Chapter 378: The City Kneels

For several seconds, nobody moved.

The machines around Kai stayed on their knees, their cores still glowing. Across the street, a Hunter slowly lowered his weapon. "Why did they stop? Did someone shut them down?"

"No," another Hunter said, pointing at the nearest construct. "Look at its core."

The ancient energy inside it was still very active. Nothing had been switched off, and nothing was broken. The machines were simply waiting.

Then the kneeling began to spread. The machines that had been fighting further down the street turned toward Kai and lowered themselves, and then the ones beyond them did the same. It rolled outward through the city, from the rooftops, the underground entrances, and the ancient roads, until even constructs several districts away had turned to face him and dropped to their knees.

BOOM.

The sound echoed across Nexus again and again as thousands of tons of ancient metal and stone met the ground.

Sera stared. "...You’re kidding."

"No," Kai said.

"They’re kneeling," a Hunter whispered. "All of them."

Someone raised a phone. "Get this on camera."

"I already am."

"Is the whole city seeing this?"

"Probably."

They were. All across Nexus, people stood frozen in streets, apartments, offices, restaurants, and emergency shelters, watching the same thing.

A live news feed filled dozens of public screens, showing Kai standing alone in the center of a ruined street with hundreds of ancient constructs kneeling behind him. The reporter’s voice shook. "We are witnessing an unprecedented event in Nexus City. The ancient constructs that emerged from the underground network have stopped fighting." She paused and looked at her screen again. "They are now... kneeling."

The word spread across the city faster than anything else. Videos appeared online within seconds, showing machines kneeling outside a shopping district, beside the Hunter Association, and between two modern skyscrapers. Then came the question no one could answer. Why?

In a restaurant across the city, a woman stared at the screen. "Is that really Kai?"

Her friend nodded. "The Rank One Hunter from Mythal."

"But why are they kneeling to him?"

"Maybe he’s controlling them," someone at the next table said, and the whole table went quiet.

"Can he do that?"

"He’s the strongest Hunter in the world, isn’t he?"

"That doesn’t mean he can control ancient machines."

"But they recognized him."

The rumors spread faster than the news. Kai controlled the ancient ruins, Kai was an ancient Candidate, and the ruins had only awakened because Kai came to Nexus. Within minutes, the entire city was talking about him.

Kai looked around, growing more uncomfortable by the second. "This is getting worse."

Sera looked at the kneeling machines, then at him. "You wanted less attention, right?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "Congratulations."

Kai sighed. "I hate you."

"No, you don’t."

"Right now, I do."

Sera laughed.

"Kai!" Lily came running toward them. "Don’t move."

"I wasn’t planning to."

She held up her scanner. "I’m trying to understand their energy patterns."

Sera glanced at the machines. "Can you tell why they’re kneeling? Are they obeying him?"

"No," Lily said.

Kai looked at her. "Then what are they doing?"

"Responding to you."

"That sounds like the same thing."

"It isn’t." Lily pointed at the nearest machine and scanned it again. "If you were controlling them, I’d see a command signal, and there isn’t one. They’re recognizing you."

Kai’s expression darkened. It was happening again. First the stone warriors in the forest ruin, then the statue, then the network beneath Nexus, and now an entire army. Everything ancient seemed to know him, and he had no idea why.

An older A-Rank Hunter with scars across his face approached carefully and stopped a few meters away. "Kai. Are you controlling them?"

"No."

The Hunter studied his face. "You’re certain?"

"Yes."

He nodded slowly. "I believe you."

"You believe him that easily?" a younger Hunter nearby asked.

The older Hunter turned. "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing."

"Then don’t start rumors."

The younger Hunter frowned. "I’m not starting anything. I’m asking a question." He looked at Kai. "Why do they recognize him?"

Nobody answered, until someone else spoke up. "Maybe he’s connected to the ancient civilization."

"Maybe he’s the Candidate," another said, and the word moved through the gathered Hunters.

Kai’s expression changed slightly, and Sera leaned toward him. "You’re thinking about that word again."

"Yes."

"Still don’t know what it means?"

"No."

Sera studied him. "You really don’t?"

"I know less than everyone thinks I do."

She smiled. "That’s probably the most honest thing you’ve said all day."

Kai gave her a look. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome."

More Hunters were arriving now. Some stared at Kai with admiration, others kept their distance, and a few looked uneasy.

"If the ruins recognize him, maybe we should follow him," one whispered.

Another shook his head. "That’s exactly why we shouldn’t. We don’t know what he is."

They didn’t say it quietly enough, and both Kai and Sera heard it.

Sera glanced at them. "They’re afraid."

"I understand," Kai said.

"You’re not bothered?"

"People are allowed to be cautious."

Sera looked at him. "That’s surprisingly reasonable."

"I try sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Don’t push it."

She laughed.

A group of Church officials approached, their expressions far more serious than the Hunters’, and one of them bowed slightly to Gabriel. "Archbishop. We need to discuss the situation."

Gabriel glanced at Kai. "I imagine we do."

The official lowered his voice. "The Church can’t determine whether these constructs are hostile."

"They aren’t attacking," Gabriel said.

"Not anymore." He looked at Kai. "Because of him. They stopped when they saw him."

"We don’t know why."

The official hesitated. "Archbishop..."

"Say it."

"Should we consider whether Kai himself is connected to the awakening?"

The air grew tense, and Gabriel didn’t answer right away. Kai heard every word, and so did Sera, whose expression went cold.

"You want to blame him?" she said.

The official shook his head quickly. "No. I’m saying we need to consider every possibility."

Kai raised a hand. "Sera." She stopped, and Kai turned to the official. "You’re right. If I were in your position, I’d ask the same question."

The man looked surprised.

Sera frowned. "But..."

"We don’t know what’s happening," Kai said, looking at the machines around them. "And until we do, nobody should assume anything, including that I’m controlling them."

"Agreed," Gabriel said, and the official relaxed slightly.

BOOOOOOM.

Everyone turned. In the distance, one of the largest machines lowered its head and laid both of its weapons on the ground in a bow, and every other construct in the city followed. Thousands of ancient machines now knelt in perfect formation, every weapon lowered and every core facing Kai. It was almost impossible to take in, an entire civilization’s army waiting on one person.

The media went wild. News anchors talked over each other, asking whether Nexus was witnessing the awakening of an ancient army, whether Kai was the Candidate from Aegis, whether he had triggered the awakening himself, and whether an ancient civilization was returning.

Kai closed his eyes. "This is a nightmare."

Sera smiled. "You look good on camera."

"That’s not helping."

"I’m trying to."

"You’re doing a terrible job."

Lily’s scanner began to beep, and she stared at it. "Kai. I think something is happening."

The nearest construct raised its head, and its chest opened to reveal a circular structure where ancient energy was gathering. The Hunters raised their weapons and moved into defensive positions.

"Everyone, stay calm," Gabriel said, stepping forward.

The machine didn’t attack. Instead, a projection formed above its core, and ancient symbols appeared in the air.

Lily’s expression slowly changed as she read them. "I can translate it."

"What does it say?" Kai asked.

Lily looked at him as the final symbols appeared, and her voice went quiet.

"CANDIDATE IDENTIFIED."

Kai froze, and the whole city seemed to fall away around him. This time, the words weren’t hidden in a ruin where only a few people could hear them.

They were floating in the middle of Nexus, in front of thousands of witnesses and every camera in the city, and Kai had no answer to give any of them.