The breach split wider with a loud metal scream as Militech's top troops stormed in—shock soldiers covered in black armor, support drones weaving patterns of deadly fire, and two giant mech-walkers stomping forward with heavy steps.
The chamber should have been a death trap. Instead, it felt like a stage made just for what was about to happen.
Max walked forward without pause. Every step was smooth, his rifle rising and firing in perfect rhythm. Bullets flew at him, tracer lines cutting across the air—but none touched. Not because he dodged, not because of any shield. It was like the world itself bent around him, changing the paths of every shot.
Lucy's voice shook as she watched the feed on her deck. "The system isn't saving him. He's… he's deciding how things end."
The mech-walkers raised their cannons, barrels heating until they glowed. Max's eyes burned brighter, twin blue suns cutting through the dark. He raised one hand. Silver light spread from his chest, rushing along the floor like living metal. The mechs faltered, joints locking, as Eidolon's code rewrote their commands. Their targeting turned.
Both machines swung their weapons on their own soldiers.
"System error—friendly fire—no, wait, hostile! HOSTILE!" one soldier shouted in panic.
The mechs didn't stop to think. Their cannons thundered, tearing into Militech lines. Troops scattered, drones spun out of control as shrapnel ripped them apart.
Max walked through the mess of bodies, his face calm, his voice cold:
"Tools follow whoever holds the root."
V leaned from cover and sprayed bullets into a squad, cutting them down. She barked a laugh, wild in the chaos. "Holy shit, Max—you're making them kill themselves!"
Max's rifle shifted, metal plates sliding until the barrel stretched long. It became a sniper in his hands. His eyes zoomed in, targeting lines flashing one after another. He fired once—quick, simple.
Three floors up, a Militech commander dropped with a hole clean through his head. The squad under him broke down instantly, their orders lost, their focus gone.
Lucy stared at her screen as data crashed across it. "That was their commander. The whole chain of command just fell apart. He's tearing down their system piece by piece."
"Not piece by piece," Max said, sliding another round into place. "Breath by breath."
The chamber looked like a slaughterhouse—gunfire echoing, screams fading under the weight of something unstoppable. Every move Max made was exact, not just in aim, but in intent.
The flood of soldiers didn't drown him. Instead, they built him a throne of bodies.
But deeper inside the building, bigger signals began to stir—command drones, heavy squads, and maybe Militech's secret projects.
V cursed as the floor rumbled. "They're not backing off. They're bringing in worse."
Lucy glanced at Max, her words sharp with worry. "Max, you can't keep this up forever. Even if Eidolon can't take you, this much combat, this much pressure—"
But Max didn't look tired. He didn't even look touched. His eyes glowed steady, like fire that never went out.
"I already told you," he said, voice hard and clear. "This isn't burning."
He tilted his head, as if he could hear the future itself—another wave moving closer, another outcome waiting. He gripped his rifle tighter.
"This is me breathing."
The chamber shook once more as the walls cracked open, and something far larger than soldiers came to meet him.
The walls split wider, metal tearing as something heavy pushed through. Dust fell in thick clouds as a new sound filled the chamber—a deep, mechanical growl mixed with the hiss of hydraulics.
Then it stepped in.
A Militech combat drone, taller than a man, its body built of thick plating and sharp edges. Twin rotary cannons spun at its arms, the barrels glowing red with heat. Its head was a cluster of sensors, glowing red like a hunter's eyes.
Lucy's deck screamed with warnings. "Max—it's not just a drone. That's a prototype. Adaptive AI, high-tier armor, heavy weapon core. That thing was designed to chew through squads, not lone operators!"
The drone locked onto Max, targeting beams flickering across his body. Cannons roared. A storm of bullets filled the air, faster and heavier than anything before.
Max didn't move.
The rounds screamed toward him—yet like before, none landed. The streams bent, missing by inches, or sparked harmlessly off the floor. To anyone watching, it looked like fate itself refused to let the bullets hit.
Max raised his rifle, calm as ever. "More metal. Same weakness."
The drone adjusted instantly, its AI rewriting attack paths. It launched a cluster of micro-missiles from its shoulders, streaks of fire curving toward him.
Max's optics flashed. Silver nanotech rippled from his feet, climbing up the walls and ceiling. In seconds, the chamber reshaped itself—spikes of metal shot up, intercepting the missiles midair. Explosions rocked the room, but not one touched him.
V whistled low, crouched behind cover. "You're telling me that thing's smart? Looks like it's getting played like a toy."
The drone roared again, switching to close combat. Its heavy frame charged forward, servos screaming, one arm swinging like a hammer.
Max stepped into it.
The strike slammed down, shaking the ground—but Max caught it with one hand. Metal screamed as nanotech surged into the drone's arm, climbing fast, eating into its systems.
Lucy gasped. "He's overriding it—live—"
The drone's sensors flickered, its cannons swinging wildly as its own AI fought back against the intrusion. Sparks burst across its frame as two systems—Militech's and Eidolon's—clashed in the same body.
Max's voice carried like steel wrapped in thunder, Eidolon's echo burning through every word.
"You call this control? A weapon? No—this is a cage. And cages shatter when they meet me."
The drone convulsed once, then fell silent—its cannons drooping, its red eyes snuffed out like dying coals.
Max shoved it aside, the weight of it crashing to the floor with the sound of failure.
The chamber held its breath. Dust floated. The distant rumble of reinforcements stirred the air.
Max stood tall, gaze cold, unshaken.
"They really think a toy like this can defeat me?"
***
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