Chapter 245: The Blast Furnace, and the Spoils of the Pantheon

"You took your time," Syra commented, dismissing her shadow portal.

"You woke the entire pantheon," Krax laughed, pointing his greataxe at the four towering predators. "We brought an army to put them back to sleep."

The armored centipede lunged first. Its mandibles clicked rapidly as it targeted Iron-Scale. Krax stepped forward and swung his greataxe upward. He inverted the gravity well around the weapon’s head to maximize the kinetic impact.

The blunt force caught the centipede under its jaw and launched its massive body backward into the cavern wall.

The white basilisk opened its mouth to unleash a petrifying beam of light. Syra instantly manifested a thick dome of solid darkness over the creature’s face.

The radiant beam trapped inside the shadow construct backfired, immediately crystallizing the basilisk’s own teeth.

Iron-Scale assessed the enclosed subterranean space. The bedrock formed a natural cylinder around them.

"Their shells are too dense for basic artillery," Iron-Scale announced over the roar of the monsters. "We cook them inside their own armor."

He slammed the butt of his spear into the floor. His emerald core flared brightly. A massive cyclone of pressurized wind erupted from his armor, filling the entire cavern with a violent vortex.

The sheer pulling force of the gale dragged the four apex predators toward the center of the room.

Iron-Scale turned to the thousand desert warriors lining the perimeter of the cavern.

"Ignite the air!" Iron-Scale ordered.

The mages raised their scimitars. A thousand streams of pure orange fire poured directly into the swirling wind. The cyclone consumed the flames instantly. The pressurized air fed the fire, multiplying the thermal output exponentially.

The cavern completely transformed into a blast furnace.

The golden serpent shrieked. It slammed its heavy body against the bedrock, desperately trying to burrow away from the superheated tornado.

"Anchor them down!" Iron-Scale shouted over the roaring flames.

Krax hurled his greataxe directly into the center of the firestorm. The weapon embedded itself deeply in the floor tiles. Krax remotely activated the violet Ley-Crystal to generate a crushing gravity field right in the middle of the blaze.

The invisible weight slammed all four monsters flat against the stone, trapping them inside the core of the cyclone.

The crystal arachnid tried to scramble up the walls to escape the heat. Syra threw a volley of condensed shadow daggers to sever its crystalline legs, sending the beast plummeting back into the fire.

The extreme thermal shock shattered the arachnid into thousands of glass fragments.

The golden serpent’s interlocking scales glowed cherry red before melting entirely, fusing the screaming beast permanently to the floor.

The centipede cooked inside its armored carapace, venting pressurized steam from its joints before going completely limp. The white basilisk simply burned to ash.

Iron-Scale closed his fist. The wind died instantly. The flames dissipated, leaving the cavern walls glowing bright orange. Rivers of molten gold and liquid crystal pooled across the floor.

Krax walked forward to retrieve his greataxe from the cooling slag. He wiped a streak of soot from his green face and looked at the ruined corpses of the enemy gods’ ultimate weapons.

Up in the orbital sanctuary, Red watched the telemetry fade as the four massive divine signatures vanished from the map. He tapped his armrest in approval.

His commanders had eliminated the Fourth Continent’s greatest beasts in a matter of minutes. The border was finally completely defenseless.

Suddenly, a cascade of digital notifications flooded his central console, detailing the exact mathematical outcome of the subterranean hunt.

[ BATTLE CONCLUSION: DEEP CRUST SKIRMISH. ]

[ ENEMY LOSSES: 1 RANK 21 WHITE BASILISK. 1 RANK 22 ARMORED CENTIPEDE. 1 RANK 22 CRYSTAL ARACHNID. 1 RANK 23 GOLDEN SERPENT. ]

[ ALLIED CASUALTIES: 0. ]

[ THREAT LEVEL REDUCED. SOVEREIGN’S PATH SUBTERRANEAN ROUTE SECURED. ]

[ HARVESTING DIVINE BIOMASS... ]

[ GAINS: +850,000 SALVAGE POINTS. +3,200,000 DP. ]

[ TOTAL SALVAGE POINTS AVALIABLE: 1,450,000 SP. ]

A vicious grin stretched across Red’s face. The enemy gods had sent their ultimate weapons to hunt his assassin, and they had effectively hand-delivered a massive payload of hyper-condensed crafting materials.

He accessed his command console and activated the biological forge beneath the golden palace.

’Do not leave a single scale behind,’ Red telepathically ordered his commanders. ’Haul the slag back to the surface. Bring it directly to the subterranean forge.’

Krax and Iron-Scale immediately organized the desert warriors. They utilized localized gravity wells and wind currents to carry the massive chunks of cooling gold, crystal, and armored carapace back across the dunes.

They marched the spoils straight down into the sprawling alchemical vats Red had constructed.

Iron-Scale stood at the center of the subterranean chamber. He called the rest of the Vanguard elites to the forge.

Eleven new figures stepped out of the shadows to join Iron-Scale, Krax, and Syra. The Vanguard operated under fifteen supreme commanders, each representing the absolute pinnacle of their respective races and combat divisions.

Niha, a harpy with wings of razor-sharp steel feathers, landed gracefully on a nearby vat. Morok, a towering minotaur covered in tribal war paint, leaned his heavy maul against the wall. Xael, a Sylph sniper, twirled a star-iron longbow between her fingers.

Tharok the Gargoyle crossed his stone arms. Korlon, the Dark Elf alchemist, adjusted the vials on his belt. Torix, the Arachne commander of the Deep-Weave Hunters, hung suspended from the ceiling by a thick thread.

Commander Novus, the heavily armored human leader of the frontline infantry, stood at attention. Hawl, a brawling Vanguard operative covered in combat scars, cracked his knuckles. Zirk, a four-armed insectoid blademaster, clacked his mandibles in anticipation.

Two new additions to the high command completed the circle. Orikal, an Obsidian Golem acting as the Vanguard’s primary siegebreaker, shifted his tremendous weight. Vaelith, a Naga spell-weaver specializing in aquatic combat, coiled her tail across the stone floor.

Gulag remained miles away excavating the tunnel. Her designated spot in the circle remained open.

Red dumped millions of Salvage Points directly into the Biological Forge’s interface.

[ ALCHEMICAL FORGE ACTIVATED. ]

[ CONSUMING 800,000 SALVAGE POINTS... ]

[ SYNTHESIZING DIVINE BIOMASS. FORGING 15 MYTHIC-TIER ARTIFACTS. ]

The system broke down the raw materials floating in the alchemical vats. It refined the molten serpent gold, the arachnid crystal, the centipede carapace, and the basilisk ash into flawless equipment. The glowing items rose mechanically from the vats.

Red activated his Omniscient Eye trait to confirm the exact systemic output of the newly created gear.

[ ITEM: SERPENT’S TAIL (CHEST PLATE). EQUIPPED BY: IRON-SCALE. ]

[ EFFECT: 100% THERMAL REFLECTION. REDIRECTS ALL HEAT-BASED ATTACKS AT 200% VELOCITY. ]

[ ITEM: CENTIPEDE’S WRATH (GAUNTLETS). EQUIPPED BY: KRAX. ]

[ EFFECT: KINETIC ABSORPTION. STORES CONCUSSIVE FORCE TO UNLEASH AS SHOCKWAVES. ]

[ ITEM: BASILISK FANGS (TWIN DAGGERS). EQUIPPED BY: SYRA. ]

[ EFFECT: IMMEDIATE BLOODSTREAM CALCIFICATION. TURNS TARGET TO STONE UPON A WOUND. ]

[ ITEM: ARACHNID TALONS (THROWING BLADES). EQUIPPED BY: NIHA. ]

[ EFFECT: LIGHT REFRACTION. WEAPONS BECOME ENTIRELY INVISIBLE MID-FLIGHT. ]

[ ITEM: SERPENT’S CROWN (HELMET). EQUIPPED BY: MOROK. ]

[ EFFECT: ABSOLUTE MENTAL SHIELDING. GRANTS TOTAL IMMUNITY TO PSYCHOLOGICAL DOMINATION. ]

[ ITEM: BASILISK-BONE ARROWS (AMMUNITION). EQUIPPED BY: XAEL. ]

[ EFFECT: ARCANE SILENCE. DETONATION CREATES A 50-METER ANTI-MAGIC FIELD. ]

[ ITEM: CENTIPEDE BRACES (LEG ARMOR). EQUIPPED BY: THAROK. ]

[ EFFECT: GRAVITATIONAL ANCHOR. GRANTS IMMUNITY TO FORCED DISPLACEMENT. ]

[ ITEM: CRYSTAL GAUNTLET (ALCHEMICAL RIG). EQUIPPED BY: KORLON. ]

[ EFFECT: INSTANT SYNTHESIS. TRANSMUTES AMBIENT MANA DIRECTLY INTO LETHAL TOXINS. ]

[ ITEM: ARACHNID SILK-SPINNERS (WRIST MOUNTS). EQUIPPED BY: TORIX. ]

[ EFFECT: MONOMOLECULAR WEBBING. PRODUCES INVISIBLE TRIPWIRES CAPABLE OF SEVERING BONE. ]

[ ITEM: CENTIPEDE VANGUARD SHIELD (TOWER SHIELD). EQUIPPED BY: NOVUS. ]

[ EFFECT: FORCE REDISTRIBUTION. SPREADS IMPACT DAMAGE ACROSS ALL NEARBY ALLIED SHIELDS. ]

[ ITEM: BASILISK KNUCKLE DUSTERS (GAUNTLETS). EQUIPPED BY: HAWL. ]

[ EFFECT: LOCALIZED PETRIFICATION. TEMPORARILY TURNS ENEMY MUSCLE TISSUE TO STONE ON IMPACT. ]

[ ITEM: SERPENT SHORT-SWORDS (QUAD-BLADES). EQUIPPED BY: ZIRK. ]

[ EFFECT: ATMOSPHERIC IGNITION. SUPERHEATS SURROUNDING OXYGEN TO PLASMA TEMPERATURES. ]

[ ITEM: CENTIPEDE CARAPACE PLATING (EXTERIOR HULL). EQUIPPED BY: ORIKAL. ]

[ EFFECT: SIEGE RESISTANCE. GRANTS IMMUNITY TO STRUCTURAL FRACTURING. ]

[ ITEM: BASILISK EYE PENDANT (AMULET). EQUIPPED BY: VAELITH. ]

[ EFFECT: GAZE REFLECTION. AUTOMATICALLY COUNTERS VISUAL AND OCULAR MAGIC. ]

A glowing set of crystal arachnid core-enhancers waited on the central table for Gulag upon her return.

Iron-Scale ran a hand over his golden chest plate. The thermal energy humming inside the scales synced perfectly with his emerald core.

"The Fourth Continent deities gave us their fangs," Iron-Scale announced to the commanders. "We will use them to rip the throat out of Aethelgard."