The final stretch of the North Spire was unlike anything they had ever seen.
Above them, the anchor itself floated, humming violently—a spiraling column of black-gold matter, tethered to the sky by gravity filaments. It didn't touch the ground. It didn't obey any laws of nature.
Elara (weakly): "This place…"
Henry narrowed his eyes.
Henry: "Then let's wake it up."
They stepped closer—when suddenly, the anchor pulsed.
A chunk of the air itself ripped open—folding like paper—
And from within it emerged the Anchor Guardian.
A being of pure pressure. Formless at first. Then shifting into a mirrored version of Henry, but larger, glowing gold and black, and with no face.
Elara: "What is that?"
Henry (awe-struck): "It's… me."
The creature raised its hand.
Gravity inverted.
Henry was launched skyward, crashing into a floating mass of rock. Elara, caught off-guard, was flung back, tumbling down the tower. She barely holds herself on the edge of the tower.
The guardian floated forward.
It mimicked Henry's heavenly aura—but it was distorted, like watching God through a broken lens.
Henry stood. Behind him, Elara was about to fall.
Elara: "Henry! Don't mind me. Get the core."
He gritted his teeth—and ignited.
Henry (roaring): "I'll show you the real thing."
He blurred forward—Shooting Star activated—and met his mirrored form in a clash of divine light.
Each punch shook the entire spire.
Blue energy clashed with black pulses. Henry ducked under a sweeping blow, spun midair, and landed a direct punch to the thing's chest—only for it to split apart, absorb the blow, and reform around him.
Elara pulled herself back up.
Her eyes burned with determination. She raised both hands, unleashing a beam of green-white energy at the creature's base—destabilizing its structure.
Henry took the chance—dove through the collapsing shield—and unleashed a final, searing uppercut wreathed in divine energy.
He pierced through the guardian's chest.
It shattered into motes of gold and gravity fragments—and vanished.
The core flickered—then dimmed.
The anchor collapsed.
The last group of Halo Disciples lay unconscious or dead.
Jack panted, shoulders rising and falling, claws still sparking.
Jack: "That was… the last wave."
Lenny (quietly): "No. Something's coming."
From the Nexus Core emerged a singular enemy.
Tall. Female. Covered in slick armor like liquid obsidian. Her arms glowed with yellow veins, and a long, curved blade pulsed with kinetic gravity.
???: "My name is Seraphine Vale. Ascendant of Impact."
Lenny (tense): "Another Ascendant…"
Jack (grinning): "Perfect."
She didn't wait. She dashed forward, collapsing the distance instantly, her blade slamming down. Jack caught it—barely—but the shockwave sent him flying through a metal pillar.
Seraphine moved with controlled fury.
Lenny stood frozen—Kaelvyn's voice whispering louder than ever.
Kaelvyn: "You cannot win without me."
Lenny: "Shut up… Not yet."
He dodged a crushing impact wave, then retaliated with a plasma disc—but Seraphine sliced it midair.
Seraphine (cold): "This core is not yours to shut down."
She raised her blade—about to strike Jack again. —
And Lenny finally gave in.
Lenny (whispering): "Kaelvyn… I need you."
His aura turned slightly orange and green.
The King of Plasma awoke.
Jack shielded his eyes, still on the ground, as Lenny's body erupted in plasma fire. His veins lit like solar threads. From behind him rose the great silhouette of a monstrous being: thick-armed, dragon-spined, with two molten horns and a glowing chest—Kaelvyn, King of Plasma.
Kaelvyn (voice booming through Lenny): "Let this world remember its burning."
Seraphine Vale stood across the battlefield, still calm. Her long blade spun once and pointed forward.
Seraphine (coldly): "You should've stayed buried, king."
Lenny charged, surrounded by a chaotic swirl of superheated plasma. His every step left molten craters. Kaelvyn's power surged through his arms—forming an energy cannon on his right forearm and a blazing gauntlet on the left.
Seraphine blurred forward, her blade folding into a kinetic scythe mid-swing.
CLAAAAAANG!!
The two met—plasma and impact energy colliding in a shockwave that flattened the walls around them.
Lenny then shot his plasma cannon arm at point-blank range.
Seraphine's face burned in the heating plasma.
Her scream echoes through the area.
Jack, regaining his footing, activated Storm Dragon Mode, wings bursting out in a roar of thunder.
Jack (to Lenny): "Tag in."
He flew past Lenny and slammed into Seraphine with a spinning kick—she hit the ground hard. Lenny then jumps in with a kick, ready to break her into pieces, but she catches his leg, absorbs the kinetic energy, and redirects it into the ground, shattering the platform beneath him.
Seraphine (whispering): "Every force… is mine to control."
Lenny hit the ground, both arms glowing.
Lenny: "Then try surviving this."
He fired a twin-core plasma blast—one slow, one fast. Seraphine dodged the first—
But not the second.
The fast blast hit her directly—exploding in a blinding eruption of heat.
KRAAAAAK-BOOOM!!!
When the smoke cleared, Seraphine knelt, one leg molten, her blade cracked.
Seraphine (breathing heavily): "That… power… isn't yours…"
Lenny (eyes glowing): "It's ours now."
Jack followed with a Lightning Fang Crash, his body surrounded by storm energy.
He and Lenny struck together—cleaving through her in one synchronized strike. Hitting the core behind her.
Seraphine dropped her blade.
Then collapsed—her body fading into golden dust.
The Central Nexus dimmed.
Jack: "Anchor destroyed."
Lenny (panting): "…Still standing."
Zorath's body cracked with gravitational energy.
The fusion was now 93% complete.
Zorath (hovering): "You're out of moves, Ronnie."
Ronnie (bleeding, arm limp): "Not quite."
He reached into his coat and activated his last Arc Trigger—a piece of High Authority tech made for him. It overloaded his Lightning Awakening—bathing him in unstable electricity, sparks leaking from his chest.
Ronnie (shouting): "You'll answer for every soul you've crushed!"
He dashed forward—breaking the sound barrier—and collided with Zorath midair.
Zorath caught him.
THOOOOM—!!!
Gravity compressed.
Ronnie's body cracked, but he held on—lightning burning straight into Zorath's flesh. But it didn't bother him.
Zorath (echoes): "You care about the souls I crushed? What about my kind that has been discriminated against, persecuted, enslaved, and murdered by mankind for a thousand years? Shouldn't this world answer for their souls too?"
Ronnie: "This isn't about the past, Zorath. This is madness. You already killed a lot of people today."
Zorath (echoes): "By the time I am finished with this world, there will be countless cities buried in their disgraceful past just like this one."
Ronnie (grinning): "As long as I am here, I won't let that happen."
Zorath (echoes): "I would like to see you try."