For a few seconds after the last impact, nothing moved. Then Neptune's upper atmosphere began to twist. The pale blue clouds arched downward as if pulled by invisible hands; pressure waves rolled through the air, bending light in long ripples.
"Environmental deformation confirmed," the Forge said, steady but quieter than usual. "Your phase output is coupling with planetary ion layers."
Kaelen's gaze lifted. "Meaning?"
"You're rewriting small pieces of the weather."
A thin smile crossed his face. "Not bad for a warm-up."
The next Armada formation arrived, not by descent, but by folding. Each unit flickered into existence a few meters off the ground, surrounding the plaza in a perfect ring. They had learned; there would be no simple rush this time.
Kaelen could feel their patterns before they moved. The Cortex painted faint trajectories in his vision, silver threads tracing likely attacks.
"Sixteen vectors," the Forge said. "All predictable."
Kaelen flexed his hands. "Then let's ruin their math."
He stepped forward, and the world bent. Stone cracked upward under his feet as gravity re-aligned for a breath. He vanished, reappeared behind the nearest unit, and struck. The sound wasn't metal breaking; it was space itself groaning. The unit imploded, leaving a circular distortion that rippled outward.
Two more lunged. Kaelen caught the first by the wrist, pivoted, and hurled it through its partner. The collision sparked an Aetronic burst that sent both twisting into shards. Energy flowed back into his aura in a single, smooth breath.
Lyra and Seris shielded their faces from the wind. "He's pulling the storm down on us!" Lyra shouted.
Kaelen heard her but didn't slow. His movements grew sharper, more deliberate. Each step left a faint pattern of light in the air, a lattice drawing itself around him, connecting to the Forge's rhythm.
"Phase limit approaching ninety percent," the Forge warned. "Any higher and the planet may react unpredictably."
"Then we'll stop just before that."
The Fourth-Dimensional presence returned, clearer this time. A silhouette without shape drifted above the battle, threads of pale gold weaving around it. Its voice came not as sound but as pressure, brushing against Kaelen's thoughts.
You interfere with currents not meant for your kind.
Kaelen's head tilted slightly. "Then teach me the right way."
The entity's outline shimmered. Lesson one… endure this.
A pulse struck. The plaza folded inward, every direction collapsing toward the center. For an instant, gravity lost meaning. Kaelen's body flickered between positions; to Lyra it looked like he existed in several places at once.
"Maintain focus," the Forge snapped. "Anchor through Aetron lattice!"
Kaelen slammed his palms together. Blue light erupted, anchoring him to three coordinates simultaneously. The implosion reversed, sending a shockwave spiraling outward that crushed the remaining Armada units flat against the ground.
When silence fell again, Kaelen was still standing, a faint glow outlining his frame. The entity had retreated, but not far. He could feel it lingering beyond sight, curious, maybe even impressed.
High above, the Titans moved. One leaned closer, its harmonic pulse deep and resonant.
"Observation complete," the Forge translated softly. "They acknowledge your survival."
Kaelen exhaled, letting the energy bleed away. "Good. Let them see what comes next."
He turned toward Lyra and Seris. The storm around them was breaking apart, sunlight spilling through gaps where clouds once swirled. For a moment, everything was still. Then distant alarms echoed from the horizon, another Armada fleet entering the system.
Kaelen's jaw tightened. "Round two."
The Forge's tone carried a hint of anticipation. "I'll prepare the calculations."
The alarms hadn't stopped since the last blast. Across Neptune's pale horizon, the clouds tore apart as streaks of light punctured the atmosphere, entry trails, hundreds of them.
Seris' scanner flickered with static. "They're not the same units as before. Heavier signatures, higher density. Fractal Armada Type-VI."
Kaelen didn't flinch. His gaze locked on the descending lights. "How long until impact?"
"Seventy seconds."
"Forty-three," corrected the Forge. "They're accelerating through folded air currents."
Seris stared at her readout. "Folded air, how are they even"
"Doesn't matter," Kaelen interrupted. "We meet them mid-descent."
The sky broke open.
Kaelen shot upward, blue trails coiling from his feet. The Forge's core pulsed through his neural lattice, synchronizing with the Cortex's evolving structure. The result wasn't just power, it was instinct sharpened beyond reaction time.
He rose through the thinning clouds and met the first wave head-on.
Hundreds of angular constructs, each the size of a shuttle, surrounded him. The Armada's metallic bodies reflected faint red arcs as they shifted formation, hexagonal layers overlapping like scales. They fired simultaneously, streaks of orange plasma crossing the sky like rain.
Kaelen's eyes narrowed.
He extended his hand, and the air folded around him. The plasma curved, deflected, twisting into spirals that melted back into light. His counterstrike was a single motion, one smooth gesture. The space ahead of him cracked, releasing a torrent of compressed energy.
The front layer of the Armada shattered instantly.
"Impressive yield," the Forge murmured. "But your cortical strain is at thirty-two percent."
Kaelen breathed slowly. "Then we'll adapt."
Below, Seris and Lyra watched from the platform, their visors dimming as shockwaves rippled across the atmosphere.
"He's burning through layers of the Cortex faster than I can track," Seris whispered.
Lyra didn't answer. Her eyes were fixed upward, catching brief flashes of Kaelen's movements. "No… he's not burning it. It's reshaping."
As they spoke, thin silver patterns began to appear along Kaelen's arms, geometric veins that pulsed with faint rhythm. The Forge's core signature was merging into his biological circuits. They weren't two entities anymore; they were one evolving system.
Then the second wave hit.
A deep vibration rolled across the horizon. The Armada's Type-VIs didn't dive individually, they combined. Hundreds of metallic bodies linked through magnetic anchors, forming a colossal structure, a single massive spear of metal and energy.
The weapon twisted in midair, aligning directly toward Kaelen's position.
"They've built a mass-driver cannon out of themselves," the Forge noted.
"Let's take it apart."
The weapon fired.
A blinding column of energy tore upward, turning the atmosphere into a roaring storm. Kaelen barely shifted, his body flickered once, then vanished from sight. The blast passed through where he had been, splitting clouds for kilometers.
When he reappeared, he was already inside the formation.
He moved like lightning through water, fluid, silent. Every strike he made left a short burst of folded space, disassembling matter at the quantum layer. The entire formation trembled, metal collapsing inward as their shared systems unraveled.
But something else was moving.
Beyond the Armada's remains, a pulse echoed, not from the 3D world, but above it. The air rippled with faint distortion, colors folding inward.
Kaelen froze midair. His eyes widened slightly. "Forge…"
"Detected," it replied. "Fourth-dimensional intrusion. Small scale, observer-class."
The sky shimmered.
From the bending light, a figure began to emerge, not humanoid, not mechanical, but shifting between outlines as though reality couldn't decide what shape it should have. The Fourth-Dimensional entity was watching again, closer this time.
You are accelerating faster than your design allows, it whispered across Kaelen's mind.
"Maybe your design was limited," Kaelen said calmly.
The air vibrated as though the being laughed. Interesting answer.
Then it extended a filament of golden light. It wasn't an attack, it was contact. The energy brushed Kaelen's aura, and every nerve in his body flared. His perception exploded outward. For a moment, he saw everything: the storm currents, the magnetic lines, even the neural sparks in Seris' and Lyra's bodies far below.
Then, just as suddenly, it ended.
The entity withdrew, leaving the faint trace of a symbol burned into the air, a circle intersected by a spiral.
"Signature recorded," the Forge said quietly. "Designation unknown."
Kaelen descended slowly, the wind roaring around him. His body felt heavier, but his mind clearer. The Forge's tone carried an unfamiliar note, almost concern.
"That touch modified the Cortex."
"How?"
"I can't quantify it yet."
Kaelen's eyes turned toward the dark horizon where more lights flickered. The Armada was regrouping, slower this time, as if hesitant.
He clenched his fist. "Then let's give them a reason to be afraid."
The Forge's hum deepened. "Agreed."
Far above, in the realm where the Titans drifted, Ryn's colossal form leaned forward, analyzing the ripple spreading across dimensions.
"The bridge has begun forming," Ryn said.
The other Titans turned, their enormous silhouettes glowing faintly in the void.
"Then the human has touched the Fourth Continuum," one rumbled.
Ryn's eyes flashed with cold light. "And now… the balance will shift."