"They closed the palace gates! Thick armor plating, our artillery won't be effective!"Bastian's shout echoed among the ruined marble pillars in the front courtyard of the Alaric Palace. The foreman slammed his steam rifle, which had run out of ammunition, onto the ground scattered with bullet casings.Before them, the Gate that was once magnificent had now turned into a two-meter-thick black steel monster. Kael had layered that gate with a tungsten alloy and a hissing active magnetic shield, reflecting every explosive projectile fired by the Thorne forces.Late afternoon had arrived, and the Neo-Alexandrian sky changed color to a deep reddish-orange. The dim twilight reflected long shadows from the towering palace spires, as if the building itself were watching the remnants of the rebellion below it.Beside Bastian, Bartholomew stood tall. The mute giant looked like an unshakable tower of muscle. His breath was heavy and steamy behind his torn cloth mask.He had just destroyed the la

The white dust from the ruined tungsten gate still hung in the air like fog as Valerius stepped into the grand corridor leading to the Throne Room. Every step left dirty boot prints on the marble floor.The atmosphere inside the palace was so quiet, a suffocating silence, sharply contrasting with the echo of war still raging in the outer courtyard.Grimbolt walked right behind him. The sound of the Sentinel's footsteps was no longer light metal clinking, but bass thumps vibrating the building's foundation. His scorched black chassis emitted a constant hiss of steam, and the heat radiating from his body made the air around them ripple."Cogs, report," whispered Valerius to his communicator."I'm still up here, Golden Boy! I'm between the ventilation pipes right above the throne," Cogs's voice sounded small but sharp. "Kael is alone there. I mean, biologically he is alone. But my infrared sensor caught something... strange. There is a mass of cold energy behind the throne. Be careful, t

"I don't need anyone's help!" snapped Kael."You do," cut Valerius sharply. "Because out there, those people you call pathetic are tearing your Praetorian forces apart. Without direct orders from you, they are just brainless machines. You are losing, Kael. And you are terrified."Valerius imitated Kael's way of speaking which was condescending but full of calculation. He stopped acting like a hero and began to act like a ruler playing poker with lives as the stakes."This is my offer," said Valerius. "You turn off that device voluntarily, and I will let you be tried fairly. You might spend the rest of your life in an underground prison, but you will still breathe. You will still have that 'life' you worship so much.""And if I refuse?" challenged Kael, his eyes glancing towards the hologram monitor showing an eight-minute countdown to detonation."Then we both will die here," answered Valerius without the slightest hesitation. "And believe me, Kael, I already lost everything one year