All Chapters of Cracked Pillars of Fate: Chapter 11
- Chapter 20
70 chapters
Chapter 11: Meeting Point in the Threshold Zone
The sensation of being pulled through a cosmic needle's eye ended with a violent impact that made Archen Huge’s lungs feel as if they were exploding. He was thrown onto sharp, pale gray gravel ground. The smell of the air here was strange; a mixture of sulfur and a pungent, electric scent of static. "Damn it..." Archen groaned, trying to get up. Every joint felt as if it had been lubricated with sand. Before he could even stand upright, a hoarse roar split the silence. From behind a mound of rocks, three creatures leaped out, looking like nightmares stitched together. They had the bodies of the shadow wolves Archen had fought before, but with the hard crystal shells of Sentinels covering their backs. [Warning: System Amalgamation Detected.] [Category: Transitional Predators.] "You guys again?" Archen smirked wildly, even as blood seeped from his forehead where it had hit the rock. He clenched his fists, summoning
Chapter 12: The Strange Guide
A thick fog resembling clumps of wet cotton suddenly descended, swallowing Archen Huge and El Joe’s vision. The blue light from Dylan Smith’s direction, which had previously exploded with brightness, now left only a faint glow behind a suffocating white wall. Joe’s footsteps slowed, his iron pipe raised warily, while Archen snorted in frustration, feeling the gravitational pressure around him suddenly become unstable. "Stay close to me, Giant," Joe whispered. His voice sounded heavy, as if the air around them was beginning to solidify. "I can't see a thing," Archen grumbled. He clenched his fists, letting his black aura glow to provide a bit of light. "This fog isn't natural. It feels like walking through electric fluid." Suddenly, the monster growls that had been rowdy in the distance abruptly vanished, replaced by a chilling silence. In the midst of that stillness, a footstep was heard. It wasn't the wild stomp of a monster, but a stead
Chapter 13: The Search for the Life Code
The Synergy Compass in El Joe's palm pulsed with a painful rhythm, as if the object had its own heart in a state of panic. Its blue light glowed intensely, illuminating the long corridor formed by an arrangement of giant circuit crystals. Ahead, Archen Huge strode with tense shoulders. Every time his feet struck the metallic floor, a heavy clang echoed, telling the universe that the pillar of strength was demanding entry."Don't get too far ahead, Archen!" Joe called out, his voice reflecting off the shimmering crystal walls. "This compass is detecting changes in data density around us. This environment is unstable."Archen didn't look back, but he slowed his pace slightly. A black aura of gravity enveloped his fists, making the air around his hands appear distorted. "The guide said the Brain is dying. I don't have time for a leisurely stroll like I'm at your flea market, Commander."Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled. It wasn't an earthquake's tremor, but a high-frequency vib
Chapter 14: Convergence of Mind and Muscle
The virtual wall didn't just shatter; it exploded into thousands of data fragments as Archen's fist struck it with all the gravitational weight he possessed. Blinding white light burst from the opening gap, revealing the sight of a cold and haunting technological cathedral.Dylan Smith, hanging limp in the middle of a web of red cables, slowly opened his heavy eyes. His consciousness was nearly extinguished, but the sound of the boom felt like an electric shock to his nerves. He saw two figures bursting through from behind the shattered digital mist."Dylan!" El Joe's voice thundered, shaking the great hall.Dylan stared at them with the remnants of shock. "Joe? The giant... you guys actually came?""Shut your mouth and don't die yet, Brain!" Archen snorted, his breath coming in gasps. He stood in front of Dylan, blocking the view of the formless entity holding a scythe of darkness. "This thing looks very eager to harvest your soul, and I don't like the look of it."The entity, a mani
Chapter 15: The Architect’s Knowledge Base
The leftover wood from the lab table crackled in the devouring flames, sending orange sparks into the deep purple night sky. Around the makeshift campfire, the silence felt heavy. Archen Huge leaned his back against a cracked concrete pillar, his eyes staring blankly at his palms, which still occasionally sparked with a black glow. Beside him, El Joe was cleaning his iron pipe with a tattered cloth, his movements slow and rhythmic.Dylan Smith sat a bit further from the fire, cradling a crystal device he had scavenged from the remains of a technological cathedral. The blue light from the device reflected off his glasses, of which only one temple remained intact. His fingers moved quickly over the crystal surface, as if dancing with shadows."You've been staring at that thing for two hours, Dylan. Are you trying to get that machine to talk?" Archen broke the silence with his raspy voice.Dylan didn't answer immediately. He swiped a line of light in the air,
Chapter 16: Empty Threat; The Void Guardian
The holographic screen projected from Dylan’s crystal device vibrated violently, emitting a blinding red light. The visuals that appeared were no longer just binary data, but a live recording from the system’s satellite sensors that Dylan had successfully hacked. Amidst plumes of black smoke and raging fires, a colossal creature as tall as a ten-story building moved with stiff yet devastating motions.The creature’s body resembled a pile of rotting flesh forced to merge with ancient machine circuits. Its long arms dangled until they touched the ground, and every time its metal fingers brushed against a building, the concrete crumbled into dust instantly. It had no face, only a massive hole in the center of its chest that continuously sucked in air and all surrounding matter."The Void Guardian," Dylan whispered, his voice trembling. "The system didn't send them to colonize. They were sent to erase. To it, human settlements are a virus that must be purged from the w
Chapter 17: The First Test of Synergy
The ground beneath their feet didn't just tremble; it seemed to scream under the pressure of an impossible mass. The Guardian of the Void stood tall in the center of the Sector 7 crater, its building-sized body emitting a cold, lethal blue glow. Every time it moved, the surrounding air was sucked into the black hole in its chest, creating fierce winds that carried gray crystal dust."He's going to attack again!" Dylan shouted, his voice nearly drowned out by the static roar of the monster.The giant raised its arm—a horrific fusion of flesh and machine. With one swift swing, it slammed its massive fist toward them. Archen leaped forward, attempting to withstand the blow with his own gravitational power."Don't face it alone, Archen!" Joe cried out, but his warning came too late.The impact exploded. Archen was thrown backward, his body slamming hard into the concrete ruins until he felt his ribs crack. His black gravity was indeed powerful, but fa
Chapter 18: Recognition on the Battlefield
The dust from the destruction of Sector 7 had settled, but the tremors of a new threat from the dimensional rift on the horizon still hung in the air. "Then we will become the wall they can never tear down. Get ready, this is just the beginning," Joe said with a determined tone that echoed in the hearts of Archen and Dylan.One day later, a makeshift flag fluttered over El Joe’s Safe Point. The tattered cloth, sewn from worker uniforms and leftover tents, displayed no emblem, only a crude embroidery of three pillars supporting each other—a silent symbol for the survivors who now looked at Archen, Dylan, and El Joe with eyes full of hope.The civilians, though still shaken by the deep trauma of Sector 7's destruction, worked tirelessly. They reinforced barricades, gathered food scraps, and tended to the wounded. Under Joe’s supervision, the camp that was once filled with despair now had structure and purpose.Archen sat atop a pile of steel compacted by his
Chapter 19: Preparing for the Expedition
The purple light from the holographic map cast a cold hue over their weary faces. Amidst the ruins of the emergency base, the silence felt heavy, broken only by the subtle hum of machinery and the crackle of dying embers in the corner. The map pulsed, displaying intersecting paths of light leading toward a single central point known as the heart of the system.Dylan Smith leaned over a strategy table cluttered with blue rune diagrams. His fingers moved nimbly across the surface, shifting coordinates and calculating energy fluctuations. Occasionally, he wiped his sweaty brow, his eyes bloodshot from staring at the binary glow for too long."The distance is beyond all logical calculation," Dylan muttered without looking up. "We won't be traveling through physical space, but through overlapping layers of reality. If our coordinates are off by even a fraction, we could be trapped forever between dimensions."El Joe stood at the side of the table, observing the
Chapter 20: The Beating Heart
"Dylan!"Archen’s massive hand snatched Dylan’s jacket collar just as the bridge of light vanished into gray particles. With a powerful jerk of gravity, Archen pulled Dylan’s body back onto the remaining crystal platform. Dylan panted, his heart pounding so hard he could feel it in the back of his throat."Thank you," Dylan whispered. He immediately adjusted his cracked glasses.El Joe stood before them, his energy sword glowing with a sharp green light. Before them, the silver sky seemed to boil, churning like liquid metal spun by a cosmic storm. Beneath their feet, the System Central Structure stretched out wide. It was a giant fortress composed of thousands of layers of transparent data crystals emitting an ear-piercing static hum."Don't let your guard down," Joe warned, his eyes narrowing at the vortex above them. "The bridge didn't collapse because of our weight. Something is sucking its energy."From behind the churning clumps of s