Darkness swallowed the cavern around Noah. It consumed everything in sight until nothing remained but the crystal blue cube pressed against his palms, the faint prickle of chilly magic within it buzzing against his skin like the breath of a slumbering giant.

Noah knew darkness. He’d go so far to say that he knew it well. And this darkness, the sudden lack of light that had swallowed the room like a pill, was literally just that. There was no magical beast or deep, profound magic lurking within solidified shadows.

This was literally just darkness. He was still in the same room. Still surrounded by the Devourer’s enormous body. Still in the very same spot where he had been just a moment ago. His domain still picked up on the same ground that he’d been standing upon. All that had changed was the lighting.

It was like every single mote of light within the room had decided to gather exclusively within the cube. The rest of the room simply hadn’t been deemed worthy of notice. Everything was still. Silent, save for a faint, barely audible muttered prayer that carried through the huge room far better than it should have.

And then light exploded out in straight, zig-zagging lines of blue energy, racing to fill the entirety of the Heart Room in an enormous circuit. Noah spotted a pattern instantly. He couldn’t have said exactly what it was, but there was no mistaking the movements of the light as anything random.

There was intention to them. The magic was clean and precise. A hum filled the room, building from a low whine into a droning roar within mere seconds to reach a frequency that made Noah’s teeth chatter in his head.

The lines branched and multiplied. They wove intricate shapes of glowing energy. It only took Noah a few moments to realize what he was seeing. His eyes went wide.

It was an enormous blueprint. Hundreds of rooms, some huge and some little more than closets, connected by ten times their number in tunnels and passageways. The entire thing was encased within a meshwork of plates, and a labyrinth stretched out in every direction around the shell.

He was looking at the Lost Citadel. The entirety of it.

“Holy shit,” Noah whispered.

The buzzing around him reached a crescendo.

“Connection to Grid Established,” a humming voice said, coming from every single direction at once as if a speakers had been set up in a cage all around him. “Warning! The Grid has sustained severe damage. All operations are restricted to preserve strength. Restore damage to Imbuements as soon as possible to avoid compounding problems. Solution Analysis will require one day and five hours.”

It was similar to the voice of the Access Point he’d used, but there was something more in it. Like a mixture between man and machine. Something that almost felt vaguely familiar. And then Noah realized what it was he recognized. It wasn’t a mixture of man and machine he heard. It was monster and machine.

The sound was the Devourer.

It’s the Heart. All of it. I know it told me that, but I didn’t think it was being quite this literal. I suppose I should have guessed. This might be the same voice, but I don’t think I’m speaking to the Devourer anymore.

“How bad is the damage?” Noah asked. “Is it displayed on the—”

Before he could finish his question, three quarters of the rooms evaporated with a blink. Only a few scattered lights remained in the constellation of lines around him. Large segments of the maze around the Citadel evaporated as well.

Many of the tunnels now led nowhere, and several rooms floated alone and unconnected to the rest of the pathways. What had once been a grand network now looked more like ruins. There must have been fewer than ten or fifteen rooms that weren’t somehow damaged.

“The damage to the Citadel’s physical structure is estimated to be at approximately sixty-five percent,” the Heart reported. “Structural integrity is compromised in several rooms. The damage to the Grid is more significant. It is suggested to repair the damaged imbuements as quickly as possible. Several key functions are inactive.”

“How many?” Noah asked. “And I don’t suppose you’ve got instructions on which imbuements happen to be damaged and records of what they were so repairs aren’t literally impossible?”

“Records of the Citadel’s Imbuements are stored in the Great Library, Access Point 1,” the Heart said.

Stolen novel; please report.

Noah grinned. “Perfect. And—”

“Access Point 1 is currently offline. The Grid was unable to establish connection. The surroundings are heavily compromised.”

Noah’s smile fell away.

Of course.

“Why? How extensive is the damage?” Noah asked. “And should we be worried about anything else falling apart while we stand around talking here?”

“The Grid currently appears stable. It is unlikely that further damage will be sustained unless the Citadel is attacked. Should the Citadel be attacked, it is likely that the Grid will not be able to withstand. All main power sources are disconnected or destroyed. Two of the Major Defense Systems are unresponsive. The Heart is currently operating on 10% of its recommended strength.”

Shit. This place really got fucked up, didn’t it? What the hell happened? Was it all the Devourer?

“Major Defense Systems?” Noah asked, unable to stop himself.

“The Cloaking Array is active at minimum strength. However, the Devourer and the Defense Arrays are both unresponsive.”

They counted the Devourer as one of their defense systems? That’s… ironic.

“Right,” Noah said. “Is there a way to bring the Grid back online? To the damaged areas. An easy one.”

“The Imbuements must be restored.”

That isn’t particularly helpful. Patterns are one thing. Figuring out whatever the hell it is the ancient researchers used to create this incredible place is an entirely different one. It would take me weeks to do that if I was a genius. Maybe months or years given the fact that I’m not.

“Right. I don’t suppose you’ve got some repair-monsters stashed away? People that can do it for me?”

“The Citadel is worked upon only by researchers,” the Heart replied. “The Heart is not to modify the imbuements under any circumstance, including its own impending destruction. Nothing is permitted to breach the sanctity of the Citadel.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

That was a whole lot more specific than it had needed to be. The Researchers had specified that the Heart wasn’t allowed to mess with any of the imbuements. There were only two reasons why someone would do that.

Either they were so arrogant that they didn’t think the Heart could ever improve on their work… or they were worried that it could improve on their work.

“Can you highlight any rooms that are still connected to the main path and grid?” Noah asked. “Only the important ones. Don’t show me basic living quarters or the like.”

A buzz filled the air. Nearly every single light blinked out. Only a few remained. One was the circular room that Noah currently stood in, and he was pretty sure he spotted Access Point 4 way up near the edge of the Citadel.

Noah memorized the positions of the remaining lights. One about spending so much time copying runes into his mind meant that memorizing a pattern on the spot was a fairly trivial task.

I’ll have to investigate these to start with. At least they’ll still be active.

But his problems were still far from solved. No matter how incredible the Citadel had once been, he still didn’t have the faintest idea what he could do with it.

“What can

be done from the Heart Room?” Noah asked.

“Basic information queries,” the Heart replied.

Noah frowned. “That’s it? Nothing else? I don’t buy that. This place isn’t just a library. It’s a control room, isn’t it?”

“You do not possess a Lead Researcher identifier,” the Heart replied. “Any actions beyond basic queries are restricted.”

Oh, you have to be kidding me. Seriously?

I mean, that makes sense, but come on.

“Can you identify the location of a Lead Researcher’s room?” Noah asked. He cleared his throat. “Just to check on them, is all.”

“No such records exist.”

Goddamn it. A search it is, then. But I can’t let myself fall down this rabbit hole for too long. I could spend hours just trying to figure out what this place is and end up no better off than where I started.

There was too much information. Too many things he wanted to ask. Too many things he could ask. But he didn’t have all day. The Devourer was only giving him 4 hours.

That sounded like a lot of time, but it really wasn’t. He needed to optimize. To determine what the most important updates were so he could remain busy even while the Heart was back offline.

“How do I leave the Citadel?” Noah asked. More than anything else, he needed the answer to that. He couldn’t get stuck here forever. Not while everyone else was still out there waiting for him.

“The Gate,” the Heart replied. “It is now the sole entry and exit point from the Citadel. There are no other ways to pass from this place into the greater world. The Anti-spatial Array is still active.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Now? Was there another at some point?”

“This query is forbidden,” the Heart said, its voice suddenly going stiff. “Do not pursue this line of questioning.”

The back of Noah’s neck prickled.

“Consider it forgotten,” Noah said, hurriedly raising his hands. He still had what he needed. A way out of here. Everything else could wait. “So… this Gate, where is it? Show me on the map.”

“The Gate is disconnected from the grid,” the Heart replied. “The final records from it suggest it was dealt severe damage.”

Noah froze. “What?”

“It is likely that the Gate is destroyed.”

“Are you telling me that I’m trapped here?” Noah asked, dread wrapping him in a cloak.

“Your assessment is correct,” the Heart confirmed. “The Citadel is currently disconnected from Obsidia. There is no way out.”