetius roared, stepping forward.

Rhok flinched, thinking Jack was going to kick him. He covered his face, whimpering like a broken child.

***

The white-haired man asked grimly, “Tell me! Why did you betray us?”

In Rhok’s blurred vision, he saw both Jack and Zetius — overlapping, like ghosts of two lives colliding.

“Because no matter how hard I fought… I couldn’t change a damn thing!” Rhok shouted, slamming his fist against the floor with a resounding thud.

“Can’t you see? Every fight ends in blood and loss.”

He looked up, voice rising. “We always lose! We save a town, hundreds more burn somewhere else. It’s an endless cycle.” He tilted his head upward. His eyes locked with Zetius’s. Raw pain met unwavering resolve.

“But—”

“Enough of that idealist crap! I’m not your villain. I’m fighting to end all wars. I’m doing this from within. I’m done being someone else’s pawn!” His voice echoed through the chamber — bitter and broken.

“I am Platinum—”

“No!” Zetius cut him off sharply, stepping forward. “That’s where you’re wrong.” His voice trembled with restrained fury.

“You never had faith in us. After everything we survived, after all the blood, all the victories, we earned this bond!”

Zetius gestured at the towering machines around them.

“You once taught me that the Armatus could be more than weapons. You said they could be shields, symbols of unity. And I believed you.”

His voice cracked, his eyes burning. “Goddamn it, I believed you, Rhok.”

“How naïve,” Rhok scoffed, voice low and venomous. “You only know war. I lived it. I drowned in it. I sinned for it.”

Their eyes locked.

There was no longer a soldier in Rhok’s stare, only a man broken by the truth.

“And I’ll sacrifice everything to end it once and for all!” Rhok roared.

Zetius gritted his teeth, stepping forward, fists clenched. “You still think the world’s weight is yours alone to bear. But that’s not how it works!”

He spread his arms. “We were meant to carry it. TOGETHER!” His voice cracked with emotion, fury and heartbreak tangled in every syllable.

Rhok chuckled, dark and hollow. “Because I’m nothing like you. I don’t have magic. I don’t have faith. I’ve only got one thing, sheer bloody will. Against gods like you, Jack… or whatever you are now.”

Zetius narrowed his eyes.

The man before him was no longer the ally he once knew.

Only the fractured husk of what remained, a soul worn thin by war, shackled by guilt, and twisted by solitude.

Not a villain, not a hero… just a ghost in need of silence.

And Zetius would be the one to grant it. “I’m not a god,” he growled. “I’m your reckoning.”

He raised his finger, mana swirling at the tip like a divine spark ready to ignite.

***

Suddenly—

An Armatus unit stirred nearby.

Its visor snapped awake, glowing red like a demonic eye.

The ionised blade slammed between them, cleaving the floor with a shriek of metal.

“Hades’s hell!” Zetius cursed, as the machine rammed through the hull.

Rhok grabbed onto one of its massive fingers, vanishing into the chaos.

“Empyrion! Fire!” he cried.

A fire beam struck Rhok’s cape—

Followed by the glowing blade piercing through his shoulder.

A deafening metallic screech echoed as the Armatus tore through the breached hull.

Rhok and the war machine disappeared into the abyss.

“Nooo!” Zetius cried. He scrambled to the torn edge, wind howling in his ears. Below was nothing but the dark, endless sea.

“You’re not escaping that easy!” he shouted, racing toward the nearest Armatus suit.

“Zetius!” Friederich’s voice cried out behind him, but it was drowned by the wind.

Zetius climbed into the cockpit. The scent of worn leather hit him — familiar and grounding.

He slid his fingers into the glove controllers and initiated the override protocol.

Beep—Beep.

Red flashes danced across his face, warning signals burning into his retina.

[Access Denied!]

“F*ck it!” Zetius roared, frustrated. “How?! I should have full override access!”

[Access Denied!]

“Screw it! Screw it! Screw it! Screw it!”

He slammed his fists on the console, rage and helplessness consuming him. No matter how hard he tried, the system rejected him.

The red glow stained his face like war paint. His eyes squeezed shut — burning with failure.

He’d failed again.

Then—

A soft hum vibrated from his chest.

A gentle, divine tone, cutting through the fury.

A faint blue light pulsed across his face.

He opened his eyes.

“Cubie…” he whispered.

The irregular Rubik’s Cube hovering from his chest chirped in reply.