Cracked Pillars of Fate

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 facing pure erasure from the system without assistance was suicide.

"Damn..." Archen coughed, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his lip. "That thing can't be hit. It feels like punching an empty hole."

"Because it is nothingness, Archen!" Dylan yelled while operating his data crystals. "You're throwing your energy into a vacuum. We have to synchronize our frequencies now, or this place will be completely erased!"

Joe stood between his two comrades, gripping his iron pipe with hands that trembled—not from fear, but from a suppressed rage at the destruction surrounding them. "Dylan, do it. Connect us."

Dylan closed his eyes. His fingers danced across the glowing virtual screen. "Pillar Synergy Initiation! Joe, open your perception. Archen, release control over your gravity flow; let me manage the rhythm!"

Instantly, a strange sensation surged through their nerves. Joe felt his vision suddenly sharpen. The world before him no longer consisted of just ruins, but of energy lines and weak points blinking in red. This was the Commander's Vision.

On the other side, Archen felt the weight of his usually wild gravity now flowing calmly, like a river directed toward a dam. He felt his brain connected to Dylan’s cold yet precise calculations.

"I can see it..." Joe whispered. "The weak point is at the base of its chest cavity, every time it finishes sucking in matter."

The giant roared again, the hole in its chest spinning faster, creating a vacuum vortex that began to pull in the remains of corpses and building debris in Sector 7. The pressure was so immense that their feet dragged across the ground.

"It's going to erase these entire coordinates!" Dylan exclaimed, sweat drenching his face. "Joe, now!"

"Archen, wait for my count!" Joe commanded. "Dylan, prepare the shield!"

Joe ran in a wide arc, drawing the giant's attention. His Environmental Adaptation was working at a level he had never reached before. He leaped over floating chunks of concrete, dodging mechanical tentacles that tried to seize him.

"Now, Dylan! Dome of Fate!"

Dylan slammed his hands onto the ground. Blue and green light radiated outward, forming a transparent shield around them. As the giant released a wave of erasure energy, the shield vibrated violently but did not break. Archen and Joe were protected inside for those few crucial seconds.

"Archen, jump toward its left shoulder! Now!" Joe shouted, pointing to the monster's blind spot.

Archen bolted. With Dylan's help adjusting the gravity beneath his feet, Archen's jump this time was much higher and lighter. He soared through the air, passing the giant arm that was currently trying to crush the protective dome.

"Dylan, lock the target!" Archen yelled.

"Coding complete! Focused Gravity Strike active!" Dylan replied.

In Archen's hand, the black gravitational energy no longer spread out. It condensed into a single, tiny, brilliant point at the tip of his fist. It was only the size of a marble, yet its weight felt like an entire mountain range being compressed.

"This is for every life you erased, you piece of trash!"

Archen slammed his fist exactly into the base of the hole in the giant's chest.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion wasn't fire, but a pure shockwave that warped the surrounding space. The giant froze. A deafening static shriek erupted from its body as it began to crack.

However, the giant had not yet fallen. It tried to move its arm to crush Archen, who was still clinging to its chest.

"It's still trying to regenerate its code!" Dylan warned. "Joe, it needs an anchor!"

Joe didn't wait. He ran through the dust, leaped, and drove his iron pipe—charged with green energy—into a mechanical gap in the monster's leg. "You aren't going anywhere!"

Joe's green energy acted as a virus, locking down the guardian's mechanical movements. Archen saw the opening and struck again with the last of his strength. Gravitational pressure met environmental lockdown, creating a synergy that shattered the monster's core structure from within.

The giant's body began to break apart into drifting gray particles. The blue glow in its chest faded, then exploded into harmless shards of light. The massive bulk collapsed, turning into dust that was swept away by the night wind.

Silence returned to Sector 7. Archen landed on the ground, breathing heavily, his knees weak. Joe leaned on his now-bent iron pipe, while Dylan slumped down, turning off his overheating crystal device.

The three of them stared at each other in the middle of that crater of death. There were no cheers of victory. There was only a deep exhaustion and a new understanding growing between them. The trust that was once merely a contract for survival had now forged into a real bond.

"We actually did it," Dylan whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Turns out the Brain and the Commander are actually useful," Archen smirked thinly, trying to hide his respect.

Joe nodded, his eyes fixed on the rag doll Archen had picked up earlier, now buried under the monster's dust. "We managed to destroy it, but we failed to save them. Don't forget that."

Suddenly, the system's voice—usually cold—echoed with a more majestic and heavy tone, breaking the silence of the night. Golden light descended from the sky, enveloping the three of them.

[First Synergy Test: Success.]

[Evaluation: Soul Alignment Detected.]

[Unlocking New Class: Pillar Builder Class – Primordial Stage 1.]

Suddenly, the earth shook again, but this time it wasn't because of a monster. In the center of the crater, the ground split open, revealing an ancient altar radiating massive energy. A mysterious voice that sounded distant yet familiar whispered in their ears.

"The first light has been lit, but a greater shadow will soon swallow your sun."

Joe tensed. He looked toward the horizon, where a much larger dimensional rift began to open, revealing thousands of other Guardians of the Void ready to descend to Earth.

"Damn," Archen grumbled, clenching his trembling fists once more. "Looks like we're going to need more than just one punch."

Dylan stared at his crystal screen, which was now filled with countless red warnings. "This isn't just a sector cleanup anymore. This is a total invasion."

Joe looked at his two comrades with renewed determination. "Then we will be the wall they will never be able to tear down. Get ready; this is only the beginning."