Alvian sagged, his mana bar empty. The [Tear of the Infinite] kicked in, rapidly refilling him, but the mental strain was immense.

Below him, Ignis stared up in horror. His power source was gone. The heat in the room began to fade. His glowing skin turned a dull, rocky grey.

"My fire..." Ignis whispered. "You stole my fire."

Alvian jumped down from the walkway, landing in front of the weakened Governor.

"I didn't steal it," Alvian said, equipping [Voidpiercer]. "I just turned down the thermostat."

Ignis roared, a last, desperate attempt to attack. He swung a heavy, rocky fist.

Alvian didn't dodge. He sidestepped and drove the dagger into the gap in Ignis's chest armor.

"SQUELCH."

M

The [Void Corruption] spread instantly. Without the intense heat to burn it away, Ignis's body succumbed. The rock turned to dust. The fire died.

"Long live... the surface..." Ignis rasped, and then he crumbled.

[You have slain Lord Ignis (Level 55 Boss)!]

[Experience Gained: 1,800,000!]

[Level Up!]

[Level 57.]

M

Alvian stood in the pile of ash. He reached down and picked up a heavy iron key ring from the remains.

[Item: Key to the Industrial Sector.]

"One down," Alvian whispered. "One to go."

He activated his comms.

"Valeria. The heat is off. Send in Kincaid's engineers to secure the facility. I'm heading to the Deep District."

"Copy that," Valeria's voice was filled with relief. "But Alvian... Shui knows you're coming. The water pressure in the Deep District just spiked. She's fortifying."

"Good," Alvian said, walking toward the exit. "Pressure creates diamonds. Let's see if she breaks."

--

The silence inside the Central Thermal Core Control Room was absolute, broken only by the settling of cooling metal and the low hum of the [Tear of the Infinite] regenerating Alvian's mana. The air still tasted of ash and sulfur, the lingering ghosts of the battle that had just concluded. Lord Ignis, the Magma Sovereign, was gone, reduced to a pile of cooling slag and scattered loot.

Alvian stood amidst the wreckage. He adjusted the collar of his [Vestments of the Void Monarch]. The heat was still intense enough to blister skin, but his passives held the temperature at bay. He picked up the heavy iron ring—the [Key to the Industrial Sector]—and weighed it in his hand.

It was heavy. Not just with physical mass, but with authority.

"One down," Alvian whispered. "The easy one."

He turned toward the ruined blast doors. The sound of heavy boots and the cycling of thermal weapons echoed from the corridor beyond. The Magma Troopers. Ignis's elite guard. They hadn't entered the room during the duel, likely under orders to guard the perimeter or perhaps fearful of the volatile energies their master was unleashing. But now that the noise of battle had ceased, they were coming to investigate.

Alvian walked toward the exit. He didn't run. He didn't hide. He walked with the rhythmic, inevitable gait of a conqueror.

He stepped through the shattered remains of the blast doors and into the main gantry.

Fifty Magma Troopers stood in formation. They were massive Genasi, their brass power armor hissing with steam, their thermal lances leveled at the doorway. When they saw Alvian emerge instead of their Lord, a ripple of confusion went through the ranks.

"Halt!" the Captain of the Guard bellowed, stepping forward. He was a towering figure, his armor adorned with red chevrons. "Where is Governor Ignis? Identify yourself, intruder!"

Alvian stopped. He looked at the Captain. He didn't speak immediately. He let the silence stretch, let the tension build until it was a physical weight in the air.

He raised his left hand. He held up the [Key to the Industrial Sector].

"The Governor has resigned," Alvian stated, his voice amplified by a subtle application of wind mana. "Permanently."

The Captain's eyes, visible through the slit of his helmet as burning coals, widened. He recognized the key. It was the symbol of the District's command, bound to the Governor's bio-signature. It could only be taken from a corpse.

"You... you murdered him!" the Captain roared. The confusion vanished, replaced by the hot, bright anger of a soldier. "Troopers! Open fire! Avenge the Lord!"

"Inefficient," Alvian sighed.

The Troopers raised their lances. The air began to shimmer as fifty thermal beams charged simultaneously.

Alvian didn't dodge. He didn't raise a shield. He accessed the [Heart of Azureus]—the Admin-Level Artifact he had received from Oceanus.

"System. Admin Override. Target: Industrial District Defense Grid."

[Accessing...]

[Authorization: High Marshall Alvian.]

[Command: Weapon Lock.]

"ZZZ-CHUNK!"

M

The sound was simultaneous and deafening. Fifty thermal lances jammed at once. The mana feeds cut off. The glowing red barrels dimmed and died. The Troopers pulled their triggers, but nothing happened.

"What?" The Captain stared at his weapon, shaking it. "System failure? Impossible!"

"It is not failure," Alvian said, walking down the ramp toward them. "It is new management."

He stopped ten feet from the Captain. The Genasi soldier, realizing his ranged weapon was useless, drew a massive, heated vibro-blade from his back.

"Die, usurper!" The Captain lunged. He was fast, Level 46 Elite, his strike powered by grief and rage.

Alvian watched the blade descend. Time seemed to slow.

[Void Step].

Alvian didn't teleport away. He teleported into the Captain's guard. He appeared inside the swing arc, his body almost touching the Captain's armor.

"SQUELCH."

M

Alvian didn't use a flashy skill. He drove [Voidpiercer] upward, under the Captain's chin, through the soft seal of the helmet, and into the brain.

[Target Neutralized.]

The Captain went rigid. The blade fell from his hand, clattering onto the metal floor. Alvian stepped back as the massive body collapsed with a heavy crash.

Silence returned to the gantry. The remaining forty-nine troopers stared at their dead Captain, then at the man in black who had killed him with a single motion.

Alvian looked at them. His violet eyes swept over the ranks.

"Ignis is dead," Alvian announced, his voice cold and devoid of mercy. "His ambition burned him. His refusal to integrate doomed him. You have two choices."

He pointed [Voidpiercer] at the floor.

"One: You follow him into the ash. I will slaughter every single one of you. It will take me approximately three minutes. It is a waste of time and resources, but I will do it."

He pointed the dagger at the ceiling, toward the city above.

"Two: You recognize the new chain of command. You accept that the Void Sanctum is the only authority in Azureus. You join the Abyssal Guard."

The troopers hesitated. They looked at each other. They looked at the dead Captain. They looked at their useless rifles.

"The Draconic Legion is coming," Alvian continued, pressing the advantage. "They are not coming to negotiate. They are coming to eat. Ignis thought he could hide behind his thermal walls. He was wrong. I am the only one who can stop them. I am the only one who can save your families in the residential sectors."

One trooper, standing in the back, lowered his useless rifle. He dropped to one knee.

Then another.

Then ten.

Within seconds, the entire gantry was filled with kneeling giants.

[System Notification: Faction Expansion.]

[The Industrial District Garrison has surrendered.]

[+800 Troops added to the Abyssal Guard.]

[Resource Acquired: The Great Foundry.]

"Good," Alvian said. He tapped his comms crystal. "Kincaid."

"Boss?" Kincaid's voice crackled through, sounding breathless. "I'm securing the food stores in the Agri-Domes. You get the fire?"

"I got the fire," Alvian said. "Sending you the authorization codes for the Foundry now. Get your engineers down here. I want the thermal plants back online and synchronized with the Palace grid within the hour. We need that power for the city shields."

"On it," Kincaid laughed. "You work fast, Boss."

"Valeria," Alvian switched channels.

"Here," Valeria responded immediately. "I'm holding the perimeter at the Deep District border. Shui knows you took down Ignis. Her forces are digging in."

"I'm coming to you," Alvian said. He walked past the kneeling troopers, not even glancing at them. "Get the Vanguard ready. We're going to the trenches."

He stepped onto the district's local teleportation pad. He inserted the Key.

"Activate."

As the world dissolved into light, Alvian checked his list. Fire was secured. Water was next. And Shui… she was smarter than Ignis. She wouldn't fight him with brute force. She would use the dark.

She would use the Syndicate.

A/N: Creation is wild, exhausting, and sometimes my brain wants to run away. Power stones are my only bargaining chip to drag it back. If you liked this chapter, toss me one or a few, it helps more than you think.

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