Chapter 1330 - Taming the Old World - 25.5 hours - 4

Chapter 1330: Chapter 1330 - Taming the Old World - 25.5 hours - 4

Victor immediately banked the Eagle, sending the winged beast into a steep and fast breathtaking dive toward the faulty construction site.

And while the rushing wind drowned out any further conversation, Ren’s mind inevitably drifted right back to the suffocating dilemma that refused to give him a moment of peace.

The dome prison...

The prospect of forging a seven-core array presented an overwhelmingly complex dilemma.

Seven primordial cores were too much for the current him.

Ren had realized the first step toward a viable solution was abandoning his rigid perfectionism. He was increasingly leaning toward managing fewer focal points, seriously considering dropping the count from seven down to six.

The tactical logic behind the downgrade was sound... Selthia had completely failed to secure any assets from the light-aligned dragons. She possessed neither a light ring nor a transcendent core, as the Vanguard had successfully claimed both prizes.

Without a concentrated light element energy available to filter through the 6 nodes array’s blind spot, Ren simply did not need to seal all seven fundamental forces anyway.

He only needed to lock down those six: the five standard elemental domains, plus the shadows.

A six-point containment grid formed a perfect hexagonal geometry too. That shape also offered one great architectural advantage: intrinsic structural stability.

Utilizing six cores alongside six ruin crystals translated to twelve active nodes rather than fourteen. Managing twelve focal points in perfect harmonic resonance was still a staggering burden. It required balancing two more nodes than the original ten-point dome, yet it spared his system the crushing weight of the full fourteen required for a seven-point star. That slight reduction in magical overhead might just be the exact threshold separating guaranteed suicide from a survivable risk.

Naturally, a 6 nodes shell would boast slightly less overall durability than a complete seven-point matrix. However, Ren ran the structural math... If he executed the weave flawlessly and packed extra density into the floor plate, a six-element lock would easily buy him several months of peace.

That was precisely the timeline he needed to elevate his primary symbiotic ally, Mooshito, all the way to the Platinum tier.

With a fully matured mushroom reinforcing his internal channels, Ren would finally unlock a broader range of options and a much wider margin for error. It offered a more realistic exit strategy from this subterranean trap without forcing him to gamble his life on an impossible array.

Six cores it was... He would commit to the hexagonal blueprint.

Unfortunately, scaling back the complexity did not instantly solve the underlying crisis. The core terrifying question remained entirely unanswered.

Would he possess the insane weaving speed required to synchronize all twelve nodes before the half mechanical beast broke out into the deeper vaults?

That was the lethal variable no amount of logistical planning could erase. The very second Ren dismantled the current lock, even by a fraction of an inch, or pulled the existing cores out to trigger his overload and wake Mooshito, the suppression field would instantly collapse.

The smothering weight of Selthia’s corrupted network would flood back into the cavern unchallenged.

The ancient purple parasite, which had spent days patiently compressing power for this exact scenario, would immediately seize the opening. It would strike with everything it had, desperate to breach the wall the moment Ren handed it a window.

It would be a frantic, brutal, high stakes, high speed race from the very first millisecond.

What would happen if he lost that race?

Ren forced himself not to consider the alternative, an option that chilled his blood far more than the runic puzzle.

Or perhaps attempting to rebuild the cage was the wrong play. Perhaps it was smarter to voluntarily rip the dome open and face the imprisoned dragon in direct combat, utilizing the assets he currently held: four sovereign rings and the concentrated power of the two ruin crystals.

The problem was his lack of certainty regarding a clean and fast victory.

He possessed two newly acquired rings, true, but his arsenal was significantly depleted of usable ruin crystals compared to his earlier campaigns. He reviewed his past engagements. Even before the corruption ended securing its five-headed Hydra fusion, he and his entire Vanguard squad had failed to instantly execute a single-headed dragon mutant relying on everything he had.

There was also a severe collateral danger to consider. If Ren initiated combat and the mechanical beast successfully deflected his opening barrage using the six indestructible artifacts welded to its mutant chassis, the sheer shockwave of that clash would damage the surrounding bedrock.

Ironically, the fallout from their brawl would shatter the cavern floor, inadvertently handing the creature the exact escape route into the deeper vaults it had been digging for. A poorly executed offensive could set the parasite free just as easily as a botched runic weave.

Squaring off against the original purple dragon, the ancient, calculating mind driving the entire corruption rather than a mindless puppet, with fewer external resources at his disposal was a staggering gamble. Engaging it in a brawl might actually carry a higher mortality rate than attempting the dome’s runic overhaul.

There was simply no clear, mathematically safe path forward.

????

Ren touched down beside the faulty artillery tower...

He forced himself to shove the crushing dilemma to the back of his mind, demanding absolute focus on the immediate present.

One crisis at a time.

The city defenses came first.

However, as he buried his hands deep into the glowing root structure and began manually realigning the ethereal splice into the subterranean vein, the dark thought remained anchored in his subconscious, steadily gnawing away at his composure. Regardless of which path he ultimately chose, a six-point grid, a seven-point star or open combat, every single scenario boiled down to the exact same brutal reality... A high-stakes race.

The very millisecond he tampered with the dome, the imprisoned monster would recognize that the stalemate was over. It would wake fully, Selthia’s corrupted grid would flood the chamber, and Ren would have a razor-thin window, a handful of seconds at most, to execute his strategy.

If he failed, the ancient enemy that had waited patiently in the dark for days would launch itself forward and claim the prize.

The invisible clock kept ticking. Barely twenty-five hours remained, and Ren still lacked a definitive answer.

He was armed only with an impossible dilemma, the geometric blueprint of a hexagon burning in his mind, and the deeply uncomfortable certainty that whatever path he selected, it was going to be a desperate gamble he had to win at all costs.

Just like always...