Iron Sovereign: I Hunt the Apex

Chapter 10: The Sovereign Awakens

Aiden stood frozen as the giant stone hand crushed thirty feet of white marble into powder. Dust rose from the pit, swirling around his boots like a thick grey fog. The ancient voice echoed through his skull, heavy and deep enough to make his teeth ache.

Marcus dropped to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "It is over," Marcus whimpered, his body shaking wildly. "That is an apex beast. A rift lord. No single hunter can fight a rift lord."

Aiden did not answer. He stepped in front of Marcus, raising his glowing red blade. The weapon felt hot against his palms, a small beacon of light in the growing darkness. His heart beat hard in his chest, but his hands stayed still. The traits he had absorbed gave him steady nerves, even when facing a creature from the deepest depths.

A second giant hand reached up from the dark, gripping the opposite side of the pit.

Slowly, the creature pulled its body into the open air. It stood twelve feet tall, constructed from smooth black stone and glowing purple crystals that lined its chest and shoulders. A jagged crown of dark rock sat atop its head, and its two purple eyes burned with cold power.

The sovereign looked down at the ruined arena, taking in the empty stands, the broken pillars, and the small human standing on the floor below. Its chest expanded as it drew in a deep breath of the outside air.

"A surface world," the sovereign rumbled, its voice grinding like heavy millstones. "The seal of the ancients has finally broken."

The monster shifted its gaze downward, locking its purple eyes directly onto Aiden. It paused, its single brow furrowing as it sensed something unusual.

"You," the sovereign said, leaning its giant upper body forward. "You carry the mark of my fallen sentry. You carry the energy of my beasts. How does a small surface fleshling hold the power of absorption?"

Aiden kept his eyes locked on the creature's chest. "I took it from your beasts when they tried to kill me."

The sovereign let out a low rumble that sounded like distant thunder. It sounded almost like a laugh, cold and bitter. "You took it? No fleshling takes power from the deep rift. You are an anomaly."

The sovereign raised its right hand. A surge of purple energy gathered in its palm, forming a heavy spear made of solid dark crystal. It did not take a long windup stance. It simply thrust the crystal spear downward toward Aiden with terrifying speed.

Aiden activated Shadow Stride.

He vanished a fraction of a second before the spear struck the ground. The crystal point hit the marble floor, causing a loud explosion of shattered stone and purple sparks that blew Marcus backward into a pile of rubble.

Aiden reappeared ten yards away, his boots sliding across the slick stone floor. He felt the cold air rush past his face as he reset his stance. The sovereign moved remarkably fast for its size.

"Your shadow movement is crude," the sovereign rumbled. It turned its heavy head, following Aiden's position effortlessly. "It was stolen from a mere hound."

The sovereign swept its left arm across the arena floor, creating a wall of sharp crystal spikes that shot out from the ground in a fast line.

Aiden leaped into the air, using his enhanced physical leg strength to jump fifteen feet high. He flipped over the rising crystal spikes, landing on the shaft of the sovereign's embedded spear.

He did not hesitate. Aiden sprinted up the thick crystal shaft, using the momentum to close the distance to the monster's chest. His red energy blade flared with white heat, ready to strike the glowing purple core exposed between the stone armor plates.

The sovereign did not panic. It raised its left hand and swatted at Aiden like a bothering fly.

Aiden saw the giant stone palm coming. He dropped his shoulder, sliding along the crystal shaft to dodge the heavy blow. As the stone hand passed over him, Aiden swung his red blade upward with all his strength.

The red energy blade sliced through the stone flesh on the sovereign's wrist. Deep purple fluid erupted from the wound, spraying onto Aiden's armor. The sovereign let out a sharp roar of pain, stepping back two heavy steps and pulling its crystal spear out of the ground.

Aiden landed on his feet on the dusty floor, gasping for breath.

Faint blue letters flickered in front of his eyes:

Damage dealt to Apex Entity.

Energy trace harvested.

Sovereign bloodline strain detected.

A strange, intense heat flooded through Aiden's veins. It was different from any power he had absorbed before. It was heavy, ancient, and sharp. His vision sharpened, and the air around him felt lighter, as if his body was adapting to the sovereign's heavy presence in real time.

The sovereign stared at its bleeding wrist in shock. The purple fluid slowly stopped flowing as crystal grew over the wound, but the stone had been cut cleanly.

"You dare draw the blood of a rift sovereign?" the creature shouted, its voice echoing with genuine rage.

The purple crystals along the sovereign's chest flared with blinding light. The dark sky above the stadium began to turn purple as heavy clouds gathered over the city. A massive pressure descended on the entire sector, cracking the remaining walls of the stadium.

Aiden gripped his hilt tight, standing tall against the crushing pressure. He knew he could not defeat this giant monster in a simple battle of endurance, but his newly absorbed trait was already changing his muscles, preparing him for the fight.

From the dark sky above, a bright bolt of purple lightning struck the center of the arena floor.

When the light cleared, a tall woman in silver armor stepped out from the smoking crater. She carried a glowing white sword and wore the crest of the High City Council on her cloak.

She looked at the giant stone sovereign, then turned her sharp blue eyes onto Aiden, raising her blade to point at his heart.

"Stand down, porter," she said coldly. "By order of the High Council, you are under arrest for unleashing an apex calamity upon the city."