Chapter 8

"Grrrr…" 

Waving its tentacles in a tantrum, The Sentry was mad that its prey had gone through the walls and couldn't be found again no matter how long it searched. 

'It's impossible to just disappear just like that!'

*BOOMM* 

Whipping one of its biggest tentacles, it humph quietly as its smaller tentacles start to wiggles and it goes into surmising. 

'Is there's another unknown technology of those steel cans?' 

Thinking that it might be better to send the revelation it just had, The Sentry began to establish the link to The Hive and send its new information. 

Time passed by slowly, as it went back into watching the area it was tasked to guard. The Hive didn't give any change of orders for it, so it will stay silently like it always did. Its eyelids closed as it wiggled around the room. 

Its eye can see any moving objects from the vines that cover the city area he guards and his tentacles feel any air refraction that is caused by any moving objects near it. Suddenly, after a long time passed, The Sentry finally felt movements in the air.

'Found him!' 

Without thinking twice, The Sentry immediately used half of its tentacles and swung it to the direction where it felt the signal come from. 

*BOOOMM* BOOM* 

'He dodged?' 

Surprised, The Sentry thought the human would have all his strength sapped away. But that surprise only lasted for a second as The Sentry became more serious. It unleashed all its tentacles to the human. While thinking that perhaps the human got his strength back after the time he recuperated. 

*BOOMMM* 

'The human was much more slippery and nimble than before….' it mused, as its eye started to open and locked it to its target. 

'No more escape…' 

The Sentry began to release some kind of green gas from all of its tentacles. Soon, a faint hue of green filled the room. The Sentry starts to relentlessly attack the human while believing that this is its chance. 

And yet, the human still movements didn't slow down at all, even though it was already squirting out the paralysis gas. The human even starting to fight back by cutting its smaller tentacles one by one. 

'How dare he!?' 

Angered, The Sentry howled at the human while its eye began to shine with red color. The red lights swirling in its retina and compressed into a ball. Few seconds later, the ball was shot from its eye and launched with speed half as fast as a bullet. 

*BOOOOOMMM* 

A big explosion bursting from the ground where once the human was standing. The metal floor is glowing as it melted. A giant hole with a size of 120 square feet was created in an instant. 

'Did I overdo it?' pondered The Sentry as it swayed its tentacles around, feeling a little weak. 

'...No, he is still alive!' 

From its 360 degree, The Sentry tasted some blur movements in the air. It turned all its tentacles behind to attack, out of nowhere, it felt another presence from its left side. Its eye instinctively moved to its left and saw a steel humanoid armor, with the left hand of the armor pointed at it and gleaming with blue light. 

'You-' 

Before it could continue with its thought, a beam of blue light flew to the center of its body and incinerated inside, right through its core, burning and destroying it with nothing's left. 

*************** 

"That went well." 

Said Zuyuan as he took out The Sentry eye and gave it to XB11. 

"Because you had been keeping it busy, Apostle." replied XB11 as it accepted the eye. 

Nodded, Zuyuan asked as he glanced at XB11, "That invisible function, this Sentry can't even see you with that. How you guys still lost if you could become invisible to your enemy." 

Shaking its head to disagree, XB11 said, "Because we only fight a Sentry, Apostle. There're much, much more dangerous beings in the Rograst race." 

"Is that so…" 

Putting away the steel sword to the makeshift sword belt Zuyuan created from his clothes, Zuyuan said, "I was distracted, but, did you say about goblins before?" 

"That I did, Apostle." XB11 nodded in admittance and said, "Shall we talk while on the move? Apostle. It's been a whole day after you mediated to fill back your energy." 

"Lead the way." 

Soon, both of them ran to another part of the room. Reaching out to the corner, XB11 placed its hand into a hole on the wall that fit perfectly for its arm. Blue lines emitted from the hole and crawled into a design that was inscribed on the wall, the design of a door. After a clicking sound was heard, the design budged and moved by itself, and in three seconds, it became a gate with a steel hallway that went straight to the front. 

Going inside, they ran for a while until Zuyuan said, "So, goblins, do you mean that it's the child-like monster that has green skin?" 

"Yes, it was them." XB11 replied while taking a glance behind, as he ran ahead of Zuyuan, "But they are no monsters. They are race. Just that they are more tribal than the usual forest dweller." 

"And with honesty, Apostle." continued XB11 as its eyes staring at Zuyuan became more glowing, "You are much more stronger than what I have expected. For an Apostle with examinee rank, you are much stronger than what your rank represents." 

"Oh? Is that so?" asked Zuyuan curiously. 

"Indeed, Apostle." 

Shortly, a lot of flesh-like black vines that covered the hallway. A vine that's shaped like a mouth is right at the front of the vines and it's opening wide with its jagged teeth showing. 

Putting The Sentry's eye in it, all of the vines started to stir and began to crawl away. A path was made in five breaths. 

"We have to hurry, Apostle, the vines will cover the hallway soon." 

Quickly, both of them dashed through the path, and only focused on rushing.

After a few minutes, they found themselves in front of a big steel gate, with blue lines enveloping it. There's a palm scanner right at the middle of the gate. Without wasting any time, XB11 placed his right palm in the scanner as it said, "We have arrived, Apostle." 

Immediately after that, the blue lines shone brightly as the gate opened. A buzzing noise that sounded machine-like came out of nowhere right after that. 

[Welcome to the Central Room, Commander XB11.]