Chapter 132: Chapter 132: The Execution of Sylas Vane

Chapter 132: The Execution of Sylas Vane

The steel doors of the command bunker stood directly in my path. They were locked from the inside. Glowing runes covered the surface.

"Searching for a key is just stupid at this point. He is going to do something stupid inside. Let’s bust this steel!"

I pulled back my brass fist.

CLANG.

"It is quite strong! I have to keep going!"

The impact echoed across the battlefield. The metal dented inward. The runes flickered.

CLANG.

The hinges groaned. I grabbed the center seam with my gauntlets. I planted my boots into the mud. I channeled the pure strength of my Ironclad suit.

SCREEEECH.

"Yeah! That’s how it’s done! Where are you now, Mr.Vane?" I exclaimed as I destroyed that door.

The reinforced steel ripped apart. I tossed the broken doors aside. I stepped into the darkness.

The air inside smelled of fresh blood.

Lord Sylas Vane stood in the center of the underground room. He was not alone.

’Is he trying to sacrifice his own subordinates?’

The corpses of his personal guard were scattered across the floor. Their throats were slit. Vane stood inside a magical array painted in their blood.

"Hahaha! You sure are doing something interesting there, Lord Vane." I chuckled.

I understood what he was trying to do.

He was desperately absorbing the souls of his kin.

"You forced my hand, Goblin!" Vane screamed. His face contorted into a mask of agony.

The forbidden magic triggered a hasty evolution. It was an unstable Apex transformation.

"It’s not my style to wait till the transformation ends, but I shall humor you."

Vane’s skin cracked. Bark erupted from his veins.

Twisted vines tore through his armor and wrapped around his limbs. His eyes glowed with a sickening light.

He sacrificed his elven elegance to become a towering monster.

"You butchered your own men," I rumbled, stepping forward.

"Is this the pride of the Purists?"

"They died for a greater cause!" Vane roared.

"To cleanse the world of filth like you!"

He unleashed his Law.

A wave of Corrupted Nature exploded across the room. The concrete floor shattered as roots burst from the ground. Toxic spores filled the air.

I ignited my core.

The Fire of Rage erupted from my armor. The crimson flames incinerated the incoming spores.

Vane lunged forward.

WHOOSH.

A thick root whipped directly at my head. I ducked beneath the strike.

CRASH.

The root obliterated the wall behind me. I raised my rifle and squeezed the trigger.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

Bullets tore through his bark plating. Dark sap bled from the wounds. Vane ignored the damage. He closed the distance and swung a wooden fist.

I raised my Vanguard Arm to block.

WHAM.

The kinetic force sent me sliding backward. My boots carved trenches into the stone floor.

"HAH! You sure act strong when you are just borrowing temporary power. This is nothing to me!"

Vane was incredibly strong. The stolen souls fueled his muscles.

I stabilized my stance. I drove an uppercut straight into his jaw.

CRACK.

Splinters flew through the air. Vane stumbled. He raised his hands and summoned a barrage of sharpened spikes from the ceiling.

They rained down like spears. I dodged left and right. But there were too many.

One spike grazed my shoulder.

SKRRRT.

Sparks illuminated the room. Another spike pierced directly through my thigh.

SHNK.

I grunted. I grabbed the wooden shaft and snapped it off. The pain did not slow me down.

"You are just a beast," Vane sneered, his voice echoing with overlapping souls.

"You have no real power. You only have stolen machinery!"

"Machinery built by my people," I growled back.

"Something you parasites know nothing about."

I pushed my Venom of Desire outward. The magenta mist rolled over his towering form.

Vane flinched. The domination magic clashed with his mind. His unstable form shuddered.

"What are these cheap tricks you are playing, you dirty goblin? Fight me like a Man already! Use those Fists like real men would!" he dared me.

"Nah! I am not a fool! But I will show you what a real man is!"

His Corrupted Nature fought back. The wailing souls of his guards acted as a psychic shield.

The dark magic seeped toward me, trying to plant seeds of despair and rot inside my mind.

I felt a sudden chill in my veins. The corrupted magic tried to extinguish my fire.

"I possess the strength of my entire lineage!" Vane shouted.

Thick vines erupted from the floor and wrapped tightly around my legs. They crawled up my armor, attempting to crush the iron plating.

"You possess stolen ghosts, not strength. The power you wield is not worth showing my true form," I corrected.

I reached deeper into my soul. The Fire of Rage flared violently.

"I shall burn you completely. My Rage will burn your roots to the Ashes and you shall know Despair!" I roared.

It did not just burn the physical air. It burned the corrupting magic infecting the room.

My flames turned a darker shade. I stepped directly into his wave of roots.

FWOOSH.

The fire clashed with the wood. The bunker became a furnace.

Nature could not hold on against absolute fire. The vines constricting my legs withered and turned to ash.

Vane panicked. His incomplete form was already breaking down. The stolen souls rejected his vessel. He threw wild punches in desperation.

"Is this how a man throws a punch?! Quite the man you are Lord Vane!" I mocked him.

I slipped under his guard.

"This is how a real man throws a punch!"

"Wha-?!" Before he could even react.

THUD. THUD. CRUNCH.

I battered his ribs with rapid strikes. Every single punch was imbued with my blazing Law.

My brass knuckles shattered his wooden defenses. The flames seeped into the cracks, burning him from the inside out.

"No!" Vane shrieked.

I grabbed his wrist. I twisted it violently. I drove my knee into his abdomen.

SQUELCH.

Sap erupted from his mouth. I pulled my fist back and unleashed a devastating hook.

CRASH.

Vane spun and collapsed onto his knees.

The fight was over. I towered over the broken Patriarch.

I deactivated my flames. I let the Venom of Desire seep completely into the room.

His psychic shield of souls was gone. The dominating weight of my magic crushed his mind.

I stripped away his arrogant pride. I forced him to feel the humiliation of his defeat.

He was on his knees. He was bleeding in the dirt. He was looking up at me, a Goblin.

"Look at what you have become," I whispered coldly.

Vane whimpered. The majestic ruler was reduced to a crying beast.

He placed his trembling hands on the floor. He bowed his head like a submissive dog.

He surrendered completely.

I did not offer mercy. I wrapped my brass fingers around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

"The Forge sends its regards," I stated.

I squeezed my hand.

SNAP.

I dropped his lifeless body onto the stone. The bloody array faded. The bark dissolved from his skin. It left behind the broken corpse of a foolish elf.

House Vane had fallen.