Drawn by the voice, Eri spun around only to find five towering metallic figures standing behind him. It was the travelers from the stars.
"You!" Eri's face shifted from shock to deep suspicion. "How did you find me? No—what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing?" Skygnaw glanced at the mechanical insects closing in on Eri's position. "Leader Eri, instead of worrying about my business, you should probably focus on yourself. Your current situation looks... precarious."
Hearing the mockery, Eri didn't have the luxury of an argument. He turned back to the battlefield. He was indeed in dire straits. Seeing his clone soldiers being slaughtered and the Black Shucks nearly upon him, he hesitated for only a second before speaking.
"Fine! What do you want? If it is within my power, I will give it to you!"
Eri was far more clever than his mindless subordinates; he immediately recognized the opening line Skygnaw had offered.
"Heh. A wise choice, Leader Eri. You'll be glad you made it."
Skygnaw chuckled and waved a hand. Dirge and the other three Horsemen immediately transformed and took to the sky. Dealing with a swarm of insects that weren't even at the level of a Basic Cybertronian soldier didn't require Skygnaw's personal intervention, even if there were thousands of them.
[Focus on driving them back. Don't kill too many.]
Dirge and the others received the strange order mid-flight. Though confused, they exchanged glances and moved in perfect sync, switching their weapon configurations.
"There. With my men on the field, you can relax." Skygnaw walked toward Eri, his massive frame casting a suffocating shadow. "Now, I need you to answer a few questions."
The Cephalon tribesmen around Eri, who stood no taller than the clones, scrambled backward in terror at Skygnaw's presence. Eri barked at them, "Go! Direct the clones to counter-attack!"
The subordinates fled, looking immensely relieved to be away from the giant.
"Leader Eri," Skygnaw began, looking down. "I want to know the truth about that 'blood-sucking monster' in your Holy Ground."
"You encountered him?" Eri seemed genuinely shocked, as if he couldn't believe Skygnaw had walked out of that spire alive.
"I did." Skygnaw noted the reaction. It confirmed his suspicion that Eri knew exactly what that husk was.
"Well... it's like this," Eri said, looking down to gather his thoughts. "That monster's original name was Cyclonus. He descended from the stars shortly after the birth of the Cephalon race."
Cyclonus?
Skygnaw felt a surge of cold amusement. This Eri was consistent—his words were still three parts truth and seven parts lies. The Cybertronian Spire had been there for at least thirty thousand years, while the Cephalons only claimed ten thousand years of history. There was no way Cyclonus arrived after them.
Skygnaw didn't call him out. He simply waited for more info. Seeing no reaction from the "traveler," Eri continued.
"At first, Cyclonus was normal. He conducted experiments and built a deep friendship with us. But one day, he claimed his lifespan was ending. He didn't want to die. He consumed something he had spent years researching, claiming he would transcend into a new state of life. A few days later, he became that monster."
On the battlefield, the tide had completely turned. The mechanical insects, seemingly possessing a low-level intelligence or being remote-controlled, realized they couldn't damage the four Decepticons and began an orderly retreat. Dirge followed orders perfectly, leaving only about a hundred insect carcasses behind.
"He consumed something?" Skygnaw rubbed his chin. That matched his theory. "Do you know what it was?"
"No," Eri shook his head. "Cyclonus forbade anyone from disturbing him during that time. When I finally went to check on him, he had changed. I realized he wouldn't leave that building as long as no one approached, so I declared it a Holy Ground to keep my people away."
"Leader Eri," Skygnaw asked suddenly, his voice dropping an octave. "Do you know what I am?"
"Huh? What?" Eri was caught off guard.
"I have to say, your storytelling is top-tier." Skygnaw gave a mock thumbs-up. "If you told that story on a certain planet I know, they'd turn it into a movie and give you an award."
"What... what is that supposed to mean?"
Skygnaw looked at the retreating insects and decided to drop the act. "I wonder if Cyclonus would regret not recycling all of you before he turned into a monster, knowing the things he created would one day try to call themselves his 'brothers.'"
Skygnaw had suspected it for a long time. A planet as hostile as Rubicund couldn't naturally give birth to life. Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains is the truth.
Eri and his people were artificial. They were biological experiments created by the Cybertronian Husk—Cyclonus.
A natural creature can be strange or ugly, but it doesn't look like a patchwork of different species sewn together with no internal logic. Between the weapon-shifting limbs of the clones and the architectural mimicry of the castles, the evidence was overwhelming.
Cyclonus arrived thirty thousand years ago, built the spire, and ran experiments. The clones were weapons. Eri and the "thinking" Cephalons were likely assistants or accidental mutations that gained self-awareness. When Cyclonus lost his mind, Eri led the survivors away and fabricated a history to justify their existence.
"Am I right, Leader Eri?" Skygnaw watched the Cephalon's reaction with keen interest.
"You... you..." Eri stammered, his face twisting in panic. His secret was out. He had thought his acting was perfect, but to Skygnaw, it was amateurish.
"Die!"
Eri's expression went savage. He reached behind his back and pulled out a golden scepter. He thrust it forward, and a wave of shimmering light struck Skygnaw instantly.
Zip!
Skygnaw was frozen mid-stride, his body locked in place.
That scepter...
As the flow of time seemed to stop around his chassis, Skygnaw—whose mind was still functioning perfectly—didn't panic. Instead, he felt a surge of adrenaline. This power... it was unmistakable. This was the Iacon Relic!
"Quickly! Kill him!" Eri screamed to his remaining clone soldiers.
But Eri was naive. He had forgotten that Skygnaw wasn't alone.
"My Lord!" Dirge saw the danger and dove down in jet mode.
"No!" Eri swung the scepter wildly, firing another pulse without aiming. The beam missed the high-speed jet by a mile.
As Eri prepared a third shot, a cold, bone-chilling voice whispered from directly behind him.
"Leader Eri. Since you've already taken your turn... I think it's only fair that I take mine."
Eri froze. He turned his head slowly to see that the giant he had "frozen" was already moving again, a cruel smirk on his face and a massive black sword in his hand.
He had forgotten that the scepter's stasis effect was temporary.
"You—"
BAM!
Before Eri could raise the relic again, Skygnaw slapped him with the flat of the Black Hell Blade. Eri was sent flying, and the scepter spun out of his hand, landing far off in the red sand.
Clang.
The heavy thud of metal footsteps sounded like a funeral bell. Eri looked up and saw that the giant wasn't coming for him; he was walking toward the scepter.
If I get to the stronghold, I can use the escape tunnel to go underground... Eri scrambled on all fours.
But a shadow fell over him. Dirge looked down at the creature that had dared to strike his commander. He deployed his scimitar and swung down with zero hesitation.
"AAAAAARGH!"
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