[DATA CORRUPTED]
“Wyatt, sir! I hear fighting below—on the first floor too!”
I was only just clawing my way back from the confusion when Dorian-2 shouted.
It didn’t need to tell me. I could hear it. The noise below was loud—and the sound alone told me what it was.
Those things again.
I sprinted to the railing and dropped.
The first-floor hatch had already been torn open by the giant, so I could see the corridor immediately. Just like on the second floor, scorpion-like machines were pouring in—Invaders swarming toward the island bridge.
Two lizardmen held the line at the hatch, fighting desperately.
They weren’t built for targets this small. After stopping only a few, the swarm spilled past their defense.
More Invaders were climbing up through the cracks in the elevator shaft.
The giant was worse—its slow hammer couldn’t connect with something that moved that fast. It stood there, helpless, swinging air.
“You!” I shouted at it. “Up. Hold the second-floor hatch!”
Its bulk was only getting in the way.
I raised my electromagnetic rifle and dropped the Invaders that lunged toward me. The giant took the order, lumbered to the atrium, reached up for the second-floor railing—and clumsily hauled its massive body over the edge.
“Dear god! What is that monster?” Dorian-2 yelled from above, finally getting a good look at it.
My rifle ran dry almost immediately.
I tossed it aside and drew the big-bore pistol Miller had just handed me.
The giant had cleared the first floor of obstacles earlier, which—ironically—helped now. The Invaders had nowhere to hide, and the big-bore pistol’s spread was wide enough that each shot erased a whole patch.
Effective. Brutal. Fast.
Wreckage piled up.
With the lizardmen fighting alongside me, the first-floor swarm was finally brought under control.
“Ah—no…!”
Dorian-2 screamed again from the second floor. I vaulted back up and saw the problem.
A lone Invader had somehow reached the core island platform. It had latched its front claws around one end of the Prism-Etched Scepter head. Dorian-2 clung to the other end, both of them straining in a tug-of-war.
“Let go, you damned thief!” Dorian-2 shouted.
It only had one usable arm, and it couldn’t leave the chair. The Invader’s tail-stinger kept jabbing at Dorian-2’s hand.
“Kill it!” Dorian-2 yelled the moment it saw me.
The giant misunderstood—raised its hammer and started to swing down at the island platform.
“Stop! Stop—!”
I shouted and snapped up the laser pistol. One shot vaporized the Invader.
The giant froze with the hammer held in midair. Thankfully, it didn’t bring it down.
“Where are these coming from?” I asked.
As if answering, several more Invaders dropped from the ceiling vents and lunged straight for the island platform and Dorian-2.
Their target was obvious: the Prism-Etched Scepter head.
It was the simplest way to end us. Pull the head free and the Hope would snap back into Phantom Forge’s control instantly.
Luckily, there weren’t many.
I fired in rapid bursts and dropped each one I saw.
“Above you!” Dorian-2 suddenly pointed upward, voice breaking with fear.
Something heavy landed on my head.
[DATA CORRUPTED]
I let go of the pistol long enough to grab the thing, slam it to the deck, and grind it under my foot until it stopped moving.
I forced down the jittering in my vision and picked the pistol back up.
“Are you all right?” Dorian-2 asked, worried.
“I’m fine. You?”
“I’m fine.”
I held the pistol up and stayed locked in, scanning vents, scanning shadows. Invaders were the worst kind of enemy: the kind you didn’t see until they were already on you.
Sure enough, more dropped in the next few minutes, trying to ambush us. One even landed on Dorian-2’s head, and it yelled like a panicked human.
I shot them all. Not one slipped through.
The attacks thinned, then stopped.
Outside, the bombardment weakened too. Status showed multiple fires. Two engines had been destroyed—but it wasn’t enough to change the outcome.
[DATA CORRUPTED]
The strobing in my mind grew worse. In the noise, I thought I heard someone calling my name.
“Was that you?” I asked Dorian.
“…Yes,” it said after a beat. “You were staring into space.”
“Right. I’m fine.”
I realized I hadn’t heard the speaker in a while. I checked the countdown.
Six minutes and forty-two seconds.
“Only six minutes left? Why didn’t the announcement warn us?”
“You shot the speaker,” Dorian-2 said, pointing at the one near the vent.
“Fair enough.” I kept the pistol up. “Is Phantom Forge’s signal still here?”
“It’s.”
“Okay.”
I walked to the railing, partly to watch the first floor, partly to keep scanning the vents. Missing a single Invader could end everything.
***
Countdown: 5:28…
“Wyatt?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think Julian will know we did this?”
“It doesn’t matter. Our objective is about to be achieved.”
“Then… do you believe the Tower Clan will be saved because of it?”
“I do.”
“Good.”
A short silence.
“Janiel will tell Julian about us,” Dorian-2 said softly. “It will know.”
“Janiel…” I echoed, tasting the name. “Okay.”
***
Countdown: 4:21…
“Wyatt?”
“Yes.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The signal is still here,” Dorian-2 said.
“I know.”
“Do you trust that monster?”
“You mean Miller?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“How much do you know about it?”
“Nothing,” I admitted. “By our definitions, it’s a monster.”
“And you still trust it.”
“It’s been honest with us so far,” I said. “But I don’t truly believe it can sever Phantom Forge’s connection.”
“I don’t either.”
***
Countdown: 3:14…
“Wyatt?”
“Yes.”
“The signal is still here.”
“Yes.”
“And it didn’t come back to pick you up.”
“Yes.”
I lowered the pistol and sat beside Dorian-2 in the messenger’s seat. At this point, whether more enemies arrived didn’t matter.
“Retract the island-bridge armor,” I said. “Let’s watch the biggest firework show ever made.”
“Understood.”
***
Countdown: 2:27…
A single bright point appeared in the endless darkness ahead.
It grew quickly.
A city, lit like a constellation at ground level, resolved into view.
Peyton City.
It was enormous—so large we couldn’t possibly miss.
The Hope came in with a battered body and a coat of flame, like a meteor that had decided to fall with intent.
“Dorian?”
“Yes.”
“Was it you calling me earlier?”
“…Yes.”
“What is it?”
“…The signal is still here.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Silence.
“I liked our earlier missions better,” Dorian-2 said.
“Mm.”
“Which one did you like?”
“It’s not about liking.”
“Then compared to this… which matters more?”
“Both matter.”
“Okay.”
***
Countdown: 1:06…
“Wyatt?”
“Yes.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No.”
“Then… do you’ve regrets?”
“A little.”
“What are you most unwilling to leave behind?”
“I haven’t thought about it.”
“Then what do you want to say?”
“I haven’t thought about that either.”
“Then think. Now.”
“It might be too late for thinking,” I said, then asked, “Are you afraid, Dorian?”
“A little.”
The Hope made its final angle adjustment. Peyton City finally realized it was the target. Turrets fired weak beams up at the descending giant. Ships and fighters lifted off in frantic swarms, trying to flee the coming annihilation.
***
Countdown: 10 seconds…
“Dorian.”
“Yes.”
“I thought of it.”
“What?”
“The thing I can’t stop worrying about… is you…”
The bow of the Hope hit first.
The megaship stabbed into the ground, and dirt erupted like ocean spray—hundreds of meters high. The impact overturned every building nearby as if they were toys.
Time seemed to slow.
I heard the hull’s massive fracture. The bridge glass shattering. Then the explosion—red and violet flame surging up until it filled my entire field of view, swallowing Dorian-2 and me together.
…
…
[DATA CORRUPTED]
Chapters 161-165