I created my own system

"If I could, I would have done so." Irritation was already evident in his voice, but more than that, the console in his hand was being used nonstop. He was moving his soldiers efficiently, giving aid to those who needed it.

"It's not my place to act, but...even so...I just couldn't help but get angry. I just feel they don't deserve to receive help from Apollo"

Blair understood him.

"Let's just trust Apollo, we did agree to this and were part of the planning, if you wanted to ignore the lives of those that has something to do with our friends' pain, you should have said so a while ago. Knowing the others, they might agree not to help the eastern duchy. But despite your dissatisfaction, you didn't walk away. Because if Apollo wanted to let his grudge win, he wouldn't have given us the option to help them at all. He would have turned a blind eye. You know Apollo. That's why you remain silent and decided to help."

Mckenzie remained listening to his friend's words while his eyes were glued to the screen, hands still pressing onto the controller.

"You are right, it's all up to Apollo," he muttered, pressing the trigger button once again.

.

.

.

The siege continues, destroying multiple defensive walls, and injuring thousands of people. But despite the increasing pressure of the battle, none of the enemy soldiers were able to breach the magic barrier. Irish, the Aileenian soldier who commands the fiends, was left dumbfounded by how each of the seven territories, which they were tasked to attack, still remained standing. It made her confused, the very first hour of the war should at least be on their side, taken the empire's forces were off guard, but contrary to what she expected her kingdom's enemy is still striving, surviving every second as if it will be their last.

"What is going on?" She tried reviewing each footage wanting to see the reason why they are still holding on.

The magic embedded in the cornea of the creatures activated, and a flash of light emerged. This light then turned into the view of the current battlefield, and smokes and screams echoed, and what she saw was the image she dreaded to witness. The cities were still intact despite the siege, and as the minutes went by, the battered and tired soldiers began to adapt to the enemy's movement. This improvement made Irish report the current situation to her superior.

{Are you certain?}

A voice filled with disbelief came on the communication device, but immediately it calmed down, accompanied by a command that made the Aileenian soldier smile.

"As you command sir!" She happily said while saluting.

At the same time, back at the tower, Apollo received a glaring notification from the system. Multiple red warnings emerge to block his view accompanied by Jeremiah's cold voice

[Creator, please I need your command]

There was a panic in his voice, which made Apollo interested. For an artificial intelligence to actually display such emotions it only means that Jeremiah is advancing into a higher degree of level. One that involves emotions, it was unexpected to witness it in these circumstances, but this improvement was already foreseen by Apollo.

[Please spare me with your curiosity, Creator. We need to hurry!]

Apollo just chuckles for a bit, liking the voice that currently shouts in his head.

"Okay, sorry for that brief interruption, let's proceed to plan," he said as he waved his hand, and those red glaring screens appeared right in front of his friends.

"What is this!" Kieth said in panic, in this rotation, it was his group to handle the situation. However, after they settled, the sudden surge of enemies, Apollo's notification came to them.

"What is this glowing thingy? It's different than the screen we are using," Matilda said, but then as they focused more, they noticed the contents of the notification. Simultaneously they all look at Apollo waiting for him to speak.

"This....I don't think we can handle this"

"It's okay, I will help, so listen to me," he replied as he shared with them a different type of map.

Right into the newly put screen, a new wave began. The fallen corpses of Aileen's fiends, all the creatures they released. Those twisted, hulking beasts that had been slain on the battlefield, began to twitch, moving uncontrollably. Their bodies swelled grotesquely, and at their surface, a bloody rune began to appear, seemingly carved right beneath their hides. The glow from the craving began to pulse as if activating.

Witnessing this, Matilda looked at the crimson notification and knew it was the threat it was warning of.

The red marks on the map started to blink, and all eyes remained on the screen.

"Apollo, did something happen?"

With the tension rising the other who were busy with the food run to them and saw the current situation.

"The corpses!" Alya exclaimed as she realized the situation, "They were being used as walking bombs, so that was the point of the siege. Once they reached the walls, they will detonate, destroying the defenses..." Then as she mulls over the situation, something sinks into her.

"Apollo the capital!"

"I know I already informed Alicia, with her there, the situation should be dealt with." his response was calm, though his eyes were glued to the screen.

"I think we should round them up!" Mckenzie suggested as he sat beside Kieth.

"I don't think so, if we do that the explosion will be greater than before"

"Then what should be done?" Jillian asked while her hand began moving, her soldiers were already on the move. They were trying to destroy the corpses into bits without the enemies noticing.

"I think I know what we should." Kieth then looked at Aaron, hinting for him to understand him.

"Wait, don't tell me." The boy looked baffled while Apollo remained observing them, though he said he would help; this time, he wanted to see what move they would make.

Aaron moved into the main screen, looking at all the live footage.

"Okay, let me see, I will try to memorize them, but what should I do? There are so many of them," he began to worry until he felt Agnes right behind him.

"Let me slow down the time while you guys gather the carcass"

"But that won't be enough there are still plenty of them"

"Don't worry, I will help out," Keith calmly told Niko, who didn't notice that he was still holding the potato he was supposed to chop.

"I will gather all the bodies in one point using my blessings, and then Aaron will teleport them away, and like you said, it won't be enough, so I will remove their gravity and let them fly into space. Agnes, if you can, please accelerate the time of their ascent." Kieth, then look at Blair.

"Can you use your blessings and control the enemy's thoughts? Make them delay the explosion." The latter nodded while the others began using their soldiers to secretly gather the deadly bombs that could detonate at any moment.

Apollo just watched them, happy that his usage of the authority of mystics to aid them in making decisions was worth it. He removed their doubts and only let their mind help reign. In that way, they are more determined to save more people. An emotion that devoured any kind of negativity.

"They are doing great"

[Creator update on the capital, Alicia already receives the news and currently gathers the emperor's mages, they are currently moving to break the spells that are embedded on the deceased enemies]

"Hmmm...." Apollo seems to ponder, his face shows a sign of amusement. As if he finds the situation interesting.

This expression made Jeremiah realize how crazy mages can be once their curiosity is piqued.

[Even in this situation you can't control yourself]

The artificial intelligence now fully understood why most mages are known as crazy and desired driven people.

Apollo didn't pay attention to Jeremiah's exasperation; instead, he continued looking at his friends.

The lights began to pulse nonstop, urging the kids to make their move. One by one, each took action, taking the initiative to save lives before it was lost.

Keith held the console navigating his soldiers to destroy the corpses, hoping it could lessen their trouble. And it did thankfully, but it wasn't enough. They need to move fast. They had seconds — maybe a minute — before the corpses exploded and reached the walls. The red dots on Apollo's map blinked faster, like a thousand heartbeats. Every second bred panic urging them to hurry.

With so much to do, they began to feel frustrated about what to accomplish first.

"Which ones first?" Alya's voice cut through the panic, cool and small but sharper than anyone else's. Witnessing her be this composed, a smile formed on Apollo's lips. He always admired this part of her, always collected, and somehow she has the confidence to know what she wants to.

A pair of golden eyes stares down on her as she crouches over the holo-map, fingertips tracing the closest corpse detonators. Her senses were a blade cutting cleanly, she could feel the ones that needed to be removed first. Her first focus was the east.

Apollo was glad they were stepping forward, and this war might be disastrous, but he hoped it could help his friends face their fears brought by their past.