Chapter 79: Falling Iron

  The colossal crescent of dark violet alchemical energy struck the elevated stone catwalk with the terrifying force of a localized earthquake.

  Zeno had braced himself perfectly, his massive Rock Serpent gauntlets crossed tightly in front of his chest, channeling every ounce of his blue Tena into a dense, unyielding protective shield. He didn't try to punch the incoming wave of energy; his organic intelligence completely understood that he couldn't break pure, concussive magic with his fists. He simply anchored his heavy boots and prepared to weather the storm.

  The physical impact was absolutely deafening. The violent violet energy didn't just strike the ancient stone; it aggressively dissolved it. The entire forty-foot section of the catwalk where Zeno was standing was instantly pulverized, the ancient masonry and heavy iron grating violently turning into falling, glowing dust beneath him.

  Zeno’s blue shield held flawlessly against the direct magical damage, completely protecting his body, but he absolutely couldn't stand on empty air.

  As the catwalk disintegrated entirely, Zeno fell.

  He plummeted fifty feet straight down toward the chaotic, massive assembly courtyard, entirely surrounded by the falling, deadly debris of the destroyed walkway. The hundreds of Black Lotus operatives below scrambled frantically to avoid being crushed by the raining stone and twisted iron.

  Zeno didn't panic for a single fraction of a second. He smoothly engaged his Agility stat, twisting his massive, heavy frame in mid-air with surprising grace. His amber eyes rapidly scanned the floor below. He spotted a massive, sloped pile of rejected, miscast iron crossbow frames near one of the roaring alchemical furnaces.

  He aimed his descent perfectly.

  Zeno crashed directly into the massive pile of scrap iron with a deafening, metallic CLANG. The jagged, shifting metal completely absorbed the brunt of his terminal velocity, allowing him to slide the rest of the way to the solid stone floor. He rolled gracefully to his feet, entirely ignoring the shallow, meaningless scratches the iron left on his sturdy Crimson Spider-Silk tunic.

  He stood up tall, casually shaking a small piece of broken grating from his broad shoulder, and looked directly across the massive courtyard at the towering, industrial monstrosity that was the Syndicate King.

  The King didn't immediately follow up his devastating attack. He stood perfectly, mechanically still. His heavy brass-and-glass helm tilted slightly, the swirling violet liquid inside catching the light of the furnaces as he observed the human boy who had just effortlessly survived a fifty-foot drop into jagged iron without breaking a single bone.

  "Your biological density is highly anomalous," the King noted, his metallic, heavily filtered voice echoing coldly across the silenced courtyard. "You will provide excellent, incredibly long-lasting fuel for the secondary reactors once you are processed."

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  "I am not fuel," Zeno replied cheerfully, cracking his spiked obsidian knuckles, the heavy sound ringing out loudly. "I am the sledgehammer. And you are wearing a very strange, ugly fishbowl on your head."

  The King did not react to the childish insult. He simply raised his massive, fused violet-crystal greatsword again, the thick alchemical tubes running up his armored arm pulsing rapidly as they drew raw, toxic power from the heavy suit.

  "Operatives," the King commanded the hundreds of assassins surrounding the courtyard, completely ignoring Zeno for a tactical moment. "Secure the organic scout near the ore pile. I will completely dismantle the anomaly."

  The Black Lotus assassins, rapidly recovering from the shock of the reactor breach, immediately drew their secondary, razor-sharp steel swords and began moving relentlessly toward the far wall where Lyra had landed safely.

  Lyra didn't wait to be completely surrounded. She sprang from behind the massive pile of unrefined iron ore, her twin Elvarian daggers drawn. However, the fight was taking a catastrophic toll on her. She couldn't afford to unleash her pale green wind Tena freely; every time she pushed magic through her veins, she coughed violently, and the angry pink lines of the dormant spores flared brilliantly beneath the skin of her neck, burning like hot wire.

  She fought a desperate, high-speed holding action, relying entirely on her raw physical acrobatics and street-honed lethal precision to deflect the incoming blades. She was dancing on a razor's edge, desperately hiding her agonizing pain from the swarming assassins.

  Seeing Lyra engaged, Zeno turned his full, undivided attention entirely to the King.

  He engaged his Flowing Step, closing the massive distance across the courtyard in a rapid, blurring sprint. He didn't try to flank the massive, heavily armored man; he charged directly forward.

  The King swung the colossal violet greatsword in a devastating, horizontal sweep, entirely intended to cut the charging boy perfectly in half.

  Zeno slid forward on his knees at the last possible second, dropping entirely beneath the lethal, glowing blade. He popped up directly inside the King's massive, bulky guard.

  He threw a highly concentrated, rapid-fire combination of heavy jabs and hooks directly at the King's thick, riveted black iron chest plate.

  CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

  The obsidian spikes of Zeno’s Rock Serpent gauntlets struck the armor with incredible, deafening force. The sheer kinetic impact forced the massive King to take a heavy, stumbling step backward, the suit groaning under the pressure.

  However, the industrial armor did not crack. It was incredibly thick, heavily reinforced to withstand extreme alchemical pressure and explosive blowback. Zeno’s D-Rank strikes were leaving massive, localized dents in the iron, but they weren't penetrating to the flesh beneath.

  "Your armor is very thick," Zeno grunted, pulling his arm back to charge a fully powered Heavy Punch.

  "It is structurally flawless," the King replied tonelessly.

  Instead of trying to swing the heavy sword in close quarters, the King suddenly stepped forward, entirely dropping his guard, and violently slammed his massive, heavily armored shoulder directly into Zeno’s chest.

  The physical impact was absolutely brutal. The sheer, overwhelming mechanical force of the industrial suit, powered entirely by raw hydraulic and alchemical energy, completely overpowered Zeno’s natural Strength stat.

  Zeno was physically blasted backward, his boots skidding wildly across the stone floor. He crashed heavily into the side of a massive, roaring industrial furnace. The intense heat radiated through his dark red tunic, but the enchanted silk completely protected his skin from the burning metal.

  The King didn't relent for a second. He raised his left hand, entirely devoid of a weapon. A thick, heavy iron nozzle was built directly into the palm of his armored gauntlet.

  "Incinerate," the King stated simply.

  A massive, roaring, highly pressurized jet of completely pure violet alchemical fire erupted from the nozzle, violently engulfing the entire area where Zeno was pinned against the furnace.