The ridge overlooked a valley that shouldn't have existed. Below them, the Sovereign Array pulsed—a colossal, subterranean structure of white Runic machinery that had been unearthed by the shifting tectonic plates of the Fracture. But guarding the only entrance was the Frictionless Gate: a massive, shimmering curtain of blue energy anchored between two obsidian pillars.
This wasn't just a physical barrier. It was a localized atmospheric collapse. Within the radius of the Gate, friction was not merely controlled—it was deleted. Any object entering that zone would lose its grip on reality, sliding helplessly into the "Kinetic Shredders" at the base of the pillars.
"The Second Circle is already entrenched," Lyra whispered, her violet eyes narrowing as she adjusted the focus of her Gemini-enhanced vision.
Arrayed in front of the Gate were fifty Azure Commandos. They weren't the standard Enforcers from Z Town. These men wore "Phase-Armor" that flickered in and out of sight, and they carried heavy friction-cannons capable of flattening a skyscraper with a single pulse. In the center of the formation stood a woman with hair like spun silver, her hand resting on a floating, hexagonal shield.
"Commander Valery," Lyra hissed. "Vane's sister. She's a Tier-4 'Static' specialist. If Vane was the blade, she is the wall."
Kael stood at the edge of the ridge, the Aries-Azure runes on his arms glowing with a restless, hungry light. He felt the pull of the Array below; it was a deep, sub-harmonic thrum that vibrated in his very teeth. The Protocol was reacting to it, the gold haptic screen scrolling through lines of ancient code at a rate he could barely follow.
[SOVEREIGN STAR PROTOCOL: ARRAY SIGNAL DETECTED] [ZODIAC SYNC: 49.8%] [OBJECTIVE: BREACH THE GATE. ACCESS THE PRIMARY DATA CORE.] [WARNING: STATIC ZONE INTENSITY AT 98%. KINETIC MOVEMENT IS IMPOSSIBLE.]
"We can't slide through that, Kael," Lyra said, her voice trembling slightly. "Even with my Phase-Shift, the static field will rip my atoms apart. It's too dense."
Kael looked at his hand—the one that still carried the golden stain from the "First Emperor's Decree." He reached into his satchel and pulled out the remaining fifty percent of the Frost-Weaver Core. It was cold, so cold that it began to freeze the Shadow-Thread of his glove instantly.
"I'm not sliding through," Kael said. "I'm going to break it."
"Kael, if you use the Decree again, you'll burn out your core before we even get inside!"
"I'm not using the Decree," Kael replied, his eyes turning a sharp, metallic red. "I'm going to use the Scorpio Essence we just harvested."
He crushed the green Feral Scorpio orb in his palm, letting the toxic, acidic energy wash over the crystalline Frost-Weaver heart. The reaction was violent. The violet core turned a sickly, corrosive lime-green. It was a "Corrupted Energy Bomb"—a mixture of absolute zero and hyper-acidic resonance.
[SYNC RATE: 50.1%] [THRESHOLD BREACHED: TIER 2 EVOLUTION INITIATED] [NEW TECHNIQUE: ARIES CORROSION-BLAST]
"Lyra, when the gate flickers, you have three seconds to Phase-Shift us both to the pillars. Don't look back."
Kael didn't wait for her to agree. He leaped from the ridge.
He didn't use the Azure Slipstream. Instead, he allowed the Azure Spire's own friction-field to catch him. He became a falling meteor of high-pressure force. As he descended, the Azure Commandos below looked up.
"Target spotted!" Valery shouted, her voice amplified by her shield. "Static-Array: LOCKDOWN!"
The air in the valley solidified. Kael felt like he had hit a wall of solid diamond. He was suspended in mid-air, a hundred feet above the ground, pinned by fifty overlapping friction-fields.
Valery stepped forward, her silver hair whipping in the artificial wind. "You're a fool, scavenger. You brought the key to our doorstep. My brother was weak to let you break his steel, but I am the foundation of the Azure."
Kael looked down at her, a predatory smile spreading across his face. "Foundations crumble when you eat the ground they stand on."
He slammed his glowing, green-tinted fist into the air in front of him.
"ARIES... CORROSION!"
The corrupted Frost-Weaver energy exploded outward. It didn't strike the Commandos; it struck the friction-field itself. The Scorpio acid began to eat through the blue Azure energy, turning the 'Static Zone' into a swirling vortex of green decay. The absolute zero of the Frost-Weaver core caused the friction-emitters on the Commandos' armor to shatter from the rapid thermal contraction.
The "Wall" didn't just break—it disintegrated.
Kael fell through the hole in the defense, hitting the ground with a shockwave that sent the front line of Commandos flying. He didn't stop. He sprinted toward Valery, his boots leaving trails of green, acidic fire on the pristine valley floor.
"Impossible!" Valery screamed. She threw her hexagonal shield forward, creating a localized void of zero-gravity.
Kael didn't dodge. He channeled the Azure Essence to its limit, stripping the friction from his own body until he was a blur of light. He slipped around the gravitational void, appearing directly in front of her.
He didn't use a punch. He grabbed the edge of her floating shield with his bare hand, the silver runes on his arm turning a lethal, glowing white.
"HALT."
The Decree echoed through the valley. Valery froze, her eyes wide with terror.
Kael didn't break her shield. He rewrote its frequency. Under the authority of the Protocol, the Azure shield turned from a defense into a conductor. Kael funneled the remaining Scorpio acid through the shield and directly into the Frictionless Gate.
The Gate shrieked. The blue energy turned green, then black, before collapsing inward.
"Now, Lyra!" Kael roared.
A silver blur swept past the stunned Commandos. Lyra grabbed Kael's collar, her Gemini staff glowing with a desperate, blinding violet light. They vanished into a Phase-Shift, reappearing inside the dark, cool mouth of the Sovereign Array just as the Frictionless Gate detonated behind them in a massive, emerald explosion.
The interior of the Array was silent. The air was thick with the scent of ancient electricity and old data.
Kael slumped against a wall of white Runic metal, his lungs burning, his arms covered in frost-burns and acid-stings. He looked at his wrist.
[DEAD MAN'S SWITCH: 12:30:15] [ZODIAC SYNC: 55%] [STATUS: TIER 2 MASTER] [LOCATION: PRIMARY DATA CORE — SOVEREIGN ARRAY 01]
"We're in," Lyra whispered, her face pale. She looked at the massive, glowing pillar in the center of the room—a spire of liquid light that contained the lost knowledge of the Old World.
Kael stood up, his hand trembling as he reached for the central console. The "Sovereign Ego" was screaming at him, a feeling of absolute destiny.
"Let's see what the Director left for us," Kael said.
As his hand touched the console, a holographic figure appeared in the center of the room. It was the Director, Arthur, but he looked older, his eyes filled with a terrifying urgency.
"If you are hearing this," the hologram said, "the First Year is over. The Battlefield is yours. But the House of Obsidian has already reached the Second Array. You are not the only King on the board."
Kael froze. He wasn't the only one.