It took a year for the UGNE to finally accomplish the creation of a new weapon that surpa.s.ses in fire power the Beam Cannon and in close combat maneuvers the Thousand Blades Dancer. No Core Breaker or known formations were able match up to it and with that; the UGNE pushed back Kingdom Earth’s forces with one and only drawback. The new S cla.s.s weapon, suitable for long range and close range battles, “Victorious”, operated only thirteen hours before the numerous formations could no longer cope with the smoke energy’s resistance and were shattered, allowing the remaining twenty percent of the energy’s original amount to eat through its container and ran out. Nonetheless, the UGNE converted eighty percent of its caves into labor caves, nine of which held great deposits of Peral metal.

 

Losing the war, there was nothing in Kingdom Earth’s power to do. Even their special unit of seventeen Mist Users at the bottleneck of the Core Breaker level was powerless against one or two Victorious. Many first died on the battlefield, and as the UGNE pushed beyond Kingdom Earth’s boundaries and took over their surrounding caves, a lot of Kingdom Earth’s citizens that refused the rule of the foreign occupation also died miserably.

 

Year 5391. The UGNE subjugates the occupied caves, forty two in total, to constant search for Peral metal and Earth’s Cores. On the outskirts of conquered cave number ninety two a battle is about to commence. Led by Dani Dan, previously one of the council of ten, a group of Mist Users that formed the “Kingdom Earth Resistance”, giving everything they have got to perform altogether the “Ultimate Breaker’s Soul Defense” formation in preparation to block the incoming wave of thirty Victorious. Behind them, enslaved citizens of Kingdom Earth escaping across the broken parts of their former machine guards, close range C cla.s.s weapon IWJ, “Iron Whip Jailer”, before the clash between the resistance and the Victorious reinforcements will take place.

 

“Commander Dani, the ten pillars are arranged around the work camp and the tunnel entrance, the eleven men channels has been set and the rest are prepared to pure their energy to the Ultimate Breaker’s Soul Defense formation at your command”. Dan’s lieutenant, a bulky man named Rudolf Brie, spoke in a hurry. The Victorious legs were sharp like pen’s nibs; they generated so much power that the machines moved a few centimeters above the ground and were less than five kilometers away from them and from that distance their one and only red eye was already visible, scanning its targets.

 

“Activate the formation”. Dan gave the order with an expressionless face. Thirteen hours, that is how long they must hold on. Currently, forty three Mist Users operate the formation, half of which are Earth’s Core holders. To his estimation they can keep the formation for nine to ten hours, but not too far from them another group of twenty Mist Users from the resistance help evacuate the rest of the captives and make sure all the IWJs were destroyed. If together, they will be able to sustain the formation for another two and a half hours, afterwards he alone will be capable to obstruct the Victorious until their energy will ran out – that is, as long no more will arrive.

 

While twenty one Mist Users concentrated on the formation’s structure, twenty two raised their hands, two pairs of hands towards each channel, and released their aura. Dan sat with legs crossed and meditated. He was so close, a second? A day? A year? He could not clearly tell. Two years ago silvery particles have started to appear here and there in his mist energy, and when he released it in the form of an aura the dark white color was almost sparkling. He wished for the breakthrough now more than ever. Surpa.s.sing one’s current level is a lot harder than reaching the pick of a new one, and Dan believed that if he will train hard enough and follow the instruction left by the Supreme Rulers he could reach the late phase of the Mist Master level in twenty to thirty years after the not so far away breakthrough and attain the power to fight evenly with the Victorious.

 

“Commander!” A cry for help awakened Dan from his meditative state. His eyes opened slowly, his faced turned to his lieutenant and he gasped.

 

“Hold on!” Dan ordered. Six hours have pa.s.sed and the Victorious managed to break one of the pillars, resulting in one unconscious Mist User and a trembling Ultimate Breaker’s Soul Defense formation. Dan had no time asking “How?” or “Why”, he had to move fast to rebuild the pillar with his mist energy while using his own physical strength to support the formation. He could have instructed to recreate the formation from scratch, but then the Victorious would have taken the chance to strike back.

 

Now, the vile metallic beings already adapted to the formation’s offensive effect – countering any close range attacks with equal strength in the form of a shockwave. By charging the barrels on their two bottom arms and constantly shooting orange beams at the formation’s pillars they used energy based attack to a.s.sault from afar.

 

Dan felt as though he carries the formation’s whole weight. Every time a new crack emerged on one of the other pillars he immediately increased the output of his mist energy to mend it.

 

Another hour pa.s.sed. Two additional pillars broke down and the formation shrank, permitting the Victorious to either go above the defensive formation to pa.s.s through the tunnel after the escapees or keep shooting until the last layer of defense around the Mist Users will fall apart. Obviously, killing the Mist Users was a top priority.

 

After eight hours and forty one minutes the formation shattered to thousands of pieces like blue gla.s.s. The Victorious lowered the barrels, swung forward their upper arms, holding in each hand a double edged sword made from refine Peral metal, and surged ahead at high speed.

 

“UGNE, Victorious, if this is my end my soul will not rest until your demise!” Dan cursed. “Retreat, everyone, take the injured and run!” He turned around and shouted. But then, a green silhouette elapsed through his eyes, coming from the other side of the tunnel, so fast, yet without making the slightest sound in the air. By the time he and the other Mist Users turned their heads again, the green silhouette was already about to clash with the nearest Victorious.

 

“That is…” Dan at last recognized, his heart pounded and his eyes became moist. Right there, in the mere second the green silhouette and the Victorious stopped for an exchange of blows, which were counted in the thousands, Dan opened his mouth and said in awe, “Supreme Ruler Gid Chu Takeda”.

 

A golden light suddenly wrapped Gid and in a flash he moved twenty meters away from the Victorious, in his hand one of its swords. A condense explosion then followed and the other Victorious circled around him.

 

“Commander Dan, are my eyes deceiving me?” A fairly young Mist User asked. For him the ent.i.ties known as the Supreme Rulers existed only in history books and his seniors’ tales of the past. “That one man fought with a Victorious and won so effortlessly”.

“Maxim, he is our Supreme Ruler Gid Chu Takeda”, Dan felt the need to say the name again. The mentioning of the name for the first time filled him with vigor and the second time gave him back his fighting spirit. “He should not be referred to as ‘That man’”. He scolded with a smile.

 

“Yes, commander, I apologize, Supreme Ruler”. Maxim bowed toward the not so distance figure of Supreme Ruler Gid, then continued saying with sparkling eyes. “I still cannot believe it, sir. All I saw when I turned around was the Victorious explode”.

“I ashamed to say that even I hardly seen anything, Commander”, Rudolf joined in the conversation.

 

“Indeed, even after so many years… The Supreme Rulers were always at the pick of humanity. I, myself, could barely keep up with that fight”. Dan admitted. “From what I saw, Supreme Ruler Gid forced the Victorious to stand guard. Then, during their intense exchange, he managed to get a hold of one of the Victorious’s swords and used it to finish it and escaped before the explosion occurred”.

 

In truth, the sequence of events could have been described in an entirely different way. As he approached Gid simply saw an interesting blade carried by a lifeless machine with a strange energy signature, so he took the balde, familiarized with it and tested a killing blow on the closest thing around. Was there truly a fight?

 

“Youngster Danny”, a gentle, feminine voice sounded from the tunnel.

 

With tears streaming down his cheeks, Dan’s voice called, “Supreme Ruler Trey”, and after he saw the one behind her his feet succ.u.mbed and his knees touched the ground. “Supreme Ruler Ariel!” Dan, Rudolf and five other elderly Mist Users felt as though they were lost children; finally found by the big brother they admire who is escorted by their loving parents.

 

With the return of the Supreme Rulers Kingdom Earth has quickly turned the tide against the UGNE. In fact, with their new level of power, Supreme Rulers Trey and Gid alone were enough to annihilate the UGNE in no longer than two months. Suffice to say, no one was left alive this time. The Supreme Rulers did acknowledge the value of the Peral metal, but shunned the ways the UGNE’s scientists and engineers put it to use. For that one reason and because over time the UGNE brainwashed the minds of its essential personnel, they got rid of them, too.

 

Thus, seventy six years of war has ended. And from there to the present year, 5775, in the New Erath’s calendar, right after humanity was united by one sovereign rule, that of the Supreme Rulers, the rehabilitation process for the complete territory of Kingdom Earth has begun. Starting with tending the earth of many caves that were ravaged for Peral metal and Earth’s Cores and the people who were forced for hard labor and other victims of the war, to building vital structures such as hospitals, shelters, even schools for all ages to pa.s.s on the Supreme Rulers’ ideals and teachings and so on… In little than twenty years the new established society in humanity’s territory regarded the war as the “Dark Century” and with each new generation the scars of those years has faded little by little.

 

Year 5775.

 

Kingdom Earth’s number of caves: Five hundred and twelve. Number of nature reserves caves: Two hundred. Number of populated caves: One hundred and eighty-one. Total population number: One hundred million, three hundred and sixty thousand, four hundred and five. Total number of troops: Ninety thousand Earth’s Core holders (serving), fifty thousand Core Breakers (serving), three thousand Mist Masters (serving), two Mist Lords (Supreme Ruler Trey and Supreme Ruler Gid), Core Master (Supreme Ruler Ariel).

Year 5775, January 1.

 

Kingdom Earth’s population number: One hundred million, three hundred and sixty thousand, four hundred and six.