The Iron Sovereign was no longer the gleaming fortress that had rolled out of Station Zero. It was a scarred, blackened beast of war.
Its hull was scorched by the breath of the Magma-Sharks. Its treads were welded shut, replaced by the humming blue repulsor field of the Geothermal Core. And mounted on its main turret, looking like a telescope made of glass and frost, was the Cryo-Cannon.
"Weapon alignment complete," Scrap-Jack announced from the bridge, wiping soot from his forehead. "The liquid helium tanks are pressurized. We have three shots. After that, the barrel cracks from thermal stress."
"Three shots," Varian repeated, standing on the observation deck. "To kill a god."
He looked out at the Magma Sea.
The currents had changed. As they approached the Obsidian Island, the churning liquid fire slowed. It thickened.
The heat was being sucked out of the environment.
Around the island, the lava had cooled into a crust—a jagged, semi-solid shelf of black rock floating on the magma. It looked like a broken jigsaw puzzle of tectonic plates.
"We can't fly over the island," The Architect warned, studying the energy readings. "The thermal density around the crater creates a magnetic vortex. If we take the ship too high, the repulsor engine will stall, and we'll drop like a stone."
"Then we drive," Varian said. "Set us down on the crust. We approach on treads."
"On the crust?" Gorgon asked, looking at the thin layer of black rock separating them from the molten death below. "It looks brittle."
"It is," Varian said. "So we drive fast."
The Iron Sovereign lowered. The repulsor hum faded, replaced by the crunch of heavy treads hitting volcanic glass.
CRACK-CRUNCH.
The ship groaned. The crust held, but spiderweb fractures spread out from the tracks with every meter they advanced.
"Full speed," Varian ordered. "Don't stop for anything."
They raced across the black wasteland. The Obsidian Island loomed ahead, a mountain of jagged shards rising two kilometers into the smoky sky.
At the base of the mountain stood a gate—two massive pillars of natural basalt.
And standing between them was a statue.
It was thirty meters tall. A humanoid figure made of cooling magma and obsidian. Its eyes were pits of white fire. It held a greatsword made of a single, solidified lava flow.
"Statue?" Rix squeaked from the crow's nest. "Statue is breathing smoke!"
As the Sovereign approached, the 'statue' moved. Rock ground against rock. Dust fell from its shoulders.
It stepped forward, blocking the path.
[Legendary Encounter.][Subject: Magma-Golem (Ancient).][Rank: Emperor (Low-Tier).][Role: The King's Guard.]
"An Emperor," Silas whispered, gripping his cane. "Just standing guard like a lawn ornament. What kind of monster has an Emperor as a pet?"
The Golem raised its massive sword. It swung.
"Jack! Hard port!" Varian screamed.
The Sovereign swerved.
BOOOOM.
The sword slammed into the crust where the ship had been a second ago. The impact shattered the rock shelf. A geyser of lava erupted from the fracture, spraying the side of the ship.
"We can't fight that with the ship!" Scrap-Jack yelled. "Our guns will just chip the paint! It's solid rock!"
"I'll handle it," Gorgon said.
He stepped onto the loading ramp.
The Crimson Paladin armor was glowing. But it wasn't the violent, blinding flare of the Berserker rage. It was a steady, rhythmic pulse, like a heartbeat.
"Gorgon," Varian warned. "Don't let it drive."
Gorgon looked at his red gauntlets.
"We came to an understanding," Gorgon rumbled. "It wants to break things. I want to save you. As long as we are breaking the things that want to kill you... we get along fine."
Gorgon jumped.
He didn't land on the ground. He landed on the Golem's sword arm.
Compared to the thirty-meter giant, Gorgon was a speck. But he was a speck with the density of a neutron star.
"Break!" Gorgon roared.
He slammed his engine-block hammer into the Golem's elbow joint.
CRACK.
The obsidian shattered. The Golem's arm detached, falling into the lava with a splash.
The Golem didn't scream. It was silent. It swung its other fist—a boulder the size of a house.
Gorgon didn't dodge. He caught the punch.
He braced his feet against the Golem's chest. The Crimson Armor flared, pumping infinite kinetic energy into his muscles.
"You think you're heavy?" Gorgon strained, the stone of his own skin groaning. "I'm carrying the weight of a planet!"
Gorgon lifted.
He threw the Golem's fist upward, unbalancing the giant.
The Golem stumbled back. Its heel caught the edge of the shattered crust.
"Go for a swim!"
Gorgon leaped. He drop-kicked the Golem in the chest.
CRASH.
The massive stone guardian fell backward. It crashed through the thin crust of the island shelf and plunged into the Magma Sea below.
It sank instantly, too heavy to swim. Bubbles of escaping gas were the only sign it had ever existed.
Gorgon landed on the edge of the crater, panting. He gave a thumbs up.
"Clear," he wheezed.
The Iron Sovereign roared past him, driving up the slope of the volcano.
They reached the rim of the crater.
The ship stopped.
Varian, Silas, and Lady Venom stood on the bridge deck.
They looked down.
The crater was five kilometers wide. It wasn't filled with lava. It was filled with Bone.
The floor of the crater was a graveyard. Massive skeletons of Tunnel-Wurms, Behemoths, and other Apex Predators lay scattered like toys.
And in the center of the boneyard lay the King.
It wasn't a dragon from a fairy tale. It didn't have gold scales or a hoard of coins.
It was a biological reactor.
It was a Salamander-Type. Massive—easily three hundred meters long. Its body was flat and wide, covered in black plates that looked like tectonic shields. Along its back, a row of dorsal vents smoked gently, releasing heat. It had six legs, each ending in claws that could rip a mountain apart.
It was sleeping.
But even in sleep, it was terrifying. The air above it rippled with heat distortion.
[Divine Encounter.][Subject: The Dragon King (Ignis).][Rank: Monarch (Peak).][Attribute: Thermal Absorption / Plasma Generation.][Status: Hibernating.]
"It's eating the heat," Varian whispered, watching the air shimmer. "It's sucking the thermal energy out of the air to fuel its metabolism."
"Look at its chest," Venom pointed.
Embedded in the center of the Dragon's chest, between the heavy armor plates, was a glowing red orb.
It wasn't a heart. It was a mechanical device. Ancient. Pre-War.
[Target Identified: The Heart Key.][Energy Signature: Infinite.]
"That's it," Silas said, his hand trembling slightly on his cane. "The Key to the Zero Point. It's... fused to him."
"We have to cut it out," Varian said. "Scrap-Jack! Target the chest! Prime the Cryo-Cannon!"
The main turret of the Sovereign rotated. The glass barrel hummed as liquid helium cycled through the chambers.
"Target locked!" Scrap-Jack announced. "Firing in 3... 2..."
The Dragon's eye opened.
It was a vertical slit of pure, blinding yellow magma.
It didn't roar. It moved faster than something that size should be able to move.
It stood up.
"WHO DARKEN MY DOORSTEP?"
The voice wasn't sound. It was a telepathic shockwave that hit them like a physical blow.
"FIRE!" Varian screamed.
THOOM.
The Cryo-Cannon fired.
A beam of absolute zero blue energy shot across the crater. It hit the Dragon's chest, right on the Heart Key.
CRACKLE.
Ice exploded. A massive glacier formed on the Dragon's chest instantly, freezing the magma-flesh, sealing the Key in a block of blue diamond ice.
The Dragon looked down at its frozen chest. It looked confused.
Then, it looked at the tiny metal ship on the crater rim.
It opened its mouth.
The air in the crater vanished, sucked into its maw to fuel the combustion.
[Warning: Plasma Event Imminent.]
"EVASIVE!" Varian yelled.
The Dragon breathed.
It wasn't fire. It was a beam of concentrated, purple-white plasma. The temperature was hotter than the surface of the sun.
The beam slashed across the crater rim.
Scrap-Jack slammed the Sovereign into reverse.
The plasma beam missed the bridge by meters. But it clipped the front of the ship—the boring drill.
The massive steel drill didn't melt. It vaporized. One second it was there; the next, it was gone, leaving only a glowing, cauterized stump on the front of the ship.
The Sovereign was thrown backward by the thermal shockwave, tumbling down the outer slope of the volcano.
CRASH-BANG-CRUNCH.
The ship rolled. Inside, soldiers were thrown against the walls. Alarms screamed.
The ship came to rest upside down at the base of the slope.
Varian crawled out of the shattered bridge window. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. His Abyssal Armor flickered, trying to stabilize.
"Sound off!" Varian coughed.
"Alive!" Gorgon roared, punching his way out of the hull. "But the ship is dead! The axle is snapped!"
"The Cryo-Cannon?"
"Gone," Scrap-Jack's voice came from the wreckage. "Crushed."
Varian looked up at the crater rim.
The Dragon King stepped over the edge. It looked down at them. The ice on its chest was already cracking, melting under the beast's internal heat.
It charged its breath again.
"We have one shot," Varian realized. "It has to cool down before it fires. It's sucking in air."
He looked at the Sun-Piercer in his hand.
"Gorgon. Throw me."
"Again?" Gorgon asked, wiping blood from his stone face. "You want to fly into that?"
"I don't want to fly at it," Varian said, his eyes glowing violet. "I want to fly into it."
"Into it?"
"The scales are too thick," Varian said rapidly. "The only soft spot is the inside. I have to get past the teeth before it fires."
"It's suicide," Venom said, crawling out of the wreck.
"It's the only way."
Varian activated the Abyssal Armor. The helmet sealed.
"Hydra Heart... give me everything."
The green light in his chest flared.
Gorgon grabbed Varian. He spun, building momentum.
"Aim for the throat!" Gorgon roared.
He launched Varian.
Varian flew. He broke the sound barrier.
The Dragon opened its mouth to fire. The purple light of the plasma was building in its throat.
Varian flew straight into the light.
He dove into the maw of the King.
[Entering High-Thermal Zone.][Temperature: 5,000°C.][Armor Integrity: Falling.]
Varian didn't stop. He flew past the rows of teeth. He flew past the tongue.
He saw the Glottis—the opening to the lung-furnace. The source of the plasma.
"Eat this!"
Varian reversed his grip on the Sun-Piercer.
[Catalyst: Void-Core.]
He drove the spear into the soft tissue of the Dragon's inner throat.
He didn't slash. He released the Void.
[Ability: Black Hole Singularity.]
A sphere of darkness expanded inside the Dragon's throat. It sucked in the heat. It sucked in the plasma. It sucked in the air.
The Dragon choked.
The plasma beam it was about to fire had nowhere to go. The exit was blocked by a black hole.
The energy backfired.
BOOOM.
An explosion rocked the Dragon from the inside. Smoke poured from its nostrils and ears.
The massive beast collapsed, gagging, its internal organs ruptured by its own power.
Varian was thrown out of the mouth by the cough, coated in glowing blue dragon blood. He landed in the ash of the crater, rolling to a stop.
The Dragon lay still. Its chest heaved weakly.
The ice on its chest shattered completely.
The Heart Key was exposed.
Varian stood up, staggering. He walked toward the dying King.
"I told you," Varian whispered to the silence. "I'm a parasite."
He raised the spear to claim the Key.
But the Dragon's eye opened one last time. It looked at Varian.
And it laughed.
A low, gurgling rumble.
[YOU THINK... YOU HAVE WON?] the telepathic voice faded. [YOU HAVE ONLY... RUNG THE BELL.]
The Dragon died.
And as its heart stopped, the Key didn't fall out.
It began to beep.
[SIGNAL DETECTED.][KEY 3 ACTIVATED.][ALERTING KEY 1 AND KEY 2.][TRIANGULATION COMPLETE.]
Varian froze.
The Key wasn't just a lock. It was a beacon. By activating it (or killing the host), he had just told the Church and the Union exactly where he was.
And he had told them he had the third piece of the puzzle.
High above, in the Celestial Spire, a light turned green. In the Industrial Belt, the engines of the Bio-Emperor's Fortress roared to life.
The race for the Zero Point had just entered the final lap.