Chapter 24: The Echo of the Old Gods
Location: The Sovereign's Spire – The Terrace
The housewarming party was in full swing.
The Jiang Clan's elite chefs had come through the portal, setting up a buffet that spanned the entire length of the castle terrace. The aroma of roasted dinosaur meat, spiced with S-Rank herbs, filled the air.
Jiang Wu was holding a beer keg in one hand, laughing as he arm-wrestled a mining drone (and winning effortlessly). Lin Xi was elegantly sipping wine while freezing the air around her to keep the drinks cold.
Feng Xi sat atop a pile of grilled meat bones, looking satisfied. "Husband! This planet is delicious! Can we eat the blue whales next?"
"Maybe later," Jiang Chen leaned against the railing, watching the sunset. The twin moons of Terra Nova were rising, casting long shadows over the jungle.
Mo You stood beside him, her gaze fixed on the southern horizon. She hadn't touched the food.
"Something is wrong," Mo You whispered.
"The wind changed," Jiang Chen nodded, his eyes glowing faintly purple. "The mana density... it just spiked. It feels metallic."
WEE-OOO WEE-OOO.
The Citadel's alarm system screamed. The silver walls flashed red.
[System Alert!]
[High-Velocity Objects Detected.]
[Origin: South Pole.]
[Count: 500.]
[Speed: Mach 20.]
"Mach 20?" Jiang Wu dropped the beer keg. "That's hypersonic. Native fauna?"
"No," Jiang Chen zoomed in with his Grandmist Perception.
Through the holographic display, they saw them.
They weren't birds. They were machines.
Sleek, angular constructs made of a white metal that pulsed with violet veins. They looked like knights fused with fighter jets. They flew in perfect formation, silent and deadly.
[Enemy Identified: The Custodians]
[Rank: SS-Rank (Automaton)]
[Faction: Pre-Creation Era]
"Ancient tech," Jiang Chen realized. "The awakening of the Spire must have triggered a defense protocol."
"Five hundred SS-Rank machines?" Lin Xi stood up, ice forming daggers in her hands. "That's enough firepower to glass a continent. Do we retreat to Earth?"
"No," Jiang Chen drew Nightfall. "This is my planet. I don't run from my own property."
He jumped onto the ramparts.
"Tiny! Wake up!"
Below the wall, the massive Terra King Kong (Gatekeeper) woke up from his nap. He saw the incoming swarm and roared, beating his chest.
"Tiny, catch!" Jiang Chen shouted.
"RRAAGH!"
The Behemoth leaped into the air. Despite his size, he moved with explosive speed. He snatched the lead Automaton out of the sky like a fly.
CRUNCH.
Tiny crushed the machine in his fist.
But the machine didn't die.
BEEP.
[Protocol: Self-Destruct.]
BOOM.
A miniature nuclear explosion engulfed Tiny's hand. The Behemoth howled in pain, falling back into the jungle, his massive hand scorched and bleeding.
"They self-destruct?" Feng Xi gasped. "That's cheating!"
The swarm didn't stop. They split into two groups. One group dove toward the castle shields. The other circled around, aiming their weapons—cannons glowing with purple energy.
[Warning: Origin Beam Detected.]
"Shields up!" Jiang Chen commanded.
He slammed his hand onto the rampart. The Grandmist Barrier flared to maximum power.
ZAP. ZAP. ZAP.
Hundreds of purple beams slammed into the barrier. The castle shook violently. The silver dome rippled, cracks appearing on the surface.
"They are using Grandmist energy," Mo You hissed, her daggers drawn. "Diluted, but real. That is why they can pierce the shield. They operate on the same frequency as you, Husband."
"Then let's change the frequency," Jiang Chen snarled.
"Dad! Mom! Protect the portal! Don't let them reach Earth!"
"Consider it done!" Jiang Wu launched himself into the sky, his golden EX-Rank aura flaring like a second sun. He punched the air, creating shockwaves that shattered the incoming drones by the dozen.
"Mo You, Feng Xi, with me!"
Jiang Chen deactivated a section of the shield and flew out.
Aerial Combat Zone
Jiang Chen was a blur of motion.
He didn't use sword techniques. He used the Chaos Sutra.
He flew straight at a formation of five Automatons. They fired their beams. Jiang Chen didn't dodge. He opened his left hand.
"Devour."
A vortex formed in his palm. The incoming energy beams were sucked into the vortex, broken down, and absorbed into his body.
"Thanks for the recharge," Jiang Chen grinned.
He slashed with Nightfall.
SHING.
The black blade, infused with the absorbed energy, cut through the white metal like butter. Five machines were sliced in half instantly.
"Burn them!" Feng Xi screamed, flying above him in her Phoenix form. She rained down Solar Flares, melting the machines' armor.
"Disconnect them!" Mo You shadow-stepped between the drones, severing their heads with surgical precision.
But for every machine they destroyed, two more took its place. And from the South, a larger signal was approaching.
A massive, flying fortress. It looked like a floating pyramid made of the same white metal.
[Boss Detected: The High Praetor]
[Rank: Peak SS (Guardian Commander)]
The Pyramid stopped above the castle. A figure descended from it.
It was a humanoid robot, three meters tall, wearing a cape made of energy. It wielded a spear that crackled with pure, undiluted Grandmist Lightning.
It hovered in front of Jiang Chen. Its single red eye scanned him.
"TARGET... ANALYZED."
The mechanical voice boomed across the sky.
"GENETIC MATCH: 99.9%."
"SOUL WAVELENGTH: MATCH."
"DESIGNATION: HEIR."
The Praetor raised its spear.
"PROTOCOL: THE TRIAL OF BLOOD."
"PROVE... YOUR... WORTH."
It lunged.
The speed was instantaneous. Even with Grandmist Perception, Jiang Chen barely reacted.
CLANG.
Jiang Chen blocked the spear with Nightfall, but the force knocked him out of the sky. He crashed into the jungle below, carving a trench through the trees.
"Husband!" Mo You screamed, diving after him.
The Praetor didn't let up. It fired a beam from its eye, chasing Jiang Chen into the dust cloud.
Jiang Chen rolled, dodging the beam which vaporized a hundred-meter section of the forest.
He stood up, spitting blood. His arms were numb.
"Peak SS-Rank," Jiang Chen panted. "Finally, a real fight."
The Praetor landed in front of him. It spun its spear.
"THE SOVEREIGN... MUST BE... ABSOLUTE."
It charged again.
Jiang Chen didn't block this time. He sheathed his sword.
He closed his eyes.
He recalled the image of the Giant in the library. The arrogance. The dominance.
The Praetor thrust its spear at Jiang Chen's heart.
Jiang Chen's eyes snapped open. They weren't just purple. They were White.
[Chaos Sutra: Second Stance.]
[Technique: The King's Command.]
Jiang Chen didn't move his body. He moved the concept of the space around him.
He reached out and grabbed the spear shaft.
The Praetor's momentum—enough to shatter a mountain—stopped instantly.
"ERROR," The machine buzzed. "KINETIC... FORCE... NULLIFIED."
"You call this a Trial?" Jiang Chen whispered. The air around him began to warp and crack.
He gripped the spear tighter.
CRACK.
The weapon, forged from ancient S-Rank alloy, shattered in his hand.
Jiang Chen stepped forward. He placed his palm on the Praetor's chest plate.
"I don't need to prove my worth to a machine," Jiang Chen said cold. "I am your Creator's legacy. I am your King."
"Kneel."
He released the full weight of his Trinity Soul.
BOOM.
The Praetor's knees buckled. The servos in its legs whined and sparked as they were forced down by the invisible pressure.
The massive machine crashed to its knees in the dirt.
Its red eye flickered.
"AUTHORITY... CONFIRMED."
"COMMAND... OVERRIDE... ACCEPTED."
The Praetor bowed its head.
"HAIL... THE NEW... SOVEREIGN."
Immediately, the hundreds of drones in the sky stopped fighting. They hovered in place, their red eyes turning green.
Jiang Wu, who was about to punch a drone into orbit, stopped mid-swing. "Huh? They gave up?"
Jiang Chen stood over the kneeling Praetor.
"Report," Jiang Chen commanded.
"WE ARE... THE CUSTODIANS," the Praetor intoned. "LEFT BY THE FIRST SOVEREIGN... TO GUARD THE ARCHIVES... UNTIL THE HEIR RETURNED."
"What Archives?"
The Praetor pointed South.
"THE SOUTH POLE... CONTAINS... THE LIBRARY OF ORIGIN."
"AND... THE WEAPON."
"Weapon?" Jiang Chen's interest spiked.
"THE GOD-KILLER. A SHIP... BUILT TO CROSS... THE VOID."
Jiang Chen looked at Mo You and Feng Xi, who had landed beside him.
"A Void Ship," Jiang Chen grinned. "Just what we needed for the invasion."
He patted the Praetor on the head.
"Good robot. Stand up. Go guard the castle. If anyone comes near it without my permission... vaporize them."
"COMMAND... ACCEPTED."
The Praetor stood up, its systems repairing themselves. It signaled the swarm. The 500 SS-Rank drones flew into formation around the Sovereign's Spire, establishing a new, impenetrable perimeter.
Jiang Chen flew back up to the terrace, where his parents were waiting.
"Well," Jiang Wu cracked open a new beer. "That was exciting. You have a robot army now?"
"And a spaceship, apparently," Jiang Chen wiped dust off his suit.
He looked South.
"Tomorrow, we go to the Pole. I want to see this God-Killer."
[System Notification]
[Territory Defense Updated: The Iron Legion (SS-Rank)]
[Security Level: Galactic Maximum]
[Current Status: Untouchable.]
Jiang Chen grabbed a dinosaur rib from the buffet.
"Okay," he took a bite. "Now, back to the party."