The smoke and fierce heat of the Obsidian Elemental Caldera were a successful but faded memory. Ethan, Vulcan and Anchor returned to the crystalline platform of the Frozen Citadel, the Prime Nexus's profound stability providing a welcome break after the recent volcanic mayhem.
"The test was flawless" Ethan stated with genuine joy in his voice. "The Sovereign Aegis is holding, the Sovereign Footing is unbreakable and the Prime Analysis is a cheat code for structural destruction."
Vulcan hammer resting on his shoulder nodded proudly. "The gear is ready Witness. We're a flawlessly optimized group. We now head to the Sunken Forge of Aeons."
Vulcan consulted the Nexus readout. "The voyage demands several jumps through high-altitude stabilizers. First leg: The Crystal Shrouds an essential and steady hop—"
Vulcan was cut short. The air surrounding the nexus suddenly shrieked. The portal's orderly blue light ripped into a jagged chaotic rift unleashing a horrifying pulse of raw emotional energy into the Citadel.
"The target is failing" Vulcan exclaimed bracing himself. "The Nullity Covenant's synchronization must have occurred prematurely! It is causing widespread corrosive worry."
The portal nexus disintegrated into an eruption of furious crimson static. It emitted a violent emergency relocation signal indicating that a crucial element had been destabilized and violently pushed them through the uncontrolled rift.
They fell hard in the unknown and barren canyon. The air was dense with a pervasive painful uneasiness, indicating magical instability.
A disastrous sight awaited them, an enormous, old stone entity a Golem slumped against the canyon wall. Massive viscous streams of tears flowed down its face. They were contaminated with green-black dangerously unstable energy known as Corrosive Chaos Tears.
Where these tears met the ground the desert promptly dissolved into smoldering puddles of toxic raw mana which spread quickly and threatened the neighboring natural spring.
"What is that thing?" Vulcan demanded his voice full of shock. "Its mana conduits are failing! The foundation is eroding!"
"Emergency" Ethan said the Logic Bubble immediately overpowering his shock. "This isn't hostile combat, it's a structural failure."
"Anchor max dampening! Concentrate your field on the pools nearest the spring!" Vulcan shouted while deploying Anchor. The slime immediately applied its stabilizing power to the poisonous outflow.
"Vulcan this Golem is failing because the Nullity Covenant's synchronization process is creating a massive structural feedback loop" Ethan stated, aiming his Sovereign EX Camera. "Its system is overloading purging corrupted mana through its tear ducts."
The Golem suddenly gave forth a deep grinding sound not a cry but the sound of massive stone grinding against itself and its head convulsed spraying corrosive tears across the canyon. The ground trembled.
Ethan: "The Golem is resisting the corruption but its chaotic movement worsens the problem! I need to identify the specific failure points."
Ethan activated the PRIME ANALYSIS (EX-TIER) skill. The camera displayed a crystalline grid on the Golem's face. The Logic Bubble evaluated the data stream rapidly the corruption was concentrated in eleven high-stress mana conduits near the Golem's face. They were about to pierce the core and explode.
Ethan: "I've got the solution! The Golem is a huge anti-chaos control system but the Nullity Covenant's signal has flipped its polarity in eleven conduits. It must be manually sealed with a substance with complete anti-chaos stability."
"We have that!" Vulcan shouted his excitement building. "Prime Arcane Ice is a material of perfect order! We just returned from the Citadel I can infuse it with absolute anti-magic stability!"
"Exactly" Ethan confirmed his voice tense. "I need eleven miniature precisely calibrated Anti-Chaos Seals. They must be quickly forged, structurally perfect, and deployed within 90 seconds or the core will fail."
"Ninety seconds to create eleven Mythic-level seals on a battlefield? I love it!" Vulcan took a chunk of Prime Arcane Ice and positioned his hammer. "Anchor, complete stability lock in my immediate vicinity! No shaking!"
Vulcan knelt swiftly. The rhythm of his hammer Sovereign Integrity on the Arcane Ice was a flurry of accuracy. He forged them all at once resulting in a ribbon of crystalline seals. The Citadel's pure anti-magic powers permeated the ice rendering the seals chemically resistant to the chaotic tears.
Vulcan: (breathing heavily.) "Done! 11 seals Witness: the Golem is still thrashing! You need to climb and deploy! Its movement is wild rapid and totally unpredictable!"
The Golem quaked again releasing a torrent of tears and rock shards.
"Time for the new gear's performance" Ethan mumbled. He accepted Vulcan's seal ribbon.
He used Elemental Ghost and vanished reappearing at the base of the Golem's huge cheekbone. When he phased back in the Golem furiously twisted its head attempting to shrug him off.
Ethan quickly activated Sovereign Footing. The Arcane Ice in his Energy Anchors bound him to the changing unstable stone surface. The enormous vibrations hardly registered.
Ethan: "Conduit one: clear!"
He pierced the outer layer of the stone with the tip of the Shadow-Edge Silencer which was now an extremely precise tool revealing the first corrupted mana line a green-black corruption visible beneath. He inserted the first Anti-Chaos Seal into the conduit.
The conduit suddenly turned dark with the deadly green color replaced with a faint stable blue.
The Golem shrieked a harsh piercing sound of stone under great pressure and scraped its palm across its face narrowly missing Ethan.
Vulcan: "Watch your hands Witness! You are stabilizing it but it is resisting the intrusion!"
Ethan used Elemental Ghost again phasing through the Golem's lowering wrist. He returned near the tear ducts where the corruption was most concentrated. He moved with incredible speed relying on his Sovereign Footing to keep him anchored to the violently rocking surface.
Ethan: (Rapid fire communication) "Conduit two is sealed! Conduit three is sealed! The Golem is actively attempting to shake me off!"
He used his Prime Analysis to forecast the next convulsion detecting the energy gathering in the Golem's massive neck joint seconds before it occurred. He anticipated the movement and leapt across a quickly splitting fissure.
He deployed the final seals in a hasty manner the Corrosive Chaos Tears splashing harmlessly on his Core Aegis.
Ethan "Conduit ten! Conduit Eleven! Sealed! Get ready, Vulcan!"
When the final seal was secured the Golem let out a terrible metallic cry. It froze altogether. The flow of Corrosive Chaos Tears abruptly stopped replaced by a smooth transparent stream of pure stable Tears. The vast structure relaxed and its breathing settled into a quiet steady rumble. The toxic pools dissipated almost instantly as a result of the clean stabilizing tears.
Vulcan: (yelling with pure exhilaration) "It was an absolute success! Witness: that was not repair it was high-speed structural surgery under fire! The Golem is stable."
Ethan slid down the Golem's cheek settling lightly next to a reenergized and contented Vulcan.
"The structural integrity is restored" Ethan affirmed as he sheathed the Silencer. "The Golem is stable and the path is straightforward. The Nullity Covenant has just given us the ultimate practice run for temporal engineering."
The stable high-altitude portal nexus returned before them shining blue and true and the way to the Sunken Forge of Aeons was once again clear.