Chapter 255: Null-Zone Cage

The corridor was empty.

Holden walked through the darkness, the Eclipse-Sun Sword casting a faint black and crimson glow across the walls. The enchanted lights had stopped working after the War-Breaker Pulse, leaving most of the command structure in darkness.

Holden continued walking.

But something felt wrong.

There were no soldiers.

No guards waiting around the corners.

Not even an officer rushing through the building to deliver orders.

Considering what was happening outside, Holden had expected the command structure to be crowded with people trying to restore order.

Instead, the entire place seemed deserted.

His 10,000x processor began examining the surroundings, picking up small details that most people would have missed.

Several rooms stood open along the corridor.

Holden glanced inside as he passed.

The first contained a few desks, chairs, and a large military map hanging on the wall. Several communication crystals rested on the desks, their surfaces dark now that the magical network had been destroyed.

The second room looked like an office.

There were papers scattered across the tables, a few open folders, and several cups of tea that had been left behind.

Holden paused beside one of the desks.

He reached toward a cup and felt the warmth still rising from it.

Interesting.

Whoever had been sitting here couldn’t have left very long ago.

He looked around again.

The chairs had been pushed back, and some documents remained open. Nothing suggested that the occupants had been attacked or forced to flee in a panic.

They had simply left.

And judging by the empty rooms, everyone seemed to have done so around the same time.

Holden narrowed his eyes.

That’s strange.

A command center was supposed to be the busiest part of a military fortress, especially during an attack.

Even with the communications down, Zahn would still need officers to gather information, issue orders, and coordinate the soldiers protecting Eagle Peak.

Yet the building was empty.

It looked as though someone had deliberately ordered the staff to leave just before Holden arrived.

His processor immediately began examining the situation.

[Warning: Unusual Activity Detected!]

[Command Staff Appear to Have Withdrawn Before Host’s Arrival.]

[Possible Enemy Preparation Detected.]

[Assessment: High Probability of an Ambush.]

[Recommendation: Proceed with Caution.]

Holden read the warning.

Then he looked toward the end of the corridor.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

So that’s how you want to play it, Zahn.

He wasn’t particularly surprised.

Commander Zahn had spent years planning military operations. Unlike Draven, who had allowed his anger to control him, Zahn seemed like the type of man who prepared for several possible outcomes before making a move.

The War-Breaker Pulse might have destroyed the mountain’s magical defenses, but that didn’t mean Zahn had run out of ideas.

If anything, Holden suspected the commander had been expecting him to reach the building.

And now he wanted Holden to walk into something.

Holden adjusted his grip on the Eclipse-Sun Sword.

"All right. Let’s see what you’ve prepared."

He continued down the corridor.

At the end of the passage stood a large steel doorway.

Unlike most of the doors Holden had passed, this one was much heavier. Its thick metal frame had been built directly into the surrounding stone, while several large hinges connected it to the wall.

The door itself was wide open.

Holden stopped a few feet away.

The arrangement immediately caught his attention.

After walking through several empty rooms, he had finally reached what appeared to be the main chamber.

And someone had conveniently left the entrance wide open for him.

Almost as though they wanted him to enter.

Holden studied the door more carefully.

There were no active enchantments surrounding it. Whatever magical systems had once been installed were already useless after the War-Breaker Pulse.

However, the door also had several ordinary mechanical parts.

Large metal supports were fixed above the frame, while thick cables disappeared into narrow openings in the stone wall.

His processor followed their positions.

Then it identified the mechanism.

Two heavy counterweights were hidden inside the wall, each held in place by a metal pin.

Remove the pins, and the weights would drop.

The cables would pull the door shut with tremendous force, sealing the entrance before anyone inside could escape.

And because the mechanism relied entirely on metal, cables, and gravity, the War-Breaker Pulse wouldn’t affect it.

Holden almost laughed.

Well, that’s clever.

The commander had prepared a trap that didn’t need magical energy to operate.

A sensible precaution, considering what had just happened to his fortress.

Holden could easily avoid the room.

He could also destroy the door before stepping through it.

But that wouldn’t necessarily help him find Zahn.

And if the commander was waiting on the other side, there was no reason to waste time searching the rest of the building.

Holden glanced at the open doorway once more.

Then he stepped inside.

The chamber was much larger than the corridor had suggested.

It was roughly fifty feet across, with a high ceiling supported by thick stone pillars built into the corners. The walls were plain grey rock, and the floor had been leveled to create a wide, open space.

There were no desks.

No chairs.

No maps or communication equipment.

In fact, the entire room was empty.

Holden took another step forward.

Then he heard something move behind him.

CLICK!

The sound came from inside the doorframe.

A split second later, the heavy counterweights dropped.

The thick cables tightened, pulling the steel door toward the frame.

CLAAAANG!

The door slammed shut.

The impact shook the chamber, sending a small cloud of dust falling from the ceiling.

Holden turned around.

The entrance was completely sealed.

Three tons of reinforced steel now stood between him and the corridor.

He glanced at the door, then at the cables still stretched along the frame.

So that was the first part.

The mechanism itself wasn’t particularly threatening to him.

With his current physical strength, breaking through a steel door would hardly be difficult.

But Holden doubted Zahn had gone through all this trouble just to trap him behind a piece of metal.

There had to be something else.

He looked around the chamber.

The walls were bare.

The ceiling was clear.

Even the floor seemed ordinary.

Yet the room had been built in a way that left almost no cover.

Anyone standing inside would have plenty of space to fight, but very little room to hide.

Holden tightened his grip on the Eclipse-Sun Sword.

Then a voice came from the far side of the chamber.

"Impressive."

Holden turned toward the sound.

A tall figure stepped out from a dark corner near the opposite wall.

Commander Zahn.

The older man wore the same dark grey military uniform Holden had seen on the balcony. His short grey hair was neatly trimmed, and his sharp eyes remained fixed on the young man standing before him.

But his expression had changed.

The confusion he’d shown when Eagle Peak’s defenses failed was gone.

Now, he looked perfectly calm.

Almost pleased.

Zahn walked forward, stopping several feet away from the wall.

"I have to admit, Holden Voss, you caught me by surprise."

Holden raised an eyebrow.

"So you know my name."

"Of course I do. You didn’t think I’d let someone destroy half my defensive systems without finding out who they were, did you?"

"Fair point."

Zahn glanced toward the closed steel door.

"Although I must say, I didn’t expect you to walk in so willingly."

Holden shrugged.

"The door was open."

A faint smile appeared on Zahn’s face.

"Yes. I made sure of that."

He folded his hands behind his back and studied Holden for a moment.

"That artifact you used outside was impressive. One activation, and every major magical system on Eagle Peak stopped working."

Holden said nothing.

"My cannons, my communications, the shields, even the anti-air defenses. All destroyed in an instant."

Zahn slowly shook his head.

"I spent years designing those systems. I made sure every important position had backup equipment, and every defensive ring could continue fighting even if another one fell."

He looked directly at Holden.

"And you destroyed the entire network with one artifact. I imagine something that powerful wasn’t easy to obtain."

Holden smiled faintly.

"You’d be surprised."

"I’m sure I would."

Zahn’s expression remained calm.

"But there’s something you overlooked."

Holden tilted his head.

"Oh?"

"Your little disruption artifact destroyed my magical defenses. Unfortunately for you, not everything on this mountain depends on magic."

He reached into his uniform.

Holden watched as the commander retrieved a small metal cylinder.

It was about the size of a pen, with a smooth surface and a single button at one end.

There were no glowing symbols or signs of magical energy coming from it.

At first glance, it looked harmless.

Zahn held it between two fingers.

"Do you know what this is?"

Holden glanced at the object.

"Something you’re very proud of, apparently."

The commander gave a short laugh.

"You’re confident. I’ll give you that."

He raised the cylinder slightly.

"This is a Null-Zone generator."

Holden’s expression remained unchanged.

Zahn continued.

"I developed it years ago as a backup for situations where ordinary enchanted defenses might fail."

He glanced toward the dark ceiling.

"Most cultivators are far too dependent on their abilities. Fire, lightning, ice, teleportation. Take those things away, and many of them barely know how to fight."

Holden looked at the cylinder again.

"And that little thing takes them away?"

"Exactly."

Zahn smiled.

"The generator uses special alchemical materials and a mechanical system to suppress cultivation energy throughout an enclosed space. It doesn’t rely on an enchanted network, so your disruption pulse couldn’t destroy it."

He held the cylinder up.

"Once activated, the field prevents cultivation energy from being released outside the body."

Holden narrowed his eyes slightly.

Zahn noticed.

"Ah. Now you’re paying attention."

He pressed the button.

CLICK!