The golden highway ended abruptly at a massive wall of solid white jade. Behind it rose the silver-plated spires of the Silver Pavilion, the exclusive sanctuary where the human collaborators who sold out our species lived in grotesque luxury."Halt, anomaly!" a booming voice echoed from the battlements.The heavy jade gates ground open, and a man in a pristine, white-and-gold military uniform marched out. His chest was covered in glittering medals, and his eyes pulsed with artificial, blue cybernetic mana lines. Behind him stood twelve genetically augmented enforcers, their muscles bulging beneath pressurized alloy suits, their heavy plasma rifles locked onto my chest."I know that mask," the man said, a smug, superior smile creeping across his face as he adjusted his white gloves. "You’re the one they’re calling the Eternal Reaper. The one who just bankrupt half the lower houses.""General Vance," I said, my voice deadpan behind the dark leather of my Void Mask. My eyes locked onto h

The silver spires of the pavilion were still lighting up the horizon when the ground started shaking under my feet. A massive, high-pitched whine cut through the noise of the rioting crowds behind us."Kael, look up at the private docks!" Kara yelled, her voice hoarse from the smoke. She was pointing toward the apex of the central ivory estate. "That's an orbital transit shuttle. The thrusters are already burning gold. Someone is trying to leave the sector before the lock down completely settles.""It's Duke George," Henry said. He had a bloody sleeve but his grip on his iron pipe was solid. "I recognize the hull markings. That's the supreme ruler's private transport. He’s abandoning the entire collaborator network to save his own skin.""He's heading toward the floating city," I said."We can't let him reach the upper grid, Kael!" Kara said, taking a step toward the base of the tower. "If he gets to the Arch-Judicators, they’ll have full tactical layout records of everything we just

The gold blood from his shoulder hit the wreckage, and for a second, I actually thought he was going to go down easy. That was a mistake on my part. Cassiel didn't get an Arch-Judicator title by being soft. He grabbed the spear shaft sticking out of his back, snapped the bronze metal with one twist of his wrist, and turned those burning eyes right back to me."You think a slave collar on a lesser god can touch an iron core?" Cassiel spat, his voice rattling the metal walls. "The Iron Deluge. Sanitize everything."The metallic feathers on his back didn't just expand, they detached. It looked like a million small mirrors breaking apart all at once, filling the air with a terrible, high-pitched screech."Kael, watch out!" Kara screamed from the back.I couldn't even see the ceiling anymore. It was just a wall of moving razor blades coming down like rain. I grabbed Malakai by the back of his heavy armor collar and dragged his massive bronze body right into the path of the first wave.CLAN

The final bit of gold mist pulled away from Cassiel’s throat and went right into my palm, and honestly, for a second, I thought my heart was going to burst right through my ribs. The sheer volume of energy was just stupid. It wasn't like the smooth level-ups from the lower pits where you get a nice, polite little chime in your head. This felt like somebody was pouring liquid lead straight into my brain."Kael, your skin," Kara said, her voice coming from somewhere far away. I think she was trying to stand up, but the lingering static in the air was probably still keeping her pinned down. "The black scales, they’re... I think they're turning clear. Like glass.""I’m fine," I tried to say, but my jaw wouldn't really work right.A blue screen popped up in front of my face, but it didn't look right at all. It was flickering so fast the text was just a blurry smear of light.[System Notification: High-Tier Asset Divinity Integrated.][Calculation Error: Target core density exceeds current

The commander did not give a second warning. The air went completely cold as the three flanking soldiers squeezed their triggers all at once. They were using those new experimental anti matter rifles from the deep bunkers and I could hear the internal capacitors screaming under the load. It was a nasty sound like tearing wet paper.Fire for effect, the lead hunter shouted. Take out the anomaly legs.No wait, Kara screamed but her voice was instantly swallowed by the flash of white light.Three beams of pure grey anti energy shot straight toward my chest. I think they expected me to dodge or use a high tier block skill but honestly I just stood there. The rays hit my Sovereign Flesh armor with a heavy wet thud. It stung a bit like walking into a swarm of hot hornets but the stolen divinity from Cassiel was still sloshing around in my veins making the skin too dense for standard human tech to dissolve. The grey beams just shattered against my ribs turning into harmless white smoke that