All Chapters of The Beggar’s Throne: Chapter 511
- Chapter 520
630 chapters
Chapter Five Hundred and Eleven
The chamber quaked beneath them, every pulse of the relay towers reverberating through Jake’s bones. Sparks flew across the floor like lightning trapped in metal veins, and the air hummed so loudly that it seemed to press against their ears. The crownless commander stood in the center, hands lightly resting on the command cradle as if conducting the very heartbeat of the city itself.Jake’s gaze sharpened. “We split their focus. Kael, tower one and two. Lyra, tower three and four. I’ll take the command cradle itself.”Kael nodded without hesitation. His movements were already a blur as he sprinted toward the nearest tower. Lyra’s drones zipped forward, weaving through arcs of erratic energy to strike the other two towers. Jake advanced alone, stepping carefully across the polished metal floor toward the rising cradle, aware that one misstep could fry him instantly.The commander’s eyes tracked him with faint amusement. “Bold,” he said, voice calm despite the chaos. “Do you truly under
Chapter Five Hundred and Twelve
The silence after the shutdown felt unnatural, like the city was holding its breath. The relay chamber still glowed faintly from the residual heat, metal cooling in soft crackles, but the violent hum that had dominated moments ago was gone. What replaced it was a stillness Jake didn’t trust.Kael scanned the shadows. “Feels too quiet. Like he planned for us to win.”Jake kept his blade low but ready. “He didn’t plan for us. He planned for anyone who touched the cradle.”Lyra crouched beside one of the half-melted stabilizers. Her fingers hovered just above the scorched metal. “These weren’t meant to power a throne. They were meant to trigger a cascade. If Jake hadn’t forced that feedback loop—”Jake finished her thought. “The whole sector would’ve blacked out. Chain reaction. Collapse.”Kael’s jaw tightened. “And with the blackout, all the Crownless cells would’ve mobilized.”That settled over them heavier than the dust still drifting from the ceiling. The commander hadn’t been trying
Chapter Five Hundred and Thirteen
Jake felt the pulse again before they reached the surface—faint, rhythmic, and wrong. Not mechanical. Not electrical. Something deeper. It throbbed through the metal under their boots, vibrating like a distant drum muffled by layers of steel and forgotten history.Lyra noticed the slight hitch in his steps. “You feel it too.”Jake didn’t answer right away. He pressed his palm to the wall. The vibration moved through the structure in steady waves. “It’s getting stronger the higher we go.”Kael glanced back toward the unconscious commander dragged between them. “Then whatever’s calling to you isn’t beneath the relay. It’s above it.”Lyra nodded slowly. “Sector Eleven’s upper plate.”Kael scowled. “That makes no sense. That plate’s dead metal, sealed since the collapse. Nothing’s living up there.”Jake didn’t look at him. “I didn’t say it was alive.”The pulse echoed again, stronger this time, and a faint tremor rippled through the corridor dust.Lyra stiffened. “We’re close to the main
Chapter Five Hundred and Fourteen
The upper plate was darker than Jake remembered—not because the lights were out, but because the air felt wrong. Heavy. Compressed. As if the city itself was holding its breath.Kael shoved the unconscious Crownless commander onto a reinforced bench just beyond the hatch as Jake and Lyra climbed out behind him. They emerged into an abandoned transit bay: concrete ribs, rusted rail lines, patches of old scorch marks from a war no one bothered to remember.Lyra swept her drone upward. “No movement. No patrols. No power signatures—except the pulse.”Jake kept scanning the shadows. “It followed us up.”Kael cracked his neck. “You’re telling me that metal heartbeat in the tunnels climbed a hundred meters of empty infrastructure?”Jake didn’t answer.Because the pulse was undeniably louder now.Lyra pointed toward the far end of the bay—where a wide, fractured corridor branched off into darkness. “It’s coming from there.”Jake led the way, steps steady but senses sharp. Every drip of water,
Chapter Five Hundred and Fifteen
The wall didn’t fall easily.Jake could feel the vibration running through his arms as he drove the reinforced cutter into the slab of fused concrete. Sparks spat out while Kael used a hydraulic spreader to pry apart a seam Lyra had identified. Dust rolled down in thick sheets, coating their clothing and settling into their hair. For a moment, the corridor felt like the inside of a lung trying to exhale centuries of trapped air.“Pressure’s shifting,” Lyra warned quietly. Her drones hovered in a formation that mapped shifting stress pockets across the collapsed passage. “Push too hard on the upper beam and you’ll trigger a cascading drop.”Kael growled and adjusted the spreader. “So which part am I supposed to not touch?”Lyra pointed. “Anything above your head. And most of the left side.”Kael shot her a dry look. “Perfect. I will just lift the one rock in this entire tunnel that won’t kill us instantly.”Jake kept cutting. “We don’t need the whole wall down. Just enough for access.”
Chapter Five Hundred and Sixteen
Jake didn’t sleep. None of them did, not after the encounter beneath the lower grid. The Crownless Division had made their presence known, not through a declaration, but through discipline, sacrifice, and the kind of coordinated boldness that meant they were preparing for something irreversible.The safehouse they’d retreated to wasn’t truly safe—just quiet enough to regroup. The walls were reinforced composite, humming faintly with Lyra’s defenses. The lights were low. The air held the thick stillness that sits on people who know the night will bring more trouble than the morning.Jake stood near the window slit, watching the distant stacks pulse with intermittent lights. Signals, movements, shifts. The city was breathing differently now. He sensed it deep in his chest, like the rhythm of a machine changing gears.Kael sat at the metal table, arms folded, muscles coiled in the way they always were before he made decisions he couldn’t take back. He was staring at the discarded emblem
Chapter Five Hundred and Seventeen
Jake Sullivan’s boots clicked softly against the metal grating at the edge of the spiral, a rhythm that matched the steady pulse of the chamber below. The glow from the central core cast long, fractured shadows across the walls, each one seeming to twist and move, hiding unseen threats. Kael and Lyra flanked him, silent but alert, their presence a constant reassurance in the tense quiet.The footsteps continued, echoing in unison, deliberate and unhurried. They weren’t coming for a fight—they were announcing a presence, claiming the space as their own. Jake’s grip tightened on his weapon, eyes scanning for movement, traps, or any sign of what lay below.From the spiral’s apex, he could see them now: figures in tactical armor, their fractured crown emblem glinting faintly in the cold light. They weren’t scattered. They weren’t improvising. Every operative moved like a single organism, patterns synchronized, awareness heightened. And at the center of it all stood a figure—tall, composed
Chapter Five Hundred and Eighteen
The city above felt deceptively calm. The streets were lit by scattered neon signs, occasional streetlamps, and the faint glow of distant towers, but Jake Sullivan knew the stillness was temporary. The Crownless Division had retreated into the shadows, regrouping, recalibrating. They weren’t gone—they were preparing their next move. And he intended to meet it head-on.Jake, Kael, and Lyra moved through the upper districts, their boots echoing softly against cracked pavement. Lyra’s drones flitted above, mapping the urban labyrinth with ghostlike precision. Kael’s eyes scanned every rooftop, every alley, every sign of movement with lethal awareness. And Jake’s mind worked like a machine, cataloging threats, plotting routes, and calculating contingencies in real time.“Signal activity,” Lyra whispered, her tablet glowing faintly. “Residual pulses from the throne chamber are dispersing in three distinct sectors. They’re fragmenting their network deliberately. Adaptive measures.”Jake’s j
Chapter Five Hundred and Nineteen
The southwestern hub sprawled beneath the city like a sleeping giant, corridors twisting through old maintenance tunnels, abandoned service shafts, and forgotten chambers that once hummed with life. Jake Sullivan led the way, Kael and Lyra flanking him, their movements a seamless choreography of awareness and anticipation. Every footfall, every breath, every flicker of light mattered.The pulse of the Crownless Division’s network was faint but detectable. Lyra’s drones flitted ahead, scanning every shadow, every crevice, projecting decoy signals to mask their approach. “They’re preparing for us,” she murmured, her voice barely audible over the hum of power conduits. “Relay nodes are stabilizing. Defensive systems are activating on a timer.”Jake’s jaw tightened. “Then we move carefully. No room for mistakes.” He adjusted his grip on his weapon and stepped forward, every sense alert, calculating angles, trajectories, and potential threats.The first corridor was narrow, walls lined wit
Chapter Five Hundred and Twenty
The city above stirred under the faint light of dawn, but beneath the surface, the southwestern hub pulsed with tension. Jake Sullivan, Kael, and Lyra had just neutralized the Crownless Division’s primary throne network, yet every step forward reminded them that the battle was far from over. The Division’s presence lingered like a shadow, adaptive and cunning, waiting for a chance to strike back.Jake led the descent into the lower maintenance tunnels, his boots silent against the cold metal grates. Kael moved slightly ahead, muscles coiled like springs, while Lyra’s drones flitted ahead, mapping the labyrinthine network of corridors, vents, and service shafts. Every movement, every echo, every faint vibration of energy told a story.“Residual signals,” Lyra whispered, her fingers dancing over her tablet. “They’ve splintered into multiple frequencies. The Division is reorganizing. Smaller units, highly mobile. They’re preparing ambushes.”Jake’s eyes narrowed. “We predicted this. They