The High Overlord's Spire was a monolith of jagged iron and reinforced stone that pierced the ochre clouds of the Western Wastes. It was designed to be a symbol of eternal weight, a reminder that the House of Terra sat atop the world while the rest were crushed beneath it.
But today, the shadow of the Spire was being cut by a line of flickering platinum light.
The Sump-Legion did not march like an army; they marched like a force of nature. One hundred and twenty-eight men and women, clad in matte-black Taurus-Vanguard armor, moved in a perfect, synchronized rhythm. Every step they took, coordinated through the Unbroken Mantle, sent a rhythmic thrum through the earth that sounded like a giant's heartbeat.
Kael led them from the front. He wasn't wearing his hood anymore. His platinum eyes were visible to the world, glowing with the steady, calm light of a man who had already seen the end of the war. Beside him, Jax carried a banner made of "Event-Horizon Fabric"—a black flag with a silver Aries-Taurus crest that seemed to swallow the sunlight.
"They've mobilized the Goldsmith Legion," Sia's voice whispered in the neural link. She was perched on the shoulder of the petrified Taurus Golem behind them, using the new satellite link to provide tactical overwatch. "Five thousand heavy infantry. They're forming a blockade at the Bridge of Sighs. Kael, they've deployed 'Gravity-Lances.' One hit from those can liquefy a man's internal organs."
"Let them plant their lances," Kael said, his voice a calm vibration that stilled the nerves of every soldier behind him. "The ground no longer obeys the Goldsmiths."
As the Sump-Legion reached the base of the Bridge of Sighs—a massive stone span connecting the wastes to the Spire's main gates—the Goldsmith Legion let out a coordinated war cry. Their armor was gold-plated and engraved with ancient Runic scripts, the pinnacle of Terra-Gen wealth.
"Halt, Usurper!" the Goldsmith General roared from atop a six-legged war-beast. "You stand on the sacred ground of the High Overlord. One more step and we will turn the gravity on this bridge to 500x. You won't just die; you will become part of the pavement!"
Kael didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.
"Absolute... Inertia."
As Kael's boot touched the first stone of the bridge, a wave of platinum-white energy rippled forward. The 500x gravity field the Goldsmiths had prepared didn't just fail; it inverted.
The massive stone bridge, meant to be an immovable anchor, began to groan and lift. The five thousand Goldsmith soldiers suddenly felt their "Heavy-Armor" become a liability. As Kael walked, the gravity beneath his feet became a neutral 1.0x, but everywhere else, it became a chaotic, fluctuating void.
"Fire the lances!" the General screamed.
The Goldsmiths fired. Five hundred beams of dark orange gravity-energy shot toward Kael's Legion.
Kael didn't raise his hand. He didn't need to. He activated the Earth-King's Stride.
The beams didn't hit. As they entered Kael's 50-meter radius, the "Weight" of the energy was stripped away. The lethal beams turned into harmless ribbons of orange light that coiled around Kael like obedient pets before being absorbed into his obsidian cloak.
"My turn," Kael said.
He slammed his foot down.
[SYNC RATE: 48% (TAURUS)] [ABILITY: TECTONIC PULSE]
A shockwave of pure Taurus-energy shot through the bridge. It didn't destroy the stone; it targeted the Runic Resonance in the Goldsmiths' armor.
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG.
Five thousand suits of gold-plated armor simultaneously locked up. The soldiers inside were frozen, their Runic joints fused by Kael's command. The "Elite Legion" of the House of Terra was turned into five thousand golden statues in a single heartbeat.
Kael walked past the frozen General, not even glancing at the man's terrified eyes behind his visor. The Sump-Legion followed, their boots clicking sharply on the stone. They didn't fire a single shot. They didn't need to. The psychological victory was absolute.
At the gates of the Spire, Kael stopped. The massive iron doors were twenty feet thick, reinforced with the heart of a Tier-2 Calamity.
Kael placed his hand on the cold iron.
"High Overlord," Kael's voice boomed, vibrating through the entire Spire, from the deepest mines to the highest balcony. "I have reset the Dead Man's Switch. I have defeated your Golem. I have frozen your army. Your weight is no longer a burden this world is willing to carry."
The doors didn't explode. They melted. Kael used the Scorpio Reconstruction to turn the iron into a fine, black mist that was sucked into the vents of the Spire.
The way was open.
"Jax, Vora... secure the lower tiers," Kael ordered. "Rin, find the Array. Sia, I want the broadcast active. I want every sector to see what happens when a Sovereign meets a Tyrant."
Kael stepped into the darkened hall of the Spire. At the end of the corridor, sitting on a throne of raw, unpolished obsidian, was the High Overlord. He was a giant of a man, his skin gray like granite, his eyes glowing with the dying embers of the Taurus Array.
"You've grown quite a bit since Z-Town, boy," the Overlord rumbled, standing up. His movement caused the very Spire to tilt. "But you're in my house now. And in this house, the gravity is whatever I say it is."
Kael's platinum eyes flared. "Then let's see whose word carries more weight."
[DEAD MAN'S SWITCH: 04:30:15] [LOCATION: THE THRONE OF TERRA] [ZODIAC SYNC: 50% (TAURUS)]