They kept walking.

The clang of boots on metal echoed uneasily as Kaiden and the women stepped deeper into the cavern. Slaves tending the fields began noticing them one by one. Heads turned. Movements slowed.

Then came the fear.

Some stumbled back, dropping tools. Others froze mid-motion, staring wide-eyed at the bloodied Elise being dragged along.

Was this punishment? Retribution? Or execution?

No one knew. Terror rippled through the workers.

Mothers pulled children behind them. Men stepped instinctively in front of the weak. All of them trembled.

Whispers spread, wondering just what was going on with panicked voices.

And the livestream chat exploded.

- Princeless Princess: What the hell is this?! Jesus Christ, are those slaves?! In 21st-century America?!

- Thirsty247: I thought ChronosX were professional clowns, but nah. I see nothing funny here. This is messed up beyond words. Is this even real, or am I dreaming?!

- Kaiden's Wife: How long has this travesty been going on?!?! I can't even look without tearing up; my heart contorts just by looking!

- Lapdog of the Empress: Holy guacamole. Ladies, I just shat my pants.

- Lady Leia: … Now I understand why Kaiden stormed that building. If he knew this was here… the noble heart of the Blood Knight couldn't take sitting still!

Her message was highlighted and lingered on-screen longer than others', thanks to being promoted to the moderator role by Sarah, also known as Princeless Princess. The three fangirls, including Kaiden's Wife, real name Emilia, had their messages stand out.

And thanks to this highlight, the atmosphere in the chat abruptly changed.

The audience, who had moments ago been divided, some calling Kaiden insane, some calling him a criminal, saw it. Truly saw it.

Men and women chained to plows. Children hauling heavy baskets of grain while standing on sickly, thin legs. The sight before their eyes was a human atrocity, plain and simple.

- Thirsty247: He broke the law. Yeah. But if he didn't do anything? That would've been worse. That would've made him an accomplice.

- Princeless Princess: Hmph! I told you @everyone! You called him a madman, but THIS? If he knew… what kind of a man could just walk away? Certainly not our Kaiden Grey and his loyal Sinners!!!

- Lady Leia: If justice won't act, then someone has to. Even if it's illegal.

And the world agreed.

In homes, apartments, and dorm rooms, millions of people leaned forward despite the show going on inside their minds. There was no screen they could lean closer to.

Even the little boy watching from his couch with a bowl of vegetables forgotten in his lap felt his pulse quicken. This wasn't a dungeon raid. This wasn't entertainment.

This was a reckoning.

And their once-uncertain hero, who might've gone mad or thought he was above the law, became suddenly something else in their eyes:

A brave man who refused to look away.

And then, something moved.

From the fields, towering metal silhouettes stirred. Their eyes lit up in pale, eerie blue.

Golems.

Six of them, each forged from steel and mana-crystal, heavy as tanks and carved with runes. Instruments not of protection but control and destruction, ordered to protect their masters by keeping the slaves in order.

They turned toward Kaiden's group. Their arm-blades unfolded with sharp, metallic shrieks. One stepped forward.

Then they all did.

Kaiden took a step ahead of the others, placing himself on the path of collision with these magical murder machines.

His five companions mirrored him in a crescent formation.

Calypso let Elise drop like trash onto the steel floor. Her lips curled into a delighted grin as she reached back and unhooked her demonic axe.

Luna inhaled once. Lightning crackled to life around her hand, shaping into the storm-forged blade that birthed her fan-favorite title, The Stormblade.

Nyx raised her hand, and her fingers were already moving akin to those of a composer with threads of space folding and twisting between them like invisible strings.

Bastet's golden eyes narrowed. Solar fire ignited across her palms; not mere flame, but burning sunlight condensed into heat so intense it warped the air.

Aria planted her crescent staff down with a soft metallic clink. Silver-white light danced along its curve like moonlit mist before a battle cry.

And at the front, the Paragon of Sin raised his gauntleted hand.

From the Blood Monarch's Gauntlet, dark crimson liquid seeped forth. It was not merely dripping like a broken faucet, but outright moving as if it had a will of its own.

It spiraled, solidified, and forged itself into the shape of a greatsword, Kaiden's preferred blade.

From the cracked soil and rusted chains, the hundreds of slaves watched breathlessly as the six towering golems advanced. Steel bodies, etched with mana circuits, arms shifting into cleavers and cannons. For years, these machines had been their gods. Their jailors. Their nightmares.

Now someone stood against them.

Kaiden stepped forward first.

The world exploded.

One golem's arm-blade sliced down with enough strength to cut a car in half.

*CLANG!*

Kaiden met it head-on with his weapon of choice, transformed in the last second, creating a large shield. Metal screamed. Sparks burst. His legs nearly buckled from the impact, but, through sheer willpower, he held.

To the side, stormlight flashed. Lightning wrapped Luna's blade as she dashed past. She severed the golem's wrist clean off. Its gears sparked and pumped blue mana, but it didn't fall… Instead, it turned, and with inhuman speed, slammed its other arm at her.

Or it would've, had Kaiden allowed it to. He stepped in and protected his girl, who used the opportunity to slice even more at the golems. They were used to fighting by each other's side already, having been the only two melee members of the group until Calypso joined just now.

Aria followed with her crescent staff spinning and moonlight spiraling. She wasn't smiling now; her delicate features only gave off the cold, perfect precision of a girl who was beyond bloodthirsty. She twirled, casting a mighty moonlit spell which carved across a golem's chest, leaving molten steel in its wake.

The slaves flinched as they watched.

Then Nyx moved, so quiet she almost wasn't seen. Her fingers curled. Space twisted. One golem lunged at her, but found she sent a whole arsenal of flaming weapons screaming at it, which forced the creation to dodge right into Luna's blade, who, ever the opportunist, saw the opportunity before it was even presented to her.

One swing. Crack.

But the golems didn't fall easily. They were stronger than Kaiden and co on an individual level, their defenses great, and their strength even greater.

One of them raised its cannon arm. Light pulsed.

Then Bastet stepped forward. The Solar Empress lifted one hand.

*WHOOMPH!* A spear of condensed sunlight tore through the cannon.

Then came Calypso.

The demoness licked her lips, saying, "I much prefer fighting living beings who will cry and bleed when I slash them up, but it is what it is, I suppose… I won't ruin my debut by being a whiny woman~" she purred, gripping her massive axe.

She lunged.

Her axe struck a golem's knee. Metal shrieked, yet it held. It swung a fist at her.

She didn't dodge.

*THUD.*

The punch slammed into her face, bolstered by the force of the mana cores responsible for fueling these machines. Her head snapped sideways. Blood sprayed.

She stood still for a moment.

Then she smiled.

Blood dripped down her chin. "Scratch that, this is awesome! Fighting together with my family at my side… All I've done is get punched in the face, yet I'm already in love!"

She spun, cleaving at the golem's leg for a second time, hitting exactly where her axe had hit before. This time, she cut deep into its armor.

Pieces of it bounced to a little girl's bare feet. For a moment, she didn't breathe. Then her eyes, seeing the strange red-skinned woman fight like a beast against the machine of the girl's nightmares…

Sparkled.

"If you can take a punch like that in the face, I suppose we've found our group's tanker…" Bastet mused, seeing how her demonic ally was unscathed after taking a punch that would've easily obliterated the tanned felinid's head.

"You bet! I'm not only strong but I'm sturdy as well!" Calypso shouted, excited as a proper demoness surrounded by war and destruction should be.

The golems charged.

The humans worked together to overcome the gap in strength, using superior teamwork and their versatility as awakened combatants of vastly different classes to fight back.

Hope.

It started small. A breath. A whisper. A feeling.

'They're fighting for us.'

The children watching stared with trembling hope as the people of steel who whipped them, tore their siblings apart, and killed their malnourished friends were falling.

Not easily. Not cleanly. This was a true struggle.

But they were most certainly falling.

And for the first time in years…

Slave children smiled.

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