"Ah, the loyal pets," Thorpe laughed. It sounded like grinding metal. "You two are very brave. And very stupid. Do you really think you can stop me? I am a walking dimension. I ate the Core Array. I survived the void. You are just meat.""We stopped your giant walking mountain," Sikoa sneered. "We threw bombs into your engine. You are not a god, Elias. You are just a broken clock."Thorpe’s face twisted in anger. The glass mask covering his brain hissed with red steam. "I am the new world!" Thorpe roared. Thorpe pointed his massive brass arm at the giant, floating white crystal behind Caster. "Look at it!" Thorpe shouted, his voice echoing off the high stone walls. "The Central Node! The blueprint of reality! For a thousand years, it was asleep! But now it is awake!"Thorpe took a heavy step forward. "You think you can stabilize it, Caster?" Thorpe mocked. "You think you can use your little brass rods to filter the magic and save the world? You are a fool!"Caster stepped past Sikoa

Caster was using the golden seed inside his chest. The golden magic was pure and powerful, but Caster’s human body was incredibly frail. Every time he moved with magical speed, his muscles tore. Every time he swung the sword, his heart stuttered. He was an old man burning his own life force just to stay in the game. But Elias Thorpe was a monster. The Planar Fusion Core in his chest gave him infinite energy. He did not get tired. His mechanical limbs did not feel muscle pain. And Thorpe was angry. He was tired of missing his target. "I will not let you dodge me anymore!" Thorpe screamed. The spinning red and purple core in Thorpe’s chest suddenly shrieked. It sounded like tearing metal. Thorpe raised his giant brass arm. He did not point it at Caster. He pointed it at the empty air in the middle of the room. Thorpe unleashed a massive blast of sick, twisted, gray planar magic. The magic hit the air. The fabric of reality in the cavern literally tore open. The rules of the ph

The red blood magic and the purple necrotic ash mixed together, creating a devastating, highly unstable ball of pure destruction. It was the same energy that had melted the solid stone fortress on the surface. And Elias was aiming it point-blank at Caster’s heart. "CASTER!" Sikoa screamed from across the cavern. She began to run toward them, ignoring the reality glitches. "Stay back!" Elias roared at her. Elias looked back at Caster. The madman smiled one final time. "Game over, old friend," Elias said. Elias unleashed the blast. The point-blank explosion of raw core energy was absolute devastation. A massive, thick beam of screaming red and freezing purple light erupted from Elias’s chest. It slammed directly into Caster at zero range. Caster’s eyes went wide. In the final fraction of a second, he desperately pulled every single tiny, remaining drop of his golden magic to the surface of his skin. He threw up a thin, frantic golden shield over his heart. The golden shield sha

The pale archivist did not have much life force left. He was bleeding to death. But he had a brilliant mind, and he knew exactly how to create a distraction. Solon raised his heavy brass rod. He pushed the very last, tiny drop of his remaining magic into the clear quartz tip of the rod. He did not aim for Thorpe’s glowing hand. He aimed directly for Thorpe’s good green eye. "For the library!" Solon shouted. A small, invisible shockwave of pure kinetic force shot out of the brass rod. It flew across the short distance. It hit Elias Thorpe directly in the face. The blast was not strong enough to kill the cyborg. It was not even strong enough to hurt him. But it was like a sudden, sharp slap to the face. Thorpe blinked. He flinched backward, turning his head slightly to the left. The glowing red magic in his hand wavered for a split second. "Annoying bug!" Thorpe growled, swatting his hand in the air to block the invisible force. That single, split second of distraction was all Si