CHAPTER 1165: STANDARD OF THE CRAFT (1).

Above, Nebula was running out of strength. His armor shattered piece by piece as the Archon pressed him down. His vision swam. His arms began to fail.

He caught a glimpse of Cain below, and a mad laugh escaped him. "You’d better... do something stupid... fast!"

Cain reached the base of the crater and extended his hand toward the Core.

The energy reacted instantly—wild, volatile, hungry.

His vision exploded in white. His body convulsed. Every ounce of mana he had left was being stripped away, pulled into the churning heart of the world.

He forced his will onto it, molding the chaos, shaping it through sheer refusal to die.

Metallic threads spread outward from his body like veins of light. They burrowed into the ground, up through the molten layers, connecting to every fragment of his remaining power.

Nebula felt it first.

The air around him changed—pressure, heat, and gravity twisting into something unnatural. The Archon turned sharply, scanning the fissure below.

ENERGY SURGE DETECTED.

Cain’s voice echoed from the depths, distant and fractured. "You wanted to see what happens when I stop holding back..."

The entire battlefield trembled.

Rivers of molten metal surged upward, drawn toward the surface in massive torrents. The Core’s pulse reached a deafening rhythm—one heartbeat away from rupture.

Cain’s eyes opened, glowing white-gold. "Let’s see if gods bleed."

The explosion wasn’t light—it was density.

Everything compressed at once. The air. The heat. The debris. The Archon itself. Space twisted inward, then snapped outward in a shockwave that obliterated everything within several miles.

Nebula was thrown like a doll, his body smashing through several layers of shattered stone before he vanished under rubble.

The Archon was caught mid-flight, wings flaring in defiance—but even its armor couldn’t withstand the sheer force. Its halo shattered. Its voice cut out mid-sentence.

When the dust cleared, the crater had doubled in size.

Cain stood in the center, half-conscious, surrounded by a web of glowing metal roots. His body was failing, but his eyes were still open.

The Archon was down—broken, but not gone. Its core flickered faintly beneath the wreckage.

Cain exhaled, voice barely a whisper. "Not enough."

Then the ground shifted again, a low rumble echoing from the pit below. The Core wasn’t done—it was reacting.

A new pulse rippled through the air, deeper and slower than before.

The Archon twitched, one arm rising as its core reignited.

Cain could only watch, exhaustion turning his limbs to stone.

He managed a broken laugh, blood dripping down his chin.

"Fine then..."

He raised the {Golden Tyrant} one last time, aiming directly at the Archon’s core.

"Let’s finish it the hard way."

The weapon flared back to life, golden light burning through the darkness—

And the world trembled once more.

The wind screamed through the skeletal towers of Zone A19. The air shimmered with static, humming like the world itself was remembering a song it was never meant to sing. Cain walked ahead of the team, coat whipping violently behind him, blade drawn. The heat still rose off the metal carcass of Node 01.

"Seventeen more," Hunter muttered. "Seventeen."

"Assuming they’re not spawning new ones," Roselle replied, kicking a chunk of slag aside. "Which I’d bet they are."

Steve’s tablet flickered in his hands. "They’re all linked to a central frequency—’Index Prime.’ The energy readings suggest it’s buried somewhere inland, under a containment shell. Massive power draw. We’re talking old-world tech, maybe even Divine-era hardware."

"Then we cut off its head," Cain said. "We move."

They marched through the ruins. Every step closer to the heart of the city came with heavier air, denser static. The walls pulsed faintly with veins of light, like the metal itself was alive and watching them.

Roselle caught movement overhead. "Drones. No wings, no sound."

"Not drones," Cain corrected, watching as a shape folded down from the smog—a cluster of glimmering shards moving in a smooth, intelligent rhythm. "Fragments. They’re repurposing debris into surveillance."

Steve swore under his breath. "Adaptive manufacturing. The Index doesn’t just rebuild—it learns the terrain."

Cain swung his blade through the air. A ripple of gold arced out, disintegrating the cluster. The fragments scattered, then melted into dust.

"Keep moving," he said, not slowing down.

They reached the central bridge connecting the outer ruins to the inner dome. The structure stretched for kilometers, supported by jagged pylons that vanished into the haze below. At its center loomed a black spire wrapped in faint rings of light—the Tower of Ashes.

"That’s it," Steve said quietly. "Index Prime."

The bridge trembled as they stepped onto it. Metallic growths twisted from the sides, blooming into thin, blade-like tendrils.

Roselle fired at the nearest one, the bullets tearing through the stem. The fragments shivered, then reformed into a spear that shot toward her. Cain intercepted it, golden energy flaring as he split the weapon midair.

"Keep your spacing!" Hunter barked, rifle thundering as he covered their advance.

They moved fast—dodging, firing, carving a path through the morphing bridge. Every shot and strike echoed across the expanse. Sparks scattered like stars against the fog.

Halfway across, the ground exploded upward. A giant figure rose from the metal, its body formed entirely of writhing shards. Its face was a blank mask.

"Designation: Index Node 02," it announced.

Cain raised his weapon, golden light building around him. "Then let’s skip introductions."

The Node charged. Its arms split into whips of molten alloy, striking faster than air could move. Cain parried the first, ducked under the second, then shot forward—his blade slicing through its midsection.

The cut sealed instantly.

"Regeneration active," Steve shouted. "You’ll need to overwhelm it before the repair cycles complete!"

Hunter fired burst rounds into the creature’s back. Each impact left glowing dents, but the metal simply liquefied and pulled itself together again.

Roselle hurled a grenade, detonating it under the Node’s feet. The blast staggered it long enough for Cain to drive his sword through its chest. Golden energy flared, and for a heartbeat, the Node’s core was exposed—a bright, pulsing sphere of white.

Cain twisted his weapon and unleashed the full discharge. The explosion tore the Node apart in a blinding surge.

When the light faded, the bridge was littered with molten debris. The Node’s remains slithered toward the edge, melting into the metal below.

Steve’s voice was low. "It’s transmitting before it dies. Data packets heading straight to the Tower."

Roselle cursed. "It knows we’re coming."

"Then we hurry," Cain said.