The ventilation shaft was tight, dusty, and smelled of rat droppings.
"Left!" Vera shouted, crawling on her elbows and knees. "The main elevator shaft is twenty meters ahead. If we can reach the cables, we can slide down to the lobby!"
Zain followed, the bulky black gauntlet on his right arm clanging against the metal walls. It felt strange—heavy yet weightless, like a limb that had fallen asleep and then woken up with super-strength.
"Enemies below," Nox warned. "They are climbing the walls. Like spiders."
"We have company!" Zain yelled.
THUD.
A blade pierced through the thin metal floor of the vent, inches from Zain's face. Then another. Then another.
The Cultists were stabbing blindly into the ceiling of the hallway below, tracking their movement.
"Move faster!" Vera kicked out a grate and tumbled into empty space.
Zain followed.
They fell into the massive, vertical tunnel of the central elevator shaft. The elevator car itself was stuck on the top floor, disabled by the power outage. The shaft was a dark, infinite drop to the basement.
Vera grabbed a thick, greasy steel cable and clamped her legs around it. Her gloves smoked as she slid down.
Zain grabbed the cable with his left hand—his human hand. He tried to grab with his right, but the Vambrace's claws dug into the steel, screeching sparks.
"Don't cut the cable!" Vera screamed from below. "Or we both splatter!"
Zain retracted the claws mentally. The gauntlet smoothed out. He slid down, the wind rushing past his ears.
Then he saw them.
Clinging to the walls of the shaft were six figures in grey robes. They weren't using ladders. They were using shadows that extended from their hands like grappling hooks, pulling themselves up with unnatural, jerky movements.
"Targets acquired," a Cultist hissed.
He raised a hand. A bolt of solidified shadow shot across the shaft, aiming for Vera.
"Vera, drop!" Zain roared.
Vera released the cable, free-falling for ten feet before grabbing it again. The shadow bolt missed her, striking the opposite wall and melting the concrete.
"My turn," Zain growled.
He looked at the Cultist. He couldn't reach him to touch him.
"The Vambrace is not just armor," Nox lectured. "It is an amplifier. Focus the hunger into the palm. Release it."
Zain let go of the cable with his right hand, hanging on only by his left. He aimed the gauntlet at the Cultist.
He visualized the force of the explosion he had absorbed from the Gravity Bomb earlier.
Release.
BOOM.
A shockwave of violet kinetic energy exploded from his palm. It wasn't a precision shot; it was a shotgun blast of raw force.
It hit the Cultist mid-climb. The man was blasted off the wall, his shadow-hooks snapping. He fell screaming into the darkness below.
"Woah," Zain blinked. "I have a cannon?"
"A small one," Nox corrected. "Don't get cocky. You used 10% of your stored energy. You have nine shots left."
"Good enough," Zain grinned.
He slid down faster, firing bursts of kinetic energy at the remaining Cultists. Two more fell. The others scurried into maintenance hatches to escape the bombardment.
They hit the ground floor lobby with a heavy thud.
The red glass atrium was a war zone. The purple gas had cleared, vented by the emergency systems, but the fighting had intensified.
Syndicate Guards in red armor were trading fire with Eclipsed Hand Cultists. Magic bolts and bullets flew everywhere.
"The exit!" Vera pointed to the shattered front doors.
Blocking the path was a massive, hulking shape.
It wasn't a human. It was a Syndicate War-Golem.
Ten feet tall, made of brass and enchanted stone, it had a rotating gatling gun for one arm and a massive pneumatic hammer for the other. Its eyes glowed a menacing red.
"Protocol: Containment," the Golem's voice boomed, mechanical and deep. "No survivors."
It spun its gatling gun.
"Cover!" Zain grabbed Vera and tackled her behind a marble pillar just as the Golem opened fire.
BRRRRRRT.
Bullets chewed through the marble, sending stone chips flying.
"We can't fight that!" Vera yelled over the noise. "That's Class-A military tech! We need an anti-tank rifle!"
"We don't have one," Zain said, looking at his black gauntlet. "But we have a King."
"That machine has a Mana Core in its chest," Nox whispered, practically drooling. "A big one."
"Cover me," Zain said.
"Zain, no!"
Zain rolled out from behind the pillar.
The Golem's sensors locked onto him immediately.
"Target: Void User," the machine droned.
It raised its pneumatic hammer arm and charged. The ground shook with every step.
Zain didn't run. He stood his ground, raising his right arm.
"Defense Mode," Zain commanded.
The Vambrace shifted. The black chitin plates expanded and interlocked, forming a heavy, tower-shield shape on his forearm.
The Golem swung the hammer. It was a blow that could smash a tank.
CLANG.
Metal met Void.
Zain's boots skidded backward, carving deep grooves into the floor, but his arm didn't break. The Vambrace absorbed the impact, glowing with a furious purple light.
The Golem paused, its processors confused. It tried to pull the hammer back, but it was stuck. The Void Seal held it fast.
"My turn," Zain gritted his teeth.
He channeled the energy of the hammer blow—plus the remaining energy from the bomb—back into his fist.
The shield retracted instantly into a fist.
"Counter-Breaker."
Zain punched the Golem directly in its chest plate.
CRUNCH.
The brass armor caved in like tin foil. Zain's fist went deep, tearing through gears and wires until his fingers wrapped around the pulsing, hot Mana Core inside.
"Feast," Nox roared.
The Golem convulsed. Its red eyes flickered.
Zain drained it. The core turned grey and crumbled to dust. The massive machine went limp, shutting down instantly.
Zain yanked his hand out, holding a handful of brass dust. He kicked the scrap metal aside.
"Let's go!" he shouted to Vera.
They burst out of the Crimson Spire and into the cool night air.
The street was chaos. Noble carriages were overturned. Mercenaries were looting.
Hovering twenty feet above the street, engines screaming, was The Rusty Bucket.
Rope ladders trailed from the side. Boz was hanging off the side, firing a heavy machine gun at the Syndicate guards on the roof.
"Get on!" Boz roared.
Vera leaped, catching the ladder with practiced grace. She scampered up.
Zain followed, grabbing the rope.
"Go! Go!" Zain yelled into his headset.
Torque slammed the thrusters. The ship lurched upward, G-force pulling at Zain's arms.
As they ascended, Zain looked down.
Standing on the balcony of the Spire, amidst the smoke and ruin, was a figure.
He wore a silver mask. It was the Cultist Zain had fought in the vault—or another one like him.
The Cultist wasn't attacking. He was watching. He raised a hand, pointing a finger at Zain.
"We are marked," Nox whispered, the thrill of the fight fading into a cold realization. "The Hand has seen the Vambrace. They will bring the heavy hitters next time."
Zain climbed onto the deck and collapsed.
Captain Silas walked over, looking at the smoking ruins of the Crimson Spire below.
"Well," Silas spat a cigar off the deck. "We just kicked a hornets' nest the size of a mountain."
He looked at Zain's new arm. The black gauntlet pulsed softly, integrating perfectly with his flesh.
"Was it worth it, kid?"
Zain clenched his fist. He felt stronger. Faster. The hunger was quiet.
"Yeah," Zain said, looking at the chaos they left behind. "It was worth it."
Silas grinned.
"Good. Because now we have to get through the blockade. Boz! Man the harpoons! We're punching a hole out of this rock!"