The Throne Room was not a hall of gold and marble. It was a cold, silent vacuum of white glass and pulsing fiber-optic nerves. In the center sat the High-Archon, a figure wrapped in shimmering robes—but as Kane's Calamity-Born aura stripped away the illusions, the truth was revealed.
The Archon was a hollow shell of brass and silver, its head a rotating sphere of data-crystals.
[TARGET: THE ARCHON-UNIT (SYSTEM CORE)]
[RANK: 6 - PEAK STAGE (CONSTRUCT-TIER)]
[STATUS: PROCESSING REBELLION...]
"Identity confirmed: God-Feeder," the Archon spoke, its voice a thousand synchronized frequencies. "Your deviation has exceeded acceptable parameters. Initializing Realm-Purge."
"Sully, get the Legion back to the elevators!" Kane roared. "Vance, Doc—on me! We don't have time to dismantle this thing piece by piece!"
The Archon didn't use a sword. It used Reality. The floor beneath Kane turned into a liquid-void, while the ceiling began to compress with the weight of a dying star.
[WARNING: DIMENSIONAL COMPRESSION ACTIVE]
[VITALITY: 65%]
"It's just a machine, Sarge!" Vance yelled, his Iron Juggernaut skin glowing white-hot as he braced against the shrinking walls. "Find the plug and pull it!"
"The plug is the Seed of Earth," Doc shouted, her green eyes scanning the Archon's chest-plate. "It's being used as the primary battery for the 3rd Realm! If you take it, the whole Sea of Clouds falls!"
"Good," Kane hissed. "I'm tired of the view."
The Great Sunder
Kane ignored the compression. He allowed his Midnight Plate to crack, using the pain to fuel his Void-Hunger. He leaped, his Twin Fangs merging into the single Great-Axe of the Void, wreathed in the rot of the 2nd Realm.
"Accessing... Defensive Protocols..." the Archon droned.
A wall of pure, Rank-6 "Heavenly Logic" slammed into Kane. It wasn't physical; it was a mental assault, trying to rewrite Kane's brain to believe he was a slave.
[ERROR: GOD-FEEDER MANUAL DETECTED]
[LOGIC OVERRIDDEN BY PRIMAL INSTINCT]
"I don't think," Kane growled, his silver-black eyes burning with a terrifying vacuum. "I EAT."
He slammed the Great-Axe into the Archon's chest. The glass shattered. The silver nerves frayed. And there, in the center of the mechanical god, sat the Seed of Earth—a pulsing green emerald the size of a human heart.
[SEED OF EARTH DETECTED]
[PRIMARY ANCHOR FOR REALMS 1-3]
Kane didn't just grab it. He drove his hand into the core and bit into the emerald.
[CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE]
[3RD REALM STABILITY: 0%]
[RANK 5 (MIDDLE) \rightarrow RANK 6 (EARLY STAGE)]
The Archon-Unit let out a final, distorted screech before exploding into a cloud of brass dust. The white-glass walls of the throne room began to dissolve into data-mist. Outside, the Sea of Clouds began to evaporate. The floating temples fell, the golden gardens withered, and the 5,000 warriors of the Legion felt their chains vanish as they began to free-fall toward the 2nd Realm.
But Kane wasn't falling.
The energy from the Seed of Earth was so dense it created a vertical geyser of green-black fire. It caught Alpha-6, shooting them upward through the ceiling of the universe.
[ASCENSION INITIATED: BY-PASSING REALMS 4 & 5]
[TARGET: THE CELESTIAL THRONE (FINAL REALM)]
"Sarge! We're moving too fast!" Vance yelled, his iron body vibrating as they broke the speed of sound.
"Hold on!" Kane's voice was now the voice of a Rank-6 Sovereign. His Midnight Plate had evolved into Void-Lord Regalia, jet-black armor that absorbed all light. "The Gods wanted a harvest? They're about to meet the Reaper."