The red alarm light splattered across the metal walls like fresh blood.
Rein dashed along the shadow of mechanical pipes, the four energies inside him maintaining a delicate balance — his Life Sense expanding to the limit, his Concealment blurring his outline, and his Dragon Blood boiling beneath his muscles, ready to unleash. Behind him, Ironbeard's mechanical eye constantly scanned the patrol's movements; with each step the old dwarf took, the Deeprock family emblem on his warhammer flickered, as if resonating with something deep underground.
"That thing's reaction is off," Ravenna mumbled, biting her bandaged stump, "Can a dwarf's emblem control mechanical guards?"
"No control," Ironbeard's one eye fixed on the runes flickering on his hammer, "It awakens — when the Deeprock clan first helped build this mechanical prison, they left a backdoor program."
Before the words finished, the nearest three mechanical guards suddenly stiffened, steam hissing from their armor joints as the crow-and-gear emblem on their chests cracked open, revealing spinning Deeprock family glyphs inside. Then —
"Clear command override."
Amid mechanical roars, the three-meter-tall steel monsters turned their energy cannons on their former comrades!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blue-white magical beams crisscrossed the factory, and the struck guards exploded into showers of gears. Rein seized the chance to scoop up the infant and sprint toward the metallic ancient tree. Peering through its heavy shell, he saw the silver-gray primordial substance flowing within — the imprisoned consciousness of a Watcher struggling in agony.
"Ravenna!" Rein formed a hand sign with one hand; the Frost Path froze a temporary bridge over the boiling leyline fluid. "Disrupt the control panel!"
"You think I'm an octopus?" Ravenna cursed as she leapt from cover, drawing her dagger with her remaining left hand, clenching the blade between her teeth. She rolled to dodge the sweeping laser blasts, then her stump suddenly glowed with purple-gold patterns — the Alchemical Simulacrum condensed into a semi-transparent energy arm, grasping a dangling magic array!
A sizzling sound rang out as Ravenna swung toward the central console like an ape, tossing alchemical bombs behind her. Before the smoke cleared, her energy arm plunged into the main interface, purple-gold patterns spreading like a virus along the circuits.
"Found you, parasites." She fixed her gaze on the twelve faces appearing on the console — the very consciousnesses of the city lords linked to the ancient tree.
The eldest among them suddenly opened his mechanical eye. "Despicable thief, you have no idea what you're interfering with!"
"Funny you say that." Ravenna grinned, blood staining her teeth. "My motto in life — anything that hides in darkness deserves to be blown to hell."
She twisted her energy arm fiercely, unleashing Matrix Overload!
The outer shell of the metallic ancient tree began to crack.
Rein pressed his palm against a fissure in the trunk, desperately channeling magic. Using [Life Resonance], he tried to awaken the Watcher; with [Elven Whisper], he soothed its pain; while the [Dragon Blood Brand] fought against the alchemical seals on the outer shell.
Suddenly, the lock-shaped mark on the infant's chest flashed violently. The black light stretched out like tendrils, piercing the crack. Unexpectedly, a response came from inside the metallic ancient tree — a cold mechanical consciousness flowed backward along the black light into the infant's body!
"No!" Rein's vertical pupil contracted sharply. "This isn't a natural Watcher — it's a replicated consciousness of the ancient tree!"
Ironbeard smashed the last hostile mechanical guard with his warhammer and turned sharply at Rein's words: "The Council replaced the ancient tree's consciousness?"
"Worse than that." Rein's emerald left eye revealed the truth: "They're simulating the Watcher's fluctuations using alchemy, mass-producing false gods!"
As if confirming his words, the entire underground factory shook violently. Six giant mechanical arms descended from the ceiling, violently tearing apart the outer shell of the metallic ancient tree. As plates of armor peeled away, what was revealed was not the expected silver-gray bark, but —
A fusion of gears and flesh.
Thick hydraulic pipes pulsated like veins; pistons moved rhythmically, mimicking breathing. Embedded at the center of the trunk was a massive crystal heart that pumped a large amount of dark green fluid with each beat. Even more nauseating, countless tiny human faces floated inside the fluid — the souls of various races that had been devoured!
"Gods above…" Ironbeard's mechanical eye sparked from overload. "They made a mechanical false god!"
Suddenly, a scream of pain came from the direction of the control panel. Rein turned to see Ravenna, her energy arm pierced by beams from the twelve city lords' consciousnesses. The purple-gold patterns on her arm were being eroded backward by some black substance. More terrifyingly, three [Shadowforge Hunters]were rising from the shadows behind her — these were mechanical creatures specially made by the Abyssal Council, with liquid bodies designed to hunt mages.
Rein instantly activated "Triple Shadowstep", his body splitting and reforming in emerald, gold, and dark red light. In a blink, he crossed thirty meters. The Frostblade sliced through the air, and the "Winter's Judgment" ice storm froze one hunter into an ice sculpture. But the other two pounced on Ravenna's back!
At the critical moment, Ironbeard's warhammer whistled through the air. The old dwarf roared, activating "Forge's Wrath". Ancient runes on the hammerhead all lit up; one strike smashed the hunter on the left into a metal pancake, but the one on the right —
The infant suddenly opened his eyes.
No longer human pupils, but two tiny gears turning, radiating piercing golden light. His small palm aimed at the hunter and unleashed the most complete skill since awakening:
"Divine Corrosion Command: Nullify."
The hunter's liquid metal body instantly solidified, then twisted and deformed as if kneaded by an invisible hand, finally compressed into a black cube that fell to the ground with a clink.
The twelve city lords' consciousnesses at the control panel screamed simultaneously, their projections flickering unstably. Ravenna seized the opportunity to withdraw her energy arm, performing a backflip to land beside Rein. "The little bastard finally unleashed his ultimate!"
"The cost is that his seal is breaking down faster." Rein stared at the skull mark on the infant's chest, now enlarged to the size of a fist. The black light inside grew denser. Even worse, the mechanical ancient tree's crystal heart suddenly turned toward them, pumping dark green liquid that condensed in the air into countless needle-like crystals!
Ironbeard slammed his warhammer heavily on the ground. The [Rune Barrier] shield had just risen when the needle rain struck. The emerald shield was corroded with countless holes; a crystal pierced the old dwarf's shoulder, instantly paralyzing half his body.
"Control the toxin!" He knelt on one knee. "Don't tank it head-on!"
The mechanical ancient tree emitted a deafening roar. Six mechanical arms smashed down simultaneously, and the entire underground factory began to transform. The walls sprouted countless cannon barrels; the ground cracked open, revealing pools of magma; and the ceiling lowered a cage made of soul crystals —
They were being buried alive inside a mechanical tomb.
Rein's four energies reached an unprecedented harmony in this desperate moment.
Emerald-colored patterns spread from his left eye down to his left arm, transforming into the [Life Weaving]vine armor;
Silver-blue light enveloped his right half, forming the [Moonshadow Battle Garb's] apparition;
Meanwhile, golden and dark red energies intertwined on the Frostblade, solidifying into the serrated blade of [Dragon Fang Thrust].
He charged forward through the hail of needles, each swing precisely shattering three crystals, but more attacks came from the flanks—
Until Ravenna's purple-gold energy arm suddenly expanded.
"Dodge!" She aimed her severed arm at Rein. The purple-gold beam of [Alchemical Martyrdom Explosion] slashed across the battlefield, vaporizing crystals wherever it struck.
This assist opened a path straight to the mechanical ancient tree for Rein, but the price was that her newly formed energy arm was completely shattered, and she collapsed, coughing up blood from the backlash.
Ironbeard struggled to stand and hurled his warhammer at the crystal heart.
"Ancestors of Deeprock, grant me this final strike!"
The hammerhead disintegrated mid-flight, revealing the [Cursebreaking Core] hidden inside for centuries—
A crystal inscribed with godslaying runes.
The moment it struck the heart, the entire mechanical ancient tree emitted a howl unlike metal, its six mechanical arms spasming and smashing outward.
Rein seized this fatal gap; the Frostblade, charged with triple energy, pierced the crystal heart!
"Liberation: Frost of the End!"
Emerald flared at the sword's tip, turning into [Life Bloom's ]thorns that wrapped the trunk;
Silver-blue spread along the cracks, forming [Elven Requiem's ]sealing array; Dark red invaded like a virus, activating [Dragon Blood Corruption's] reverse erosion.
The metallic ancient tree's outer shell peeled away in large sections, revealing the frantically spinning gears inside.
Just as victory seemed within reach, the infant suddenly emitted a heart-wrenching scream—
The skull mark fully opened, black light gushed forth like a flood, but instead of attacking anyone, it wrapped around the mechanical ancient tree!
"He's absorbing the mechanical consciousness!" Rein tried to approach but was repelled by the black light.
More terrifyingly, the devoured souls' faces surfaced from the black light, each repeating the same phrase:
"The vessel will be full…"
The underground factory suddenly plunged into absolute darkness.
When vision returned, the mechanical ancient tree had vanished without a trace, leaving only the infant suspended midair.
The skull on his chest had transformed into a bottomless vortex, metallic sheen flowing beneath his skin.
When he opened his eyes, his right eye was the original golden gear pupil, but his left eye had become the dark green crystal eye of the mechanical ancient tree!
"Rei…n…" The infant's mouth emitted dual tones, both childlike innocence and cold mechanical synthesis.
"Gather… all twelve… or else…"
His body suddenly convulsed and fell from the air.
Rein leapt to catch him, noticing the skull mark had shrunk again but now had a ring of gear patterns at the edge.
The entire factory began to collapse.
"Go!" Ironbeard hoisted the unconscious Ravenna. "The leyline is about to explode!"
Rein sprinted toward the emergency passage, holding the mutated infant.
Behind them came the city lords' consciousnesses' final curse:
"You've unleashed it… The Devourer will find the key…"
As the three plunged into the leyline tributary, a cataclysmic explosion thundered beneath the Glass City.
What they did not see was—
The mechanical raven statue atop the spire slowly turned its head.