The Hollow Market was a hive of chaos. Alarms blared through the caverns as Draxen's warriors armed themselves, their guttural chants echoing like distant thunder.
Ceyra pulled Lyra and Kaelen aside. "Listen carefully—if we survive this, you'll learn something crucial about the Architect. But first, stay alive."
Lyra tightened her grip on her weapon. "What are we dealing with?"
"Not soldiers," Ceyra said grimly. "Predators."
The First Breach
A deafening crack split the air as the ceiling above ruptured. Liquid-metal tendrils slithered down like roots searching for prey. Then they solidified, forming the first wave of Automata Hunters—sleeker, faster, and more horrifying than before.
"Form up!" Draxen roared, slamming a massive warhammer into the ground. The impact sent an electromagnetic shockwave through the chamber, momentarily disrupting the Automata's forms. "Show them the fury of the forgotten!"
The battle ignited in a storm of sound and light.
Kaelen ducked under a slicing blade-arm, firing two plasma rounds into an Automata's core. It stumbled, but reformed instantly. "They're adapting!"
Lyra vaulted onto a railing, firing down at the attackers, when one of the machines suddenly changed shape, forming wings of serrated steel. It launched itself at her—only for Draxen to intercept it midair, crushing it with a single swing.
"Stay on your feet, little starfarer!" he bellowed.
The Betrayal
As the fighting raged, Lyra noticed Ceyra wasn't firing at the enemy—they were moving toward a console at the far end of the chamber.
"Ceyra!" she shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"
No answer. Ceyra's fingers danced across the interface, entering a code that made the entire chamber shudder. Suddenly, a hidden door yawned open behind the throne—a secret escape tunnel.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed. "You planned this."
Ceyra finally turned to them, expression unreadable. "The Architect knows we're here because I told them. But I didn't tell them about this tunnel. Move now, or you'll die here!"
Lyra's stomach churned. "Why should we trust you?"
"Because," Ceyra said calmly, "I'm the only reason you're still breathing."
Before they could respond, the largest Automata yet—a monstrous, spider-like war-form—dropped from the ceiling, smashing into the floor with earth-splitting force. Its many eyes glowed with that same crimson rune.
"Decision time," Ceyra hissed. "Stay and be slaughtered… or follow me to the truth."
Lyra glanced at Kaelen. His jaw tightened, but he nodded. "We follow. For now."
Draxen caught sight of them fleeing. Instead of stopping them, he gave a toothy grin and roared, "Go! End this storm for all of us!" before hurling himself at the spider-warform in a final, defiant charge.
As they vanished into the tunnel, the Hollow Market behind them erupted in a cataclysmic explosion of steel and fire.