The End of the World has Come

Chapter 7: Iron Forged

The Abyssal Heart did not want to move. It just hung there three feet above the concrete of the courtyard. This thing was huge a jagged rock of black and gold crystal. It was making the air around it feel thick, like water.

Creed stood in front of it his kinetic staff stuck in the mud. He was breathing hard. His mana was almost gone two percent left. The golden light on his Void-Weave carapace was barely shining now just a faint yellow.

He had just beatenen a boss one that was supposed to take a whole team of strong players to defeat.. He did it almost by himself.

Now he had to move. The Architect of the East was coming to tear everything down.

Move Creed said to himself his voice echoing in his helmet.

He reached out with his hand and his muscles hurt. He used his bit of willpower to control the Sanctuary. The big Sovereign Blast Gates. Three beams of blue energy grabbed the Abyssal Heart.

The crystal started to vibrate making a humming noise. Then it slowly began to move towards the gates.

Creed followed it inside his boots making prints in the clean concrete. When the crystal crossed the threshold the gates slammed shut behind them.

It was quiet now except for the pulsing of the Abyssal Heart.

System Alert. We got a material inside the Sanctuary.

Now we wait for it to be integrated.

Creed did not use the elevator. He did not trust the automated systems with something this. He walked alongside the crystal as it went down to the levels.

Down in Sub-Level 1 the atmosphere was different.

The Vanguard elites were washing off the mud and monster blood. They were using the decontamination showers with hot water and clean tiles.

They did not look relieved.

Vane stood under the shower staring blankly at the wall. His legendary armor was gone, taken by the bunker's defense drones. He was naked except for the heavy steel bracers on his wrists.

These bracers were not physical chains. They were chains of loyalty, made from the power of the Sovereign Engine Core.

Vane tried to break them. They did not budge. Instead, they hurt him with a heat.

Vane fell to the floor coughing up water. He was trembling with pain.

It is no use a quiet voice said from the stall.

Vane looked up his eyes red and furious. Silas, the rogue was leaning against the wall letting the hot water wash over him. He was wearing the steel bracers but he was not fighting them.

Do not call me Commander, " Vane spat. I am not in charge. We are prisoners. We are slaves to a mechanic who does not even have fighting skills.

We are alive Silas said, looking up at the showerhead. Did you see what he did to the Behemoth? The system did not give him that power. He made it himself. He broke the rules.

Vane got up his teeth bared. I will kill him. The second he turns his back I will find a way to break his engine core and skin him alive.

Silas looked at Vane with pity. You still do not get it. He did not just lock our wrists. He locked the grid. If you try to raise a weapon against him the bracers will hurt you before you can even move. He is the Sanctuary. We belong to the bunker now.

Vane stared at his hands realizing he was under control. His whole worldview, based on the LitRPG framework was broken.

Strength was not about destroying things. It was about repairing them.. Vane had spent his life breaking things.

Down in Sub-Level 4 Creed was getting ready to do something

He guided the Abyssal Heart into the central generator room. The air was full of power from the Sovereign Engine Core.

Creed put the Abyssal Heart next to the generator. He let go of the tractor beams. The crystal dropped to the floor.

He leaned on his staff looking at the two objects. The Sovereign Engine Core had energy. The Abyssal Heart had creation power. Together they could make a reality forge capable of producing spatial weapons.

They needed a bridge.. The only bridge was Creed himself.

He stepped forward his boots ringing on the floor. He put his hand on the Sovereign Engine Core. A rush of power filled his system refilling his mana and hitting his points.

He reached out with his hand gripping his kinetic staff. He pressed the tip of the staff against the Abyssal Heart.

He closed his eyes. This was a struggle for him. If he did this he would lose a piece of his humanity. He would become less of a man and more of a machine.

He thought of the elites upstairs and the power he had over them. He thought of Elara, the girl in the med-bay who trusted him to keep her safe.

He needed this power to keep his promise. The price was his humanity.

Initiating fusion Creed whispered. Skill Activated. Sovereign Over-Repair.

The golden light flowed from his arm through his chest and into the staff. It formed a bridge of energy, between the two cores.

The pain was intense. It felt like his veins were being replaced with lead. The LitRPG system was glitching wildly throwing error codes across his vision.

Warning. Critical anomaly detected.

Material fusion exceeding LitRPG limits.

User vitality dropping.

User consciousness destabilizing.

Creed roared, his throat hurting, as he forced the connection to hold. The Abyssal Heart started to melt, flowing like gold and black tar. It wrapped itself around the generator climbing up the turbines and fusing with the Sovereign Engine Core.

The bunker groaned. The walls shifted. The lights. Finally settled on a deep warm metallic amber.

The connection. Creed was thrown backward. He crashed into the wall of the generator room. His staff fell to the floor. It was. Very hot.

He sat on the floor trying to catch his breath. He looked up at the generator. It did not look like a machine anymore. It was like a forge made of black steel. It had lines on it that were glowing.

The system said something. It said that everything was working correctly. The Tier 1 Sanctuary was now a Tier 2 Bastion.

Creed laughed. He was very happy. He had done it. He had the factory now.

He got up. Took his staff. He waited for a moment to make sure it was not too hot. Then he held it. Went to the elevator. He went down to Sub-Level 2. He walked to the bay.

The doors. He saw Elara. She was sitting at a table. She had eaten some food. Looked cleaner.. She still had some burns on her face.

When she saw Creed she got scared. She pulled her knees up to her chest.

Creed. Took off his helmet. He wanted her to see his face. He said it was him.

Elara was still scared. She said it was loud and the walls were shaking. She asked if the monsters were inside.

Creed said no. He said he was just building a lock. A strong lock. He said nothing could get inside.

He looked at her. Felt better. He needed to care about her. If he did not he would become a person.

Creed said he had something for her. He took out a crystal. It was glowing and warm.

He gave it to her. Said it was a nightlight. He said as long as it was glowing the bunker's engine was working.. If the engine was working he was awake.. If he was awake nothing could hurt her.

Elara took the crystal. Held it. She said thank you.

Creed said she should rest. He had to go to work. He put his helmet back on. Left.

He talked to the people in the bunker. He told them to put on their uniforms and come to the staging area.

They all. Stood in front of him. They looked like workers, not fighters.

Creed said they were not the Vanguard anymore. They were the Maintenance Battalion. They had to fix things and protect the weak.

He looked at Vane. Said he had not enslaved them. He said he had drafted them. The world was. They had to help.

Creed opened the doors. Showed them the Armory. He said they had to make weapons to fight against the Architect.

He gave Vane a hammer. He said Vane had to use it to make things.

Vane was sad. He did not want to use a hammer. He wanted to fight.

Creed said he had to. He said Vane had to create, not destroy.

Vane started hitting the anvil with the hammer. It was very loud.

Creed said again. Vane hit the anvil again.

The others watched. They were scared.

Creed left Vane. Went back, to the others. He said Silas should take some people and get them armor.

Silas said yes. Went to do it. The others were very scared of Creed. They did what he said.

Creed watched as his people moved around him the machines in his home starting to work. The place where he lived was alive. The fire was burning. His army was getting ready.

He did not feel happy about winning.

He walked back to the control room on the level below the ground. The big doors closed behind him. He put down his stick and sat down in his chair. He rubbed his head it still hurt from using his power.

He looked at the screen that showed what was happening far away. The safe area around his home was like a dome it was fifty miles around and very safe.

He looked at the edge of the screen he saw storms crashing against the safe area.

He thought about his problem again. He was making weapons to fight a war. What would he do if he won? Would he go to the East? Fight the Architect? Would he become a leader like the one he did not like?. Would he just stay in his home forever keeping the air clean and the people safe and wait for the rest of the world to get worse?

Then he heard a noise in the control room.

Creed opened his eyes he leaned forward. Held the table.

The screen was flashing.

It was not an army it was not a lot of big machines it was not a lot of monsters.

It was a red dot.

It had just crossed the fifty-mile line it went through the area without making any noise. It was moving fast.

The system sent a warning. Something unknown was inside Creed's home.

The danger level was unknown.

It was something

The warning said that this thing was avoiding the locks on the space.

The warning said that this thing was hiding from the system.

Creed stood up his heart was beating fast. The Architect of the East did not send a team to destroy his home. A team would have been loud and obvious.

He sent a person to kill Creed.

Creed watched the dot move very fast towards his home. It was not flying it was moving through space itself.

He hit the button to talk to his people.

Everyone, he said loudly his voice was heard everywhere. We have a problem something bad is inside our home. Lock all doors. Silas go to the room and guard the door. Vane, go to the area where we keep our things. We have been attacked.

Creed took his stick and his special knife. The knife was vibrating it was reacting to the thing that was coming.

He did not wait for the killer to reach the gate. He did not want to fight near his people.

He went to the elevator. Went up to the top. He opened the door. Went out into the night.

The sky was clear the stars were shining. The air was cool. The old trucks were quiet they cast shadows in the moonlight.

Creed stood in the middle of the yard his stick was up his knife was in his hand.

The screen in his eyes showed the dot it was right in front of him.

The thing was here.

Creed turned around he looked in the shadows he used his eyes to see. He did not see anything.

Then the moonlight in front of him just disappeared.

A person came out of the air. It was not a monster it was not a soldier. It was a person in a suit that changed like water. They did not have any weapons their face was hidden behind a mask.

The person looked at Creed they were still like a machine.

Creed held his stick tightly the special marks on it were shining they were ready to release a lot of power.

The person in the suit did not take out a weapon they just raised their hand. Pointed at Creed's chest.

A voice it was not human it was like a machine it spoke in Creed's mind.

The Architect's plan is working the voice said. The demolition has started.

The person in the suit disappeared.

Creed did not have time to react. A strong force hit his chest it went through his protection it went through his health it hit his soul.

Creed fell back his vision broke into a million pieces he was, in danger of dying.