Chapter 21: M'hak

"He is gone."

Godfrey exits with the pulsating spear and stabs it into the ground.

Mr. Sol clenches his fist as he turns away. The smell of blood and viscera reaches the students and their expressions vary.

Long Batian is indifferent, the orc seems to be bristling in excitement, the elf pales, and Xorpill vomits harder. Godfrey shakes his head as he looks around and sees that they are in a mountainous region.

Mr. Sol tries to use his tablet, but the signal is unstable. The group is for all intents and purposes, lost. He turns to Godfrey and asks.

"Godfrey, could you scout out our perimeter. I want to know if there is anywhere else we can move the hover truck. It has an SOS beacon, so it shouldn't take long for the academy to send out a rescue party."

Godfrey nods and flies up to the sky. He uses his enhanced senses to their utmost maximum and scans the horizon.

Meanwhile, Long Batian offers to incinerate Ulric's body to rid themselves of the stench. Mr. Sol gives Long Batian a look and asks him.

"I sense hostility in your words Long Batian. Does this have anything to do with his earlier comments to Godfrey?"

Long Batian readies his fire as he replies to Mr. Sol.

"I've learned more about him in my time here. He is simple. A disciplined warrior, who wants nothing more than to help. A hero like that doesn't deserve to be ridiculed. Especially on what he couldn't control as a kid!"

Ulric's body lights up in flames and he slowly burns into ash. A moment later, Godfrey returns and relays his finding.

"There is a valley not far from here. It is highly defensible with only one way in. If we are to do battle, then it will be there."

The others nod and Mr. Sol asks everyone to head back into the hover truck.

"Alright, back inside. Godfrey, try and fly alongside the truck. If the natives find us, then inform us. They've somehow been able to evade our detection systems, something that they've never been able to do before."

Mr. Sol looks to the Elf and asks her.

"Rysin, please provide everyone here a layer of magic armor. I'll be damned if any harm comes to you all."

Rysin nods and a formless barrier appears on everyone's body.

Godfrey thinks for a moment and scans the surroundings with his divine sense. He focuses in one direction and focuses all his senses. He then rotates slowly and stops at a certain direction.

"They are coming directly to our position. I do not know how, but they know exactly where we are!"

Then an almost imperceptible sound enters Godfrey's ears.

A faint buzz can be heard intermittently and Godfrey is confused until his eyes snap towards the spear. With a preternatural speed, Godfrey grabs the spear and hurls it in a different direction from their destination. He turns to everyone else and shouts.

"I do not know how long that will fool them. Hurry now."

Mr. Sol hurriedly enters the driver's seat and the others make their way into the hover truck. After a few minutes, however, the truck doesn't start. A heavy banging can be heard as Mr. Sol slams the console.

"Damn you, you worthless piece of-"

He is interrupted as Godfrey jumpstarts the systems with a pulse of lightning. The hover truck shoots up into the air, and they make their way to the valley.

Along the way, Godfrey keeps track of the natives with his hearing. They initially follow the direction of the spear, but quickly course correct and follow them directly somehow.

'This is odd. How is it they still follow us? It does not matter, we must make haste.'

10 minutes later

The hover truck sets down at the well protected valley. Mr. Sol immediately uses his gravity magic and place large boulders to narrow the already tight entrance. Long Batian condenses a spear and waits outside along with Godfrey. Rysin is at the back of the group, ready to support and Kul'Ga, the orc, uses his strength to drag the hover truck into a corner.

Godfrey looks into the distance and takes his uniform off. Underneath, his super suit is present in all its glory. Mr. Sol walks out at this moment and raises an eyebrow. Long Batian looks at him weirdly and can't help but ask.

"You were wearing it this whole time? Don't you feel hot?"

Godfrey simply laughs and replies.

"Hahaha, I have dived into a volcano. Heat no longer affects me as much. I only perspire when I exert effort above my body's capabilities."

Long Batian grumbles.

"Why am I not surprised...?"

A minute later, a scout appears over a ridge. Its head pops out and takes a look at the duo then disappears once more.

Godfrey prepares his muscles as he speaks.

"Prepare yourself."

A pulsating spear then pierces towards Long Batian at a mind numbing speed. Long Batian reacts in time as he swats it away but suddenly jumps backwards, as a spear materializes from the ground and tries to stab his heart. He insults his enemies as he jumps.

"Honorless curs, have you no dignity?"

Godfrey grabs the spear as it starts to retreat back into the ground and pulls. A native comes flying out of the ground and flails in the air.

"Damn you-grrrk!"

Godfrey grips its neck angrily.

"So you're the reason why they could keep following us."

The native simply laughs.

"Heh. Idiot. The M'hak will never bow down to the likes of you!!"

Godfrey is confused as he asks the M'hakian.

"Who says you need to bow down to us? Who feeds you these lies?"

Long Batian is intrigued by the conversation and moves to ask a question but is interrupted.

The M'hakian snarls as a he stabs a knife made of the same pulsating material towards Godfrey's throat. It is repelled and the M'hakian gets electrocuted, but Godfrey notes that it seems to have disrupted his electric field somehow.

Godfrey drops the unconscious M'hakian and looks to the mountain ridge, now filled with hundreds of them. In the next second, they all leap from the mountain and charge at Godfrey's group.

"RAAAAH!"

"FOR THE M'HAK!!"

"DEATH TO THE DEFILERS!"

Godfrey charges forward and bulldozes through a group of M'hakians. His strength causes them to slam into their allies and knocks them unconscious.

Long Batian swings his spear forward. A wave of heat blasts the M'hakians into a deep sleep via concussion and heatstroke.

Mr. Sol is the most brutal and kills multiple M'hakians by crushing their necks. Godfrey notices this and immediately grabs Mr. Sol's arm and throws him to the ground.

Mr. Sol angrily looks at Godfrey and shouts.

"What are you doing Godfrey? You would lay your hands on your teacher??!"

Godfrey glares at Mr. Sol as his anger climbs.

"Something is clearly wrong here. You would so easily kill these people? Did you not hear the conversation we had earlier?"

Mr. Sol angrily retorts.

"You would believe these things? They're responsible for killing our students!!"

Godfrey silences Mr. Sol by raising a hand.

"We will speak of this later. For now I must stop this senseless fighting."

Godfrey reaches into the air and Lightning strikes his hand as thunder booms.

"ENOUGH!"

Godfrey's voice echoes throughout the valley and the fighting stops. The M'hakians look at him in fear and step backwards. Godfrey, satisfied with the effect, voices his thoughts out.

"Why do you call us defilers? As far as I know, we have only made the air breathable by using our advanced technology."

A larger M'hakian steps out and angrily replies.

"How would you feel if invaders came to your planet, took your resources, and killed your people for defending said resources? Are you not defiling my people??"

Godfrey replies sympathetically.

"I am sorry for the injustices that your people have gone through, but please trust me when I say that this is not the way to fight this. I do not know much of the situation so enlighten me. What resources do you speak of?"

The large M'hakian materializes a spear made of the pulsating material and slams it down.

"This. Dahl. A naturally occuring liquid metal that enhances technology and magic. It is in your gadgets, your cars, and everything that needs technology. Our people have used this to create cities below the surface of Mars, so the terraforming of the atmosphere mattered little."

He then points his spear at Godfrey.

"It is when you slaughtered our people for defending their mines that it became increasingly difficult to hold back the urge for war. An eye for an eye, defiler. That is what we bring to your alliance."

Long Batian raises his hands in an attempt to calm the M'hakians who are now starting to radiate bloodlust.

"There has to be another way. Allow me to act as guarantor, my Father holds significant sway on Earth. Surely you can be granted a seat at a negotiation table to discuss future cooperation with the other races."

Godfrey secretly raises a thumbs up and praises Long Batian in his mind.

'Well done, my friend surely-'

But he is shocked when the representative shakes his head.

"My son was a miner, and my brother's son was helping him out in the mines when it was attacked. My brother is the king of M'hakians."

Godfrey's heart drops. Not a second later, the sound of an astronomical explosion rocks the air.

*BOOOOOOOM*

"LET THERE BE WAR!"

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END

NOTE: Sorry everyone, I went back and changed the year in which humans and the other races reached Mars.

Hopefully the timeline makes more sense now ahaha.