Sparks from the tip of the bronze soldering iron hit Zenith's optical sensor, creating a white flash that obscured his system's vision for several milliseconds. The smell of hot solder and burning wire insulation filled the stuffy corner of Stonehearth's secret workshop. Zenith hissed, a static sound like a coffee grinder being forced to turn. His rusted hands, now reinforced by several dwarven steel plates, trembled as he tried to connect the delicate fiber optics from his power core to a small, tube-shaped module on the table. "Damn, these wires are seriously more complicated than your grandfather's debt history, Prince," Zenith grumbled, his voice hoarse, swallowed by a low-frequency hum. Prince Elara sat on a wooden crate, watching Zenith with a pale face. Thin purple lines beneath the skin of his neck pulsed faintly, a permanent reminder that the Blood Oath was now consuming his sanity from within. Marcus stood in the doorway, his hand never leaving the hilt of his sword, his e

A palm-sized metal plate shot out from behind the shadow of an iron tree, striking Zenith’s chest plate with a deafening clang. Zenith recoiled, his balancing circuits roaring loudly to keep his weight from tumbling into the poisonous thicket of barbed wire. "Get down, Boss! Don't let your head end up as a doorstop!" Zenith roared, his voice cracking with static distortion. Before Prince Elara could duck, the ground beneath their feet exploded. Three Iron Vipers, four-meter-long, sleek, serpentine mechanoids powered by dark magic, shot out from the pile of metal debris. Their sensor eyes glowed deep purple, radiating a chill that could freeze engine oil. "Crap, we just stepped onto the porch and got this kind of welcome! Seriously, do they have zero visiting etiquette?" Zenith swung his heavy steam pipe, deflecting the tail strike of one snake trying to coil around his neck. Marcus immediately drew his sword, positioning himself in front of Elara. "Zenith! They're too fast! My swo

"Hold that door, Marcus! The stabilizing circuit is about to blow, damn it!" Zenith yelled, squeezing through the half-meter gap in the steel door. The grinding roar of metal clashing with a sputtering steam engine echoed down the silent corridor of the abandoned Valerius monitoring station. Marcus grunted, veins bulging in his arms as he braced the two-ton hydraulic door with his shoulder and a Stonehearth steel crowbar. The moment Prince Elara leaped inside, gasping for breath, Marcus released his support. CRASH! The door slammed shut, locking them in darkness illuminated only by the unstable yellow glow of Zenith’s optical lenses. The stale air of the room was thick with the smell of dry dust, rancid oil, and the viscous ozone residue of dark magic. The station looked like the carcass of a mechanical monster; black, nerve-like cables crawled across the walls, pulsing with a faint purple light that signaled residual Dark Magitek energy still flowed within. "Jeez, this place is g

"Keep your heads down if you want to keep your ears, damn it!" Zenith roared, his voice cracking with the static crackling between the Ironwood Forest's metal trees. A burst of Magitek rounds from the pursuing Shadow Sentinels slammed into the metal trunk above Princess Elara, showering them with sparks hot enough to melt silk. Marcus quickly pulled Elara behind a giant root made of tangled, rusted steel cables. The smell of ozone and burning oil filled the air, mixing with the purple mist creeping across the cold forest floor. "Zenith! We can't keep running like this!" Marcus yelled, his voice hoarse from inhaling metal dust. He drew his sword, deflecting stray metal shrapnel. "Hold on, Uncle! I'm looking for a path that won't fry my leg circuits!" Zenith retorted. The robot spun his head 180 degrees backward, his yellow lenses narrowing sharply. "Damn, they're really committed. Valerius must be offering a year-end bonus for whoever can snag my bolts." Suddenly, Zenith stopped de

The air on the outskirts of the Ironwood Forest suddenly thickened, as if the atmosphere had been replaced by suffocating liquid lead. The purple energy portal beneath the cliff vomited shockwaves that tore through the remaining mist, revealing the ranks of the Vesperus clan's Heavy Vanguard units, marching with sickening precision. Standing before them was the four-meter-tall automaton general known as the Steel Archon, its giant pincer-like hands slowly crackling, spitting arcs of deadly dark magic. "Submit or be destroyed," the Archon's voice boomed, not through a speaker, but directly into the metallic resonance surrounding them. Zenith stood on the cliff edge, his back to Prince Elara and Marcus. The strong wind whipped his tattered cloak, revealing the Stonehearth bronze armor that now glowed a searing red. The vibration from the memory module on his belt was so intense that his chest plate emitted a constant clanging sound. He no longer made ridiculous gestures. He no longer