The northern border of Xylos was marked by the Wall of Sighs, a massive barrier of jagged, soot-stained steel that separated the magic-rich spires from the industrial wasteland of the Iron Duchy. Here, the air didn't smell like ozone and lavender; it smelled of burning coal, hot grease, and the bitter tang of sulfur.Jaxen stood at the end of a long, miserable line of refugees and laborers, his face partially obscured by a hooded traveler’s cloak. He had suppressed his Void Heart to the point of near-extinction. To any scanner or mana-sensitive guard, he was exactly what his forged papers claimed: Zane, a Level 3 scrap-mechanic with a faulty mana-vein and zero prospects.[System Notification: Stealth Mode Active.] [Void Presence: 0.001% (Undetectable).] [Warning: Local environment is saturated with Kinetic and Thermal energy. Siphon efficiency reduced by 40% unless physical contact is made.]"Next!" a guard barked.The guard wasn't wearing the elegant golden silk of the Sun-Guards. He

The repair shack in the Lower District shook with the vibrations of the celebratory stamping outside. Word of the "Rusty Miracle" had spread through the slums faster than a steam-leak. The odds on "Zane" had shifted from 500-to-1 to a modest 50-to-1.Inside the garage, however, there was no partying.Jaxen lay underneath the chassis of the Mark-I, sparks showering down around him as he welded a reinforced strut. He wasn't using a welding torch. He was using his index finger, channeling a concentrated beam of high-frequency friction."Zane, stop!" Mila paced back and forth, clutching a handful of greasy credits—their winnings from a side-bet she had placed at the last second. "We have money now! We can buy a real hydraulic pump. We can buy a targeting computer! Why are you melting down toaster ovens and welding them to the legs?"Jaxen slid out from under the mech, his face smeared with oil. "Because hydraulic pumps are loud, Mila. And targeting computers can be hacked. I’m building so

The neon-lit upper tiers of Ferrous were a stark contrast to the smog-choked slums below. Here, the gears were made of polished brass, and the steam was filtered until it smelled like expensive cologne. But for Jaxen, the beauty was a thin veil over a massive energy theft.[System Notification: High-Frequency Security Grid Detected.] [Status: Stealth Mode Engaged. Void Cloak Active (3% Drain).]Jaxen moved like a ripple in dark water. He wasn't in the Mark-II; he was on foot, scaled the outer hull of the Aegis Manufacturing Plant—the Duke’s private foundry. Below him, patrols of sentient "Sentinel-Hounds" sniffed the air, their mechanical muzzles glowing with thermal sensors. To them, Jaxen didn't exist. He had zero heat, zero mana, and zero heartbeat."Mila, do you have the bypass?" Jaxen whispered into his internal comms.Back in the slum-shack, Mila sat surrounded by half a dozen monitors, her fingers flying across a keyboard. "I’m in... but Zane, this is suicide. You’re in the Duk

The fall of the Iron Duchy sent a shockwave through the continent that mana-scryers couldn't ignore. In a single week, the "Gears of the North" had stopped grinding for the profit of the elite and started churning for a single, dark master.Two weeks had passed since the destruction of Project Zero. Jaxen sat in the Duke's private study, though it looked more like a war room now. Holographic maps of the five remaining Spires—Titan, Lunar, Glacial, Verdant, and Storm—floated in the air, glowing with threat assessments.[System Notification: Level 145 reached.] [Passive Siphoning from the Iron Duchy Core: +2% Void Storage per hour.] [Title: 'The Mechanical Usurper' - Efficiency in the Iron Duchy +50%.]"They’ve sent the invitation," Mila said, stepping into the room. She was no longer the grease-stained girl from the slums. She wore a high-collared technician’s uniform made of Void-silk, her eyes sharp and focused. "The High Summit at Aetheria. The floating city."Jaxen didn't look up f

The sound of Aetheria falling wasn't a scream; it was a low, terrifying roar that vibrated in the marrow of every living thing for a hundred miles. Trillions of tons of marble, crystal, and ancient history were accelerating toward the Earth at terminal velocity.Inside the falling city, the four Sovereigns were pinned to the floor by G-force. Only Jaxen stood upright, his feet fused to the balcony of the Council Hall by sheer Void-density."You're... insane..." Lord Magnus wheezed, his stone skin cracking under the pressure. "You'll kill us all! You'll destroy the continent's mana-grid!""The grid is a leash," Jaxen replied, his eyes fixed on the approaching peaks of the Titan Spire. "I’m just snapping it."[Warning: Incoming High-Velocity Mana Signature.] [Direction: 12 o’clock. Origin: Lunar Spire.] [Type: Dimensional Assassin.]Jaxen didn't move his head, but his Void-Sense flared. A silver streak, thinner than a needle, cut through the atmospheric friction and landed on the fallin