Chapter 321 - First Layer

Chapter 321

First Layer

Alexander stood at the edge of the cliff where he’d watched Maximilian’s fight against Caroline, Droney hovering overhead. He could see some of the others gathering on the beach below, having returned from the Beastworld hunt.

From what Augustus had told him, the pack of Tier 2 beasts had numbered in the fifties and appeared to be roaming toward the gateway. That explained why Commander Lesley had put a call out for volunteers.

Thankfully, none of them looked seriously injured, though a few of them had clearly taken hits. Felix was even working a bit of healing on Frank, while Helena watched on, wringing her hands while Frank waved off her concern.

Down below, three bioelectrical signatures left the mansion, then launched into the air before flying up the face of the cliff toward him. Maximilian, Julia, and Annie burst into view at the same time, arcing into the air and then landing on the grass behind him.

“This is a good view, Rooke,” Maximilian said a moment later.

Alexander glanced over his shoulder. Maximilian had flown up the cliff face under his own power, his body almost completely transformed into the hybrid-dragon form. Already his wings were shrinking, along with the scales, as he returned to his fully human shape.

Annie kept her wings out, while the rest of her metal withdrew back inside her body.

Julia crossed over to Alexander, wrapped one arm around him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

“It’s the second best place on the island,” Alexander said. “Third, if I include my workshop, which I’m not really feeling right now.”

Annie flopped out on the grass beside him. “That’s what happens when you lock yourself in your room for days on end, dude.”

Maximilian stepped up beside Julia and Alexander, then crossed his arms.

“Where’s the best spot?” Julia asked.

Alexander wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pointed off into the distance, toward the far end of the island. “There’s a little beach cove set into mostly cliffs over there. It even has a small cave network and some underwater tunnel systems. I’m convinced the original owner of the island didn’t know about it, or else he’d have built his mansion atop the cliffs there instead.”

“You’ll have to show me sometime.”

“It’s a date.”

The three of them stood there quietly for a few moments, watching as more and more people gathered below. Some of them returning from the Beastworld. Others coming through the doorway from Astra Omnia.

“Are you confident, Alex?” Maximilian asked, cutting through the silence. “Mrs. Delvane will push you hard.”

Alexander chuckled. “It’s not a real fight, Max. I’m not worried.” He felt Julia’s arm tighten around him and cleared his throat. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m taking it seriously. But this is more like a chance to really test some things that I’ve been working on for a long time than an actual throwdown. I’m looking forward to it.”

Maximilian nodded. “We didn’t get a chance to speak after I sparred with her. What did you think?”

He glanced at Maximilian. The Dragon Lord stared intently out over the sea, not making eye contact. For a moment, he allowed his Will to filter over his senses, revealing the hundreds of thousands of golden threads connecting to the man, and stretching all the way out to the horizon in every direction.

Maximilian shone gold. It was the same color as the draconic features the man adopted, particularly the eyes and scales.

He wondered if he looked the same. Just with way cooler lightning eyes.

Alexander relaxed his Will, and reality returned to normal. “I got your message loud and clear,” he said. And meant it. They both understood the danger of a Divine who’d lost control. Or never cared about it in the first place. “I trust you’ll do the same for me if that day ever comes.”

Maximilian nodded. “I will.”

“What are you two going on about?” Annie asked, looking up at them from her spot on the grass. “Trying to act all mysterious and shit.”

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Julia laughed. “Don’t bother, Annie. They’re just being men.” She leaned a bit harder into Alexander’s shoulder. “Though in their case, at least they have a good reason for it.”

Annie snorted.

But before she could open her mouth to retort, a distant blur dropped through the clouds, Caroline’s shockwave blasting them apart in her wake. She looked to be coming from the direction of Italy. Maybe Naples or Rome.

“Time for your ass-kicking, Alex,” Annie said gleefully.

Alexander grinned. “You don’t have to sound so excited about it, sidekick.”

Annie shrugged. “Can’t help it. I put up with three weeks of her abuse. Now it’s your turn.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that,” Julia muttered. “She might put you through a refresher course.”

Annie shut up.

Caroline came to an abrupt stop high in the sky, and the displaced air hit them a second later hard enough to flatten the grass and send everyone’s hair waving wildly.

“Mr. Rooke,” she called out, clasping her hands behind her back. “How long are you going to keep me waiting?”

Alexander stared up at her.

“She just got here,” he muttered. “I’ve been waiting the past ten minutes.”

Julia kissed him on the cheek and gently shoved him forward. “Have fun. But try not to break anything.”

Alexander turned and held out his arms while walking backward toward the edge of the cliff. “Where’s the fun in that? That’s why we have healers.”

Julia rolled her eyes.

Maximilian met his gaze and nodded once while Annie shot him a thumbs up.

Then his foot found nothing but air and he fell backward over the cliff. Wind tore at his clothes as he rushed toward the ground below. With a thought, he reached into the ring and released everything. Each piece of the fully repaired and upgraded Orbital Assault Combat Suit, the two halves of the Droney Mech Chassis, and dozens of wedge-shaped drones tumbled through the air alongside him.

Droney let out a long, piercing beep that echoed off the rock face. Both halves of the chassis were already closing in, moving into flanking position, before snapping together and twisting shut, cutting off Droney’s beep.

An instant later, the blue holo-visor flared to life, and Mecha-Droney dropped into formation.

Technopathy and Metallokinesis pulsed in unison. Each component of the OACS opened along its new micro-seam and accelerated toward him, chest plates sliding into position while the vambraces snapped closed around his forearms and greaves locked into place around his legs, each piece fitting and sealing in a sequence so perfectly engineered it happened in the time it took him to fall another thirty meters.

The helmet descended over his head and the world went dark.

Then the HUD ignited. The tactical overlay, with power readouts and atmospheric data, flooded his vision as the suit completed its boot sequence and his sight returned.

Still falling backward, Alexander got his first look at the Machine God System in action as each wedge-shaped drone activated and began angling toward and snapping into position, joining itself to Mecha-Droney.

With a grin, he spun and pulsed Metallokinesis, accelerating hard. His descent became an arc as he raced across the treetops fast enough to rip leaves free of branches, leaving them scattering in his wake.

Mecha-Droney matched him without hesitation, barely trailing behind him as more and more of the wedge-drones snapped into position.

Alexander cleared trees and blew across the beach. Sand erupted in a wave behind him, and the people gathered below scattered, shielding their faces and shouting. Most of them were laughing.

Some of them, like Frank, yelled insults after him.

Alexander angled upward and climbed, putting on more speed once he was clear of the beach.

Mecha-Droney pulled alongside him. Now fully wrapped in the first layer of the Machine God System, it was big enough to fill up most of a bedroom, having grown from two meters in diameter to three.

Annie’s scream carried from the clifftop, picked up by Mecha-Droney’s long-range audio sensors.

“What the fuck is thaaaaaat?!”

Alexander slowed to a stop.

Across from him, Caroline did not look impressed. She looked him up and down, then turned to Mecha-Droney.

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? You decided to give up your biggest advantage and face me by merging all of your drones into one giant target for me to smash?”

Alexander glanced at a small warning flashing on the inside of the helmet. The OACS had a leak. It was tiny, but enough to break the seal.

Thankfully, he had no plans to fight anywhere without oxygen today. Unless she buried him in the ocean below.

With a thought, he released the catch on the visor, reached up and slid it open.

Alexander smiled at Caroline. She had no idea what she was about to face. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Very well, then.”

Caroline blurred, crossing the distance between her and Mecha-Droney in an instant despite holding back, then drove a punch toward the massive sphere.

Alexander’s Domain exploded outward. Animachina empowered Droney, and through it, the entire connected Machine God System.

Several layers of shields snapped into existence, stacked between Caroline and Mecha-Droney. Her strike connected, shattering through the first one, then the second and third, before stopping at the fourth.

Caroline drew her arm back. “Okay. That’s mildly impressive.”

Alexander grinned. Mecha-Droney mimicked him, a holographic grin appearing below the visor.

“Soul Circuit.”

A bolt of lightning as wide as Caroline was tall erupted from Mecha-Droney’s mouth, swallowing Caroline and sending her hurtling backward through the air.