Iron Sentinel: The Shadow Crown

CHAPTER 2: THE RAT MABYRINTH

“Mom, don’t leave me, Mom.” Valerius held Elara’s chest which was leaking a lot of thick red fluid.

Elara didn't move. Her eyes were open with tears flowing.

"Mom?" Valerius shook his mother's body but there was no movement. "Mom!" The shaking on Elara's body became stronger but there was no response from the Empress.

His world was shattered. He didn't know what to do without Elara.

“Mom, what will happen to me?” Valerius cried sadly.

Within Grimbolt's dying processing core, the robot recorded everything. The sound of the energy shot. The Empress's body falling to the marble floor. Commander Kael's cold laugh. And Elara's final command. That promise. He had failed to protect everyone.

Kael let the little prince cry over Elara's body while he laughed heartily. As Kael turned to give his soldiers further orders, a small black flash shot from the back of the Empress's throne.

“Traitor! Rust eater!” screamed a shrill, mechanical voice.

A mechanical crow the size of an eagle, its eyes made of glowing red ruby ​​lenses, swooped down on Kael's face, its steel talons outstretched.

“What is this?!” Kael exclaimed in surprise. He waved his hand to chase the bird away.

Cogs, the Empress's favorite crow, managed to leave a deep scratch on Kael's cheek before a soldier shot him.

With a high-pitched thud, Cogs fell to the marble floor, one of his metal wings dented.

That momentary interruption was just what Grimbolt needed. Deep within its core, an emergency power system isolated from the main circuits was forcibly activated.

EMERGENCY REBOOT. BASIC MOTOR SYSTEMS ARE ONLINE. FINAL ORDER: PROTECT ASSETS.

With a deafening metallic roar, Grimbolt rose with brute force. Nanorites still clung to his massive body, making his movements jerky, but he managed to stand.

The large robot reached for Valerius, who was still crying hysterically beside Elara's body, and tucked the boy under one arm like a rag doll. With its other arm, it snatched the broken mechanical crow from the floor.

Valerius struggled under Grimbolt's grip. “Take my mother too. Take her! Grimbolt! Do you hear me?! Take my mother! You're annoying!”

However, Grimbolt paid no attention to those words. Grimbolt's goal was to protect Alaric's royal asset, Valerius Alaric.

“Stop him!” Kael roared. His face was bleeding from Cogs's scratches.

Grimbolt didn't resist. He turned and slammed into the wall behind the throne. It wasn't an ordinary wall. It was an illusion reinforced with plaster and paint. Beyond it was a dark, ancient stone path.

"Shoot!"

Kael's roar echoed as Grimbolt shot into the darkness just as a barrage of energy shots hit him.

They landed hard on the wet, dirty floor of a long-forgotten workshop, deep beneath the palace's foundations.

Grimbolt, who had been carrying Valerius like a rag doll, now gently set him down. He stared at his own hands. His failure was a black hole in his logic.

A trembling Valerius stared at his damaged, smoking robot protector. The reality of what had just happened began to sink in. All that was left was him, a wrecked crow, and a giant, failing machine.

“Grimbolt,” the young prince whispered. His voice began to crack. “What… what do we eat now?”

They were in the bowels of Neo-Alexandria. A circular brick tunnel was pitch black, damp, and smelly. The only light came from the remaining sparks on Grimbolt's damaged chassis.

“Food isn’t a top priority right now,” Grimbolt replied, his voice cracking.

Kael's Nanorite Swarm wasn't designed to operate long distances underground, and far from its control signal, it began to deactivate. The nanorites began falling from its chassis like dead black dust.

“The priority right now is to move. They will come,” Grimbolt said again.

“Who?” Valerius asked, trying to stand on wobbly legs.

“Everyone,” replied Grimbolt.

Just as Grimbolt said that, a buzzing sound came from the hole in the ceiling they had just fallen through. The light of the flashlight attached to the energy rifle began to penetrate the darkness.

“Target detected in the Sector Seven sewers!” shouted a voice from above. “Send in Echo Team now! Seal all exits as well!”

“See that?” said Grimbolt.

Before Valerius could react, the robot snatched the boy once again. However, this time, it held his hand with a strong, yet careful, steely grip. Unlike before, he had been carried like a rag doll under his arm.

“Run!” Grimbolt ordered.

Grimbolt, with his motor system malfunctioning, moved with jerky, unbalanced steps. Each heavy step echoed through the tunnel, serving as a warning to his pursuers.

“Where are we going?!” Valerius asked between Grimbolt’s pulls and his terrified screams. “Grimbolt!”

Valerius stumbled and slipped on the slippery floor. The boy was only held by Grimbolt's grip.

The light of the flashlight grew even brighter and the sound of the soldiers' armored boots descending the emergency stairs echoed closer.

“Come on! They’re heading to the main maintenance tunnel now!” a voice shouted from behind.

“Bravo Team, cut them off at the valve junction!” another voice shouted. “Charlie Team, follow close behind!” the voice ordered again.

“They’re organized,” Valerius said breathlessly. His lungs burned with the cold, damp air. “They know all the roads.”

“This is their city now,” Grimbolt replied. “We are like rats in their maze. But this maze holds a secret. The Empress made sure I learned it. Vexxos has sealed the main exit, but they don’t know about the collapsed secondary maintenance passages.”

In Grimbolt's grasp, Cogs, the mechanical crow, began to make a sound.click And it is funny as the emergency system tries to come online.

“Warning! Warning!” a small, distorted voice screamed from Grimbolt’s grasp. “Detected vibrations… low frequency… ahead…”

“What is that?” asked Valerius.

Before Grimbolt could answer, the floor in front of them shook violently. The sound of metal screeching was deafening, and then a large, rusty iron gate fell from the ceiling. It hit the floor with a loud thud.BANG that shook the tunnel.

“Dead end!” Valerius exclaimed in panic.

His heart was pounding wildly from the constant running. His breath continued to pant. His blue eyes stared at the towering gate.

“They’re starting to get trapped! Move forward slowly!” the Vexxos soldiers shouted to each other. Their voices were getting closer.

“We’re not trapped,” Grimbolt replied. His tone was calm but deadly. He slowly released Valerius’s hand. “Stand behind me.”

Valerius moved behind the robot. He propped his knees with both hands, trying to catch his breath. Thirst began to well up in his throat. Instead, he swallowed hard to quench the thirst.

Meanwhile, Grimbolt faced the iron gate. It was thick and reinforced with steel beams designed to withstand centuries of water pressure. To a human, it was an impenetrable wall.

“My combat protocols are still offline,” Grimbolt muttered to himself. “But basic kinetic energy is working.”

“Step back a little, Prince Valerius.” Girmbolt asked as Valerius stood close to him.

Valerius straightened his body and stepped back. “What do you want?” he asked, confused.

Grimbolt didn't answer. He took a few steps back, his shoulders tensing. Then, like a locomotive bull, he charged.

BANG!

The massive robot slammed into the gate with its right shoulder. The impact, like an explosion, echoed throughout the tunnel. The gate shook violently, its centuries-old hinges screaming in protest.

“Shoot! Shoot anything that moves!” shouted the Vexxos team commander behind them.

Multiple beams of blue energy began to rain down on Grimbolt's back, leaving smoking scorch marks on his damaged chassis. He ignored them. He took another step back, but this time, even further than before.

“Grimbolt! They’re shooting!” Valerius shouted in panic as he saw the robot’s chassis smoking. Valerius ducked his head to avoid being hit by the gunfire.