Chapter 69: The Execution & The Loot

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: The Execution & The Loot

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." — Benjamin Franklin

•••

The chimera attacked first, swinging a massive fist with nearly two tons of force behind it.

Joel deliberately took the blow on his shoulder.

KRRK!

His Bastion absorbed the impact and stored the energy.

The attack pushed him backward, his boots carving two deep trenches across the floor. But this time, he remained standing.

Every bit of force was added to his stored energy.

At that moment, a warm wave of water passed through his body.

FSHHHH!

Thalassa’s healing ability took effect immediately.

Joel’s broken ribs began repairing themselves, and within moments, they were completely healed.

[Ding!]

[Bound skill relayed: Tide of Restoration. Internal damage repaired. Integrity: 38 percent... 71 percent... climbing.]

"Stand still," Thalassa advised, her three glowing halos turning slowly. "I’m healing you."

"Noted. Send the bill to the landlord."

The chimera attacked again.

The second blow came as a powerful hook, followed by a knee strike.

KRRK! KRRK!

Joel’s Bastion absorbed both attacks, storing their force as energy. His bones held firm this time.

Between the attacks, another warm wave of healing water passed through his body, repairing his injuries and increasing his Integrity.

Behind Thalassa, Vulcan opened fire.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Superheated projectiles struck the chimera’s upper body, exploding in bursts of white fire.

Its three jaws screamed as it raised all eight arms to protect itself.

Vulcan wasn’t trying to kill it. He was simply keeping it occupied.

Joel calmly moved forward beneath the raised arms, stepping into the darkness under the chimera’s enormous body.

"Nyx."

"Architect."

She was already moving.

Darkness spread across the stone floor, gathering beneath Malakor’s twelve-meter body.

Within moments, Nyx’s shadows completely covered the chimera’s own shadow.

Six blades shot out from Nyx in the blink of an eye.

SHNK!

The blades pierced the chimera’s shadow, pinning its wrists, heels, and spine to the floor.

Not its actual body, but its shadow.

Malakor immediately understood what had happened. For nine years, he had trapped students inside his experiments. Now, he was the one trapped.

The chimera struggled violently.

Its eight arms swung in every direction, while its three jaws roared in anger.

But its feet wouldn’t move.

No matter how hard it struggled, its body remained fixed in place.

Malakor tried using his needle-like fingers and hooks to cut his own shadow free.

Nothing worked.

His massive twelve-meter body continued struggling, but Nyx’s ability held him firmly.

"Rude," Nyx commented from the darkness. "You shouldn’t keep a lady waiting."

Joel calmly approached the trapped creature.

Standing close enough to smell the chemicals and burnt flesh, he activated Soul Sight.

His gaze passed through the thick bone armor covering Malakor’s chest.

There, hidden behind his sternum, was an enormous heart nearly the size of a church bell.

Inside it, the stolen red core continued glowing.

Joel had found his target.

His Bastion had already stored the force from Malakor’s previous attacks. All the crushing blows he had endured had filled his energy reserves.

Now, he only needed one opportunity to release everything.

He planted his feet firmly on the floor.

And just as he expected, Malakor attacked.

Two enormous cleaver-hands grabbed Joel by the shoulders and lifted him toward the chimera’s three faces.

The creature tightened its grip, preparing to crush him just as it had done earlier.

But this was exactly what Joel wanted.

He had spent the past two minutes allowing Malakor to attack him, knowing the professor would eventually try the same move again.

And Malakor had fallen for it.

"That’s right," Joel said calmly. "Hold still."

Before Malakor could react, Joel released all the energy stored inside his Bastion.

Every powerful blow, every crushing impact, and every bit of force he had absorbed gathered into his fist.

All that power was compressed into a single devastating strike.

Then Joel punched forward.

KRRK!

His fist tore straight through the thick bone armor covering Malakor’s chest.

[Ding!]

[Skill channeled: ’Meteor Piercer’ (Compressed). Full-bank kinetic discharge, contact radius.]

[Target: primary mana core.]

THOOM!

The explosion erupted inside the chimera’s chest.

Its enormous heart collapsed instantly, destroying the glowing red core within it.

Malakor’s massive body suddenly froze.

His three jaws stopped moving in the middle of a word. All three had been saying the same thing, almost as if he were about to speak kindly.

For a brief moment, the twelve-meter monster stood completely still.

Then its body began falling apart.

Pieces of bone, flesh, and broken grafts crashed to the floor.

Within three seconds, the entire chimera had collapsed.

Nothing moved again.

Its remains scattered around Joel’s feet, while the shadow Nyx had pinned finally broke free and returned to normal.

Thalassa released her pressure sphere, sending a gentle wave of water across the laboratory.

The water extinguished the remaining flames.

FSHHHH!

[Ding!]

[Boss eliminated: Malakor, the Flesh-Crafter. Rift-Chimera form terminated. Kill registered: instantaneous.]

[Experience awarded: exceeds prior single-entry record.]

[Level increased: 33 to 34.]

[Fate Points: boss elimination bonus +3. Balance: 20.]

[Ding!]

[Hidden quest completed: The Ambush’s Architect. The handler is deceased.]

[Hidden quest advanced: Undertow. The source of the ’vault intake’ entries is closed. Shipment remains: 7 days.]

•••

Behind the framed certificates at the back of the laboratory, Joel found a hidden safe.

Nine Instructor of the Year awards hung neatly on the wall, each carefully cleaned and maintained.

Behind the ninth frame was a steel door with a combination dial.

Joel turned the dial, using the number he had heard the creature beneath the laboratory repeat.

Nine. Nine. Nine.

K-CHK!

The safe unlocked.

"One number," Joel muttered. "The man used one number and still called it a combination."

He opened the door.

Inside were valuable documents.

Research notes, subject files, lists of purchased materials, and letters exchanged with buyers from the Eclipse Syndicate.

There were also nine years of student records, expedition schedules, and delivery routes, all carefully organized.

The documents revealed how Malakor’s entire operation had worked and pointed toward the people giving him orders.

At the top of the pile was Subject Zero’s file, including records of the injections Malakor had performed.

Joel examined the file carefully, remembering what the professor had become.

Then he gathered every document and placed them inside his satchel.

[Ding!]

[Item acquired: Malakor’s private research (Evidence grade). Names the network above the handler.]

Next came the money.

A black metal ingot lay inside the safe, engraved with its value and payable to whoever held it.

Beneath it were neatly stacked bundles of banknotes, each carefully tied together.

[Ding!]

[Currency acquired: 4,700,000 Spire-Credits (bearer grade). Source: deceased. No next of kin filed.]

Four point seven million.

Joel had dealt with richer men before, but never one who had kept his entire fortune so neatly packed.

He arranged the banknotes around the ingot, making sure everything was properly stored.

Finally, at the back of the safe, he found a strange object resting alone on a shelf.

It was a small folding ruler made of black brass, with several joints connected by hinges.

The moment Joel picked it up, he felt a faint vibration in his palm.

Curious, he unfolded one section.

Suddenly, the far wall appeared directly in front of his face.

It wasn’t an illusion.

The space between him and the wall had actually folded, bringing it within inches of his nose.

Joel slowly folded the ruler shut.

The wall returned to its original position.

Realizing how powerful the strange artifact was, he carefully put it away.

[Ding!]

[Item acquired: ’Folding Rule’ (Rare, Spatial-Distortion). Effect: folds measured distance. Handle by the numbers.]

"Architect." Nyx’s voice came from the darkness above. "What about the tanks?"

Forty tanks stood along the walls, each half-filled with green liquid. Inside were the bodies of forty students whose families believed they had died in the Deep.

Beneath the sealed hatch, the strange creature continued repeating its number.

"...nine..."

Joel looked at the tanks for a moment.

"They deserve a proper cremation," he said. "It’s the only thing we can still give them. Besides, we have better evidence now."

He adjusted his satchel.

"Documents."

Then he turned toward Vulcan, who stood cooling in the middle of the laboratory.

"Vulcan. Burn everything. Leave nothing that could prove we were here."

THMM!

"Final inspection," the Forge-Lord announced before opening his furnace.

RRRRMMMM!

Intense heat spread through the laboratory.

The glass tanks began melting, their contents spilling onto the floor. The forty students’ remains turned to ash, while the metal and glass collapsed into glowing pools.

On the rear wall, Malakor’s nine Instructor of the Year certificates caught fire and burned away one after another.

Even the hidden chamber beneath the hatch was consumed by the heat.

The creature inside was still counting when its voice suddenly stopped.

"...ni—"

The living flesh blocking the stairwell began pulling apart under the intense heat, opening a passage.

Joel calmly walked upstairs, carrying his satchel and the strange folding ruler he had taken from the safe.

Nyx moved ahead through the shadows, while Thalassa followed in a gentle wave of water.

Once they were clear, Joel recalled all three members of his legion into his core.

[Ding!]

[Fate-Bound Legion: recalled. Slots: 3 of 3, dormant.]

[Area effect logged: thermal slagging. Traces of intrusion: none.]

The annex above was empty and dark. There were no tripwires left in the corridor, since Malakor had already removed them.

Joel walked through the open door and stepped into the cool night air, just before dawn.

Seven days remained before the shipment.

He now had a satchel filled with names and evidence he could hand to the Inquisition whenever he chose.

Thalassa had once asked why he wouldn’t simply report Malakor to the Spire.

Now the answer was clear.

The Spire could only punish what it could find, and Joel had made sure nothing remained of Malakor’s operation.

He had also gained a valuable black ingot, a strange ruler capable of folding space, and given forty dead students a final resting place.

Malakor had promised that his door was always open, especially at night.

Joel had settled everything.

And behind him, the professor’s door had melted beyond repair.