2026-05-20 13:20:37"Grimbolt, you’ve been running that scan for nearly an hour," Valerius whispered hoarsely.
In the center of the room, Empress Elara lay stiffly on the metal operating table. Her body was motionless, with breath so slow and shallow.
Meanwhile, rows of pale scanning lasers from Grimbolt’s optics continued to sweep across Elara’s skin from head to toe, non-stop for almost an hour.
"What have you found? Tell me there
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 122: LEGACY OF THE SHADOW CROWN
One year has passed.That morning, the city was not woken up by curfew sirens or tear gas hisses. Instead, the sound of music from a gramophone echoed in the square, answering the hammer clinks of workers rebuilding the East Sector connecting bridge. The air no longer smelled, but rather of fresh bread and steam billowing from public heating pipes that were now free for anyone.In an open workshop on the outskirts of the palace wing, a fifteen-year-old young man was kneeling on an oil-stained floor. His face was splattered with engine grease, and his hands which were now muscular and calloused were busy adjusting a pressure valve on a steam prosthetic leg for a war veteran.Valerius Alaric. The people no longer called him the "Lost Prince". On the streets, they knew him as the "Shadow Mechanic"."Done," muttered Valerius then wiped the sweat on his forehead with the back of his hand. "Try moving it, Silas."Silas, the old man who used to climb the ice mountain with him, moved his new
CHAPTER 121: DUTY COMPLETED
"Please..." Kael crawled on the floor, his hand reaching out towards Valerius. "Open the door... I will turn it off... I promise..."Valerius stared at the hologram monitor. The bomb countdown showed two minutes. Their time was truly almost up, both from the explosion and from their giving-out lungs.Valerius stepped closer to Kael then bent down slightly so his face was level with the man who had destroyed his family. He let Kael see that in his eyes, there was not the slightest intention to negotiate anymore."I don't need to turn off your bomb, Kael. I just need to lock the door and let you suffocate with me in this room.""You... you're just bluffing! You are crazy! You wouldn't dare leave your life here!"Kael screamed with a high-pitched voice. He crawled on the marble floor, his hands clutching his chest. The oxygen in the Throne Room had depleted. His vision began to blur, every breath he took only brought a burning sting to his lungs.Before him, Valerius was no longer standi
CHAPTER 120: THE FINAL BLUFF
"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
CHAPTER 119: DOOMSDAY DEVICE
"I will not let you die alone, Grim!" shouted Valerius without looking back, his voice piercing through the hissing steam and the boom of metal.Valerius ran fast across the cracked marble floor, dodging the silver liquid shrapnel splattering from the brutal fight between Grimbolt and The Argentum Shade.In front of him, Commander Kael seemed to take a step back, his trembling hand fumbling for something on the arm of the Sun Throne. The elegance he displayed earlier evaporated, replaced by the lines of panic of a tyrant realizing his fortress had been breached."Stop right there, Prince!" roared Kael.He pulled a small energy pistol from inside his coat and fired wild shots.Valerius rolled on the floor, using the carcass of a destroyed Praetorian robot as temporary cover, then lunged forward again. The anger he had buried for a year—. More precisely since the night his mother fell covered in blood, was now concentrated at the tip of his short sword.Kael no longer tried to shoot. Wi
Chapter 118: BLOODY WELCOME
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
CHAPTER 117: REDEMPTION IN THE THRONE ROOM
"You failed to guard this door before, old machine! You will fail again now!"That Vexxos Captain's voice shrieked full of insult from behind the concrete barricade on top of the palace wall, followed by a mocking laugh that echoed through the loudspeakers.Below him, hundreds of laser rifle barrels and Nanotech grenade launchers simultaneously locked onto a single position in the middle of the courtyard, which was Grimbolt. The Sentinel stood tall, letting his giant body become an open target under the Neo-Alexandria sky which was now the color of hot copper."Target locked! Annihilate that scrap!" ordered the Captain.Instantly, a rain of projectiles and energy beams showered Grimbolt. Explosion after explosion hit his Titanium-X chassis.Bartholomew ducked behind the ruins of a pillar, pulling Valerius so he wouldn't be hit by metal shrapnel. The mute giant gripped his hammer
You may also like
THE VOID
R.Zetra2.7K viewsApocalypse-The Alien War
Flower Spirit4.9K viewsAliena Numina Book 2
Ocean Ed Fire4.7K viewsMegaman
Author V6.5K viewsWorld of the Apocalypse: Kane’s Evolution System
Camellia9 viewsElysium’s Shadow
Lee Ray 2.0K viewsRise Of Steele
Abdul Bala6.4K viewsDark Matter Heart
Queenie Barton600 views