Intergalactic conquest with an AI-Chapter 366: Xylos Siege. {7}

"Governor! Bad news! The Southern General has fallen in battle!"

An officer burst into the grand chamber of the governor's house, his face pale with panic. He had been monitoring the war through live feeds and battle reports, but now he ran with urgency to deliver the worst update yet.

The old governor stood quietly by the tall window, gazing at the stormy night sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the clouds above the city flickered with red flashes from the distant fighting.

"So… you've gone ahead of me, old friend," he whispered, his voice low and heavy. A deep sigh escaped his lips, full of pain and silent grief.

Still facing the window, he spoke again. "What about the southern fortress? Has the barrier pillar been destroyed?"

"No, sir!" the officer replied quickly while straightening his posture. "All four barrier pillars are still active. It seems the enemy hasn't located the southern one yet."

The governor nodded slowly. "Good… then we still have time. Send my orders immediately: the Western and Eastern Generals are to send reinforcements to the Southern Fortress at once. We must protect that barrier pillar at all costs."

His voice, though tired and rough with age, still carried authority. He turned his eyes back to the sky, watching as the flames of war lit up the horizon.

Meanwhile, far to the north, the fortress there was locked in a brutal and relentless battle. Both sides fought fiercely, but the defenders had gained the upper hand thanks to the Northern General's courage and skill.

He had managed to stop the advance of one of the enemy's most dangerous adversaries, Cleo.

The battlefield was littered with rubble and wreckage. Among the debris, the general stood, breathing heavily and clutching a bleeding wound on his side. He looked down at the broken, motionless body of Cleo, and even in that state she was elegant and with a deadly charm.

"I did it… I actually won," the Northern General said while coughing as he tried to catch his breath. "Is that all you've got?"

Cleo's eyes flickered with faint light, and her voice crackled with static. "Well done, General... This first round... is yours."

Her words barely held together, her voice glitching like a failing machine.

Then, with a strange calmness, she added, "Now then... shall we begin round two?"

Her glowing eyes dimmed, and her body went completely still.

The general's eyes widened. "Round... two?"

A terrible feeling crept into his gut. His instincts screamed at him. He looked up and saw something crashing down from the clouds.

A second drop pod.

"No... it can't be…"

The general ran, ignoring the pain in his ribs. When he arrived at the landing site, he saw chaos. His soldiers were being cut down one by one.

And there, standing in the middle of the destruction, was Cleo once again.

She turned toward him, her new body fresh and untouched, her eyes glowing brighter than before.

"Nice to see you again, General," she said with a smug, mechanical grin. "I've upgraded. This body is fully optimized to counter your fighting style."

She raised her arms. This time, instead of a power sword, she wore two heavy power fists built for close combat and brute force.

The general stared at her in disbelief.

"Hah... ha... what kind of joke is this?" he gasped, staggering slightly. "Just how many lives do you have?!"

He clenched his fists, gathering what little strength he had left. He knew this might be his final stand. Still, he refused to back down.

Cleo just smiled with a perfectly programmed expression. Back at Cleopatra Fortress, deep within enemy territory, hundreds of identical Cleo units stood in cryo-chambers, waiting to be activated.

This was the terrifying truth of the Kaelzar AIs.

They didn't tire. They didn't feel fear. They didn't die like humans.

As long as they had resources, they could keep fighting forever.

And that, more than their strength or intelligence... was why the Kaelzar had once ruled the galaxy... and why they might do so again.

"Look, little Lilla~ The enemy is sending more soldiers to the south. It seems Cleo's plan is working just as expected," Ys said through a video call, her voice sweet and casual as she popped orange-colored fruit spheres into her mouth one by one.

On the other end of the call, Lilla nodded, her eyes sharp with focus.

"It looks like it's our turn to join the battle, Lady Ys," she replied with a calm smile. "Well then… let's give it our best." freёwebnoѵel.com

With that, she ended the call and immediately turned to her priestesses. "Relay my orders! prepare the next phase."

Far away, in the Eastern Fortress, the Eastern General stood on the high wall, watching thousands of his troops marching southward to support the weakened southern line.

Suddenly, the ground beneath the fortress began to tremble violently. It started as a low rumble, then escalated into a full-blown quake. The earth split with terrifying force, as if a massive beast was clawing its way up from below.

From the center of the fortress grounds, three enormous, monstrous worms burst through the ground, their thick armored bodies writhing as they let out a deafening, soul-piercing screech.

"Ahhhhh! My ears—!"

"It hurts! The sound...blood's coming from my ears!"

"I can't hear anything!"

"What's that… coming out of their mouths!?"

The soldiers clutched their heads in agony, many falling to the ground as the worms' sound waves ruptured their eardrums. Before they could recover, the mouths of the worms opened wide, and from within, a nightmare began to spill out.

Swarms of Khryssari warriors began to pour out like a black flood. Others rained down from the sky, having ridden inside the worms and launched from hidden aerial pods. As soon as they hit the ground, they began to tear into the disoriented soldiers with sharp claws and bioplasma shots.

"Damn it! Did they think no one would be guarding this place!?" the Eastern General roared, blood streaking down his cheek as he jammed a command code into the fortress console.

With a sharp hiss of steam and clanking metal, the fortress's automatic turrets powered on. Massive guns rotated and began opening fire, spraying bullets and laser into the advancing swarm.

"My warriors, fight back!" he shouted with all his might.

At the same time, his words were instantly transmitted to every soldier's arm device as text. It was a backup system he had personally developed, knowing that if something disabled their hearing, they'd still receive his commands.

All across the fortress, dazed but loyal soldiers read the message and stood up again, raising their weapons. They began to fight back, though the swarm was overwhelming.

Within seconds, the Eastern Fortress had turned into a battlefield of horror. The sky was blackened by the sheer number of Khryssari flying down. It was only a matter of time before nothing would remain but blood and bones.

"Hahaha~ Go, my little pets. Feast to your heart's content," Lilla whispered with a twisted smile, her spirit possessing one of the Khryssari warriors.

She cackled gleefully as she crushed the skull of a defender soldier beneath her clawed foot, blood spraying across her armored shell.

Meanwhile, the Western Fortress was still quiet. No attacks had reached it yet. For now, it was a place of uneasy calm.

High above, the sky was filled with the sound of engines. Hundreds of transport ships continued descending, carrying reinforcements to the planet's surface. The Holy Human Empire wasn't ready to strike yet but they were preparing.

One after another, the ships landed and opened their hatches. Soldiers in pristine armor marched out and formed ranks, ready for battle. Frigate-class ships descended slowly through the clouds, casting long shadows over the fortress.

In a matter of minutes, the entire western sector was filled with disciplined troops, all standing by for the coming storm.

"Lord Inquisitor, the troops are in full formation now," a paladin reported while kneeling before Lilla's brother. "Their number has reached nearly twenty thousand, and more are arriving every minute."

The Lord Inquisitor stood tall on the command platform of a black warship, his armor gleaming with holy sigils, his eyes fixed on the distant silhouette of the Western Fortress.

Behind him, a large banner bearing the symbol of the Holy Human Empire fluttered in the cold wind.

"Good," he said with a cold, steady voice. "Send my orders to the frigates. Prepare for anti-barrier bombardment. If they won't come out… we will burn them alive beneath a rain of holy fire."

The paladin bowed and quickly relayed the command. Across the fleet, captains responded with swift discipline. Inside the eight massive frigates hovering in the sky, crews rushed to their stations.

Huge long-range cannons rotated into position, each one loaded with glowing phase shells, weapons designed to ignore physical defenses and pierce through barriers like they were air.

"Lord Inquisitor," the paladin returned, holding out a silver-engraved communicator, "the preparations are complete. All ships await your command."

Without hesitation, Lilla's brother took the device, brought it to his lips, and thundered a single word...

"Fire!"

At once, all eight frigates roared as their cannons released a storm of light and death. The sky lit up as the glowing phase shells flew like shooting stars, hissing as they ripped through the air.

As they neared the Western Fortress, the fortress's defensive barrier flickered to life, a shimmering dome of energy meant to protect against outside attacks.

But it was useless.

The phase shells struck the barrier and passed through it like it wasn't even there. There was a moment of silence.

Then, the entire western wall of the fortress exploded into a ball of fire and metal. Buildings crumbled, soldiers were thrown through the air, and flames consumed everything in sight.

From high above, Lilla's brother watched the destruction with cold satisfaction while his eyes glowed faintly.