Intergalactic conquest with an AI

The Crusades were waiting... the Saintess's elite.

They lurked in the burning trees, their military-grade cybernetic limbs glinting in the firelight. Their arms and legs, once human, were now precision-forged weapons. Their eyes? Ripped from their skulls, replaced with sensors that saw through the smoke, through the dark, through the chaos.

Their armor was thick; their personal shields were unbreakable. And in the madness of the firestorm with all the screaming and the death... they descended upon the survivors.

A squad of four sprinted through the inferno, their breath ragged, their uniforms slick with sweat and soot. The fire around them crackled and roared, devouring the forest in waves of blistering heat.

They didn't look back. They didn't let themselves think about the horrors unfolding behind them, about the screams of dying comrades, about the crusaders cutting through their ranks as if they were nothing more than weeds to be plucked.

They only cared about one thing... survival.

So far, they had been lucky. Despite the lasers streaking through the smoke, despite the crusaders hunting them like vermin, they'd managed to stay ahead of death.

But luck never lasts forever.

A shadow loomed ahead, standing amidst the raging fire like an immovable statue. The flames coiled around his golden armor, licking at the metal as if they were alive, as if they were… welcoming him.

The soldiers skidded to a halt. Their lungs burned from the hot air while their hands trembled after they saw what was in front of them... it wasn't just another crusader.

That was a Paladin.

The sheer weight of his presence crushed down on them, heavier than the fire, heavier than the fear in their hearts. The golden sheen of his armor shone brighter than the inferno itself, his very stance radiating an authority beyond human comprehension.

A smirk tugged at his lips.

"Tsk. And here I was, hoping I wouldn't have to dirty my hands with filth like you." He exhaled through his nose while shaking his head. "But I suppose it's my duty to rid this world of the pagans who dared to defile the Holy City."

From the other side of the battlefield, Lilla's brother listened to what the paladin said through the communicator. He couldn't help but feel… awkward.

After all, the one who actually blew up the city… was his sister.

One of the soldiers snapped, raising his rifle. "Tsk! We don't give a damn who you are! Open fire!"

The others followed instantly, unloading everything they had. Blue flashes of electromagnetic rounds tore through the smoke, streaking straight for the paladin only to vanish the moment they touched the fire.

The bullets never reached him. They never even came close.

The paladin let out a tired sigh while slowly, almost lazily, he reached for the hilt at his waist. The moment he began unsheathing his sword, the flames around him stirred, twisting, bending, and merging with the blade.

By the time it was fully drawn, the weapon wasn't just metal anymore. It was fire itself. A blade of pure, burning light.

The soldiers courage snapped.

"May the Lady in White burn your pagan souls!"

With a single sweeping arc, the paladin swung his sword.

A wave of fire erupted from the blade, surging forward like a tidal wave of flame. The four men barely had time to scream before the fire engulfed them whole.

Within seconds, only charred corpses remained.

The paladin exhaled slowly while lowering his blade. The fire settled, once again swirling around him in an almost gentle embrace. Without another word, he stepped over the remains and pressed forward, his golden armor gleaming as he disappeared deeper into the burning forest.

"Admiral!" A human officer's voice cut through the tension. "Orders from General Jiro: he's calling for a full assault on the enemy cruiser!"

The admiral's jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he processed the command. "Understood. Inform all units. We're descending into the planet's atmosphere until we're within firing range."

His gaze flicked to the viewport, watching the battlefield burn beneath them. The flames reflected in his eyes, a grim reminder of the chaos they were diving into.

"Stay alert," he added with his voice being low and steady. "Something tells me this isn't going to be as simple as it looks."

And he was right.

The moment the four human destroyers reached firing range of the enemy cruiser, they failed to realize one critical flaw.... they were also in range of the raptor destroyers.

These weren't ordinary ships.

They were the newest creation of Professor Oscar, built in the underground city's newly completed spaceport.

While they were smaller than standard destroyers, barely larger than frigates, yet packing nearly the same firepower, they were designed for speed, stealth, and precision. Their armor was weaker, but they made up for it with one deadly advantage... they were invisible to radar.

And while most believed the high ground granted superiority in battle, space warfare followed different rules. The true advantage belonged to those below.

Because from beneath an enemy vessel, every main cannon, every turret, and every weapon system could fire directly at the ship's most fortified points, its core, its engines, and its weakest angles of defense.

And that was exactly where the raptor destroyers had been waiting.

Just… under… the human empire's fleet.

"Paladin, the enemy is in range," a crusader reported with his eyes fixed on the targeting system.

The paladin exhaled slowly, his golden armor gleaming under the dim light of the command center. Then, in a steady voice, he spoke:

"May the Lady in White bless our aim."

And with that, the two raptors opened fire.

The first volley was devastating. High-impact plasma rounds and kinetic railgun slugs slammed into the underbelly of the nearest human destroyer, its shields flaring violently as they struggled to absorb the sudden onslaught.... but the second volley broke through.

"Admiral! Destroyer Three is taking heavy fire from an unknown enemy!"

The officer's voice cracked with panic, his hands trembling as he relayed the report.
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"What!?"

The admiral rushed to the reinforced viewport just in time to witness a nightmare unfolding.

The ship beside his own was already crumbling. Its shields collapsed, its hull splitting open under the relentless barrage. Explosions rippled across its structure, fire and debris bursting outward in a chain reaction. The destroyer listed heavily, its engines sputtering as it began its slow, inevitable descent.

A sinking horror twisted in the admiral's gut.

"Tsk! There's nothing we can do for them anymore!" His voice was sharp and urgent. "Get us back into space! We need to escape their firing range before we become the next target! Send the fighters!! Intercept them now!"

Outside, the stricken destroyer began its slow descent, flames trailing behind it as gravity dragged it down. The admiral didn't watch it fall. He couldn't afford to.

The air was thick with tension, the distant sounds of war a dull roar on the horizon.

General Jiro stood calmly, with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression unreadable. Then, with an elegant, almost mocking motion, he gave a small bow.

"Oh, Saintess, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit on this beautiful night?"

Lilla did not answer immediately. Instead, she simply stared at him.

Her gray eyes, sharp as silver blades, bore into him, studying, dissecting, and understanding. The silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating, before she finally spoke.

"I was wondering how you uncovered my spies within the Human Empire." Her voice was soft, but beneath it lay something cold. Unshaken. Absolute.

She took a step forward.

"But now that I see you…" Her eyes narrowed. "It makes sense."

At her words, Jiro's smile slowly widened.

And then… he changed.

His body stretched, his limbs growing taller… thinner… unnatural. His uniform seemed to melt into something else, shifting with his form but his grin never faltered.

Then he laughed.

"HAHAHA! So that's why the higher-ups warned me never to show myself to you!" His voice was no longer human. It rippled, layered with something deeper, something wrong.

And then his gaze locked onto her.

"Those eyes of yours… they're quite something, aren't they?"

The paladins moved instantly.

Their swords flashed, shields raised, stepping between Lilla and the creature that had once been Jiro. They did not hesitate. They did not flinch.

Lilla's expression remained unmoved, her silver eyes locked onto the grotesque abomination that had once been General Jiro. His body, now a twisted horror of the void, pulsed and writhed, shifting in unnatural ways, as if space itself struggled to contain his existence.

The air around him seemed to warp, the light bending unnaturally as his form defied the laws of reality.

"So, you've finally shown your true form, monster." Her voice was steady, unwavering, cutting through the tension like a blade. "It seems Cleo's warning saved my followers from sharing your fate."

The thing that had been Jiro let out a low, gurgling chuckle, a sound that was wrong in every sense, a noise that seemed to crawl into the mind and fester there.

"Hahaha… well, I suppose that doesn't matter now." His elongated jaw twisted into a grin, far too wide for anything human, his teeth glinting like shards of broken glass. "You see, I've already infected thousands."

His void-black limbs flexed, his stance shifting into something predatory, his movements fluid and alien. The ground beneath him seemed to darken, as if the very earth recoiled from his presence.

"And since you've so kindly saved me the trouble of hunting you down, I should at least thank you… before I take those beautiful eyes of yours for myself."