The room fell silent.
Then—
The table groaned.
Metal bent.
Bolts snapped.
The entire chamber trembled as the giant slowly rose from it.
Rumbler.
Half man.
Half machine.
His body looked less like a living creature and more like a weapon forged for war itself. Layers of reinforced metal covered his flesh. Massive cables ran across his frame like veins. White steam hissed from vents along his shoulders.
He kept rising.
And rising.
Until everyone in the room seemed insignificant beneath him.
Long white hair cascaded down his back.
A thick white mustache framed his face.
A monument of muscle and steel.
No one spoke.
No one dared.
Even the battle raging throughout the fortress felt distant in his presence.
Atrunt stared at him.
His heart sank.
Years of planning.
Years of sacrifices.
Years of preparation.
All slipping through his fingers.
And there was nothing he could do to stop it.
A deep mechanical breath escaped Rumbler's body.
His chest expanded.
Steam poured from his frame.
Then—
His eyes opened.
Pure white.
Empty.
No humanity.
Just power.
Raw.
Unforgiving.
For a brief moment, it felt as if the entire world held its breath.
Then Rumbler looked upward.
And roared.
The fortress exploded with sound.
Walls cracked instantly.
Windows shattered.
Machines sparked.
The mountain itself shook beneath his voice.
The roar traveled through every corridor.
Every laboratory.
Every battlefield.
Everyone heard it.
Nury.
The Red Moon.
The Ancient soldiers.
For a single moment, the fighting stopped.
Weapons lowered.
Eyes widened.
Even the alarms seemed insignificant beneath that monstrous sound.
Levi looked up at him.
And smiled.
Not with relief.
Not with satisfaction.
With excitement.
Pure excitement.
The kind of smile one wears before watching the world burn.
"Let's go wild."
Rumbler lowered himself.
The floor beneath his feet began to collapse.
Cracks spread across the chamber like spiderwebs.
The air itself seemed to tighten.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!
He launched upward.
The explosion of force was catastrophic.
The floor vanished beneath him.
The ceiling detonated.
Steel beams twisted apart.
Rock shattered into dust.
The shockwave threw Atrunt across the room and sent machinery crashing into the walls.
Floor after floor disappeared as Rumbler tore through the mountain.
Like a living missile.
Like a god breaking free from a prison.
Light suddenly erupted into the darkness.
The mountain burst open.
And Rumbler emerged from it.
Far above.
A colossal figure rising from stone and smoke.
Levi laughed.
A low, delighted laugh.
"Let's go, Kayo."
Without waiting for an answer, he sprinted toward the destruction.
Kayo followed.
Behind them, the Ancient fortress continued to shake.
Its downfall no longer a possibility.
But a certainty.
Because Rumbler had awakened.
And disaster had finally been set loose.
"It's... it's not over yet..."
Ninax sat on the floor with both hands over her head. Her breathing was uneven, her entire body trembling.
"We're doomed."
She looked toward the shattered chamber doors.
"He'll doom us all."
Atrunt watched her in disbelief.
Then he forced himself to his feet and staggered toward the control panel.
"No."
His fingers moved frantically across the console.
"No, he won't. I'll override Rumbler's programming. We still have control over the operation. We can—"
"It won't work."
Ninax cut him off immediately.
Atrunt froze.
Slowly, he turned toward her.
Ninax looked up, panic written across her face.
"He made me remove the command program. There's nothing left binding Rumbler to commands. No safeguards nor restrictions."
"No chains holding him back."
Her voice cracked.
"This is exactly what he wanted."
A pause.
"A pure wild animal."
Silence settled over the chamber.
Atrunt stared at the inactive console.
No overrides.
No emergency protocols.
No way to regain control.
Then he understood.
Levi never wanted a weapon.
He wanted a disaster.
A chill crawled down Atrunt's spine.
"What is he planning to do?"
—
Welcome Banquet.
Almost two hours earlier.
Inside the kitchen.
"There it is."
Levi suddenly grinned.
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I got it."
Kayo frowned.
"You got what exactly?"
He asked.
"The answer."
Levi leaned against the counter.
"The way forward."
Ninax crossed her arms.
"What answer?"
Levi looked at her.
Then he smiled.
"I'll bring him here."
Kayo exchanged a glance with Ninax.
"Bring who?"
Levi's grin widened.
"Ragnor."
The room went silent.
Ninax stared at him.
Kayo blinked twice, wondering if he had heard correctly.
"What?"
Ninax took a step forward.
"Why would you want to do that? Do you understand what that could cause?"
Her voice rose with concern.
"You'd be provoking an Archangel on foreign soil. That could create an international incident. I don't believe a war is something the Red Moon is looking for, and it's definitely not in anyone's best interest."
Levi shrugged.
"Oh, it is."
The certainty in his voice made both of them pause.
Levi pushed himself off the counter and began pacing around the kitchen.
"An Earthling Fighter going rogue in foreign territory won't just anger people. It'll force the hands of politicians, military leaders, and every major authority on both planets."
He looked toward the ceiling.
"Once catastrophe begins, everyone will be forced to respond. Earth, Nitchtron, and every planet with something to lose."
A smile slowly spread across his face.
"And then comes the best part."
Kayo narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
A pause.
Then he answered.
"Chaos."
Levi stopped walking.
"In the middle of chaos, people make mistakes. Their Leaders, their nations. Everybody becomes reactive instead of rational."
His smile deepened.
"A troubled enemy is easier to exploit than a stable one."
Ninax stared at him as if he had lost his mind.
"You're insane."
"If you do this, we'll be the center of attention. Why would they go to war with each other when we're the ones responsible?"
"Because people are judgemental.."
Levi answered immediately.
The room fell quiet.
He looked directly into her eyes.
"You think people only blame individuals?"
"History says otherwise."
He stepped forward.
"If someone gets mauled by a lion, they don't spend the rest of their life fearing one lion. They learn to fear all lions."
"If they're robbed by a Nitchtronian, they don't just distrust the thief. They start distrusting all Nitchtronians."
"If someone they love is taken from them by a Demon..."
His smile disappeared.
"They learn to hate all Demons."
Neither Kayo nor Ninax spoke.
Levi continued.
"People don't hold grudges against individuals forever. Those grudges spread. They become resentment toward groups. Toward nations. Toward races. Sometimes toward entire worlds."
His voice lowered.
"Mourning becomes grief. Grief becomes rage. Rage becomes resentment. Resentment becomes hatred."
A pause.
"And hatred is the seed from which every war grows."
The room remained silent.
Kayo thought about it for several seconds before finally speaking.
"And what if Ragnor wins?"
Levi looked at him.
"What if we can't kill him?"
For a moment, Levi's grin vanished.
Only certainty remained.
"We don't need to beat him."
Kayo frowned.
Levi's smile slowly returned.
"We only need to survive."
Then he delivered the conclusion that would haunt Ninax long after this conversation ended.
"The disarray that follows..."
His eyes gleamed.
"That's our victory."
—
Present.
The cargo depot had become a graveyard of molten steel.
Walls dripped like candle wax. Destroyed tanks lay twisted beyond recognition. Aircraft wreckage smoldered across the platform, while the remains of countless security robots littered the floor.
At the center of it all stood Nury.
The flames surrounding her body had faded, leaving only heat waves dancing through the air.
She glanced toward the fortress.
"I suppose I should head back."
Her voice was calm.
As if she had merely finished a chore.
The battle was still raging throughout the Ancient stronghold. Gunfire echoed in the distance. Explosions shook the mountain.
The others would need her.
Nury took a step forward.
Then stopped.
Her body froze.
A strange weakness spread through her limbs.
Her knees buckled.
Thud.
She dropped to one knee.
Confusion appeared on her face.
Her muscles refused to respond properly.
"What...?"
Nury tried to stand.
Her legs trembled.
Wouldn't move.
Her vision shifted upward.
Something yellow floated through the air.
Dust.
Tiny glowing particles drifted around the cargo depot like golden pollen.
More.
And more.
Nury's eyes narrowed.
She followed the trail.
Searching for its source.
Then she found him.
Standing above one of the cargo exits.
Watching.
Geyko.
His expression was filled with frustration and resentment.
"Breathe it in, human."
His voice echoed through the depot.
"Right now, you're the biggest threat we have."
Nury immediately understood.
Not poison.
Not gas.
Something specifically designed for her.
She attempted to rise again.
Her body trembled violently.
Still refusing to obey.
Geyko walked toward a nearby control panel mounted on the wall.
His fingers moved across the controls.
"Honestly, I don't care if the others win or lose anymore."
His eyes locked onto hers.
"But if I can get rid of you..."
A bitter smile formed on his face.
"Then maybe this battle isn't completely lost."
Warning lights suddenly illuminated the depot.
Red.
Flashing.
Violent alarms filled the chamber.
Nury's eyes widened slightly.
A deep metallic groan echoed beneath the platform.
The entire cargo depot began shaking.
Then the impossible happened.
Massive locking mechanisms disengaged from the mountain.
One after another.
CLANK.
CLANK.
CLANK.
The structure separated from the fortress.
Emergency thrusters unfolded beneath the cargo platform.
Engines the size of buildings ignited.
The entire depot lurched violently.
Nury looked toward the fortress.
The distance between them was already growing.
Geyko laughed.
A desperate laugh.
The kind that came from someone with nothing left to lose.
"Hope you rot in space."
The engines erupted.
Fire blasted from beneath the detached structure.
The cargo depot launched upward.
Higher and higher.
Leaving the mountain behind.
Leaving the battlefield behind.
Carrying the Fifth Blade away from the brawl.
For the first time since the battle began, the Ancients had managed to gain an advantage.
And somewhere inside the ascending depot, Nury remained on one knee.
Watching the planet slowly fall away beneath her.