In the palace's Crystal Hall, music, silk, and laughter mixed together.Hundreds of nobles danced under the shining glasses raised in honor of Emperor Kaelthas.
Velira stood at the edge of the floor, holding an untouched glass.Lord Vorian had tried to invite her to dance, but she had refused.
Her thoughts were upstairs, on the "loyal" slave she had left in her room.She imagined the serious, almost childish expression he would make while cleaning his weapons, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.
"You trust him too much," Seraphina said, sliding next to Velira like a snake."Leaving a human alone in your room… with weapons, no less—"
Before Velira could reply, the ground shook.
First, a light tremor. The wine in the glasses rippled.Then came a deep, muffled sound.
BOOOOM!
Those looking through the palace's massive glass dome saw it.A dirty, black column of smoke rising from the lower districts of the city, right where the Aether Pump Stations were.
The music stopped.
"Attack!" someone shouted.
Below, chaos exploded in the streets.Sewer grates burst open, and thousands of slaves flooded into the squares, carrying pickaxes, clubs, and stolen swords.
At the front stood Vako, his massive axe in hand.
"Strike!" Vako roared, his voice unnaturally loud, as if powered by magic."The Silver City falls tonight! For freedom!"
Vako and Kaelen smashed through the first guard line.The rebels placed the "powder barrels" Eray had described near the pumps and detonated them. The explosion caused a brief ripple in the city's defensive barrier.
Vako looked up toward the palace, toward the balcony above.He expected to see Eray there, supporting them with that strange weapon.
"Come on, kid!" Vako shouted as he crushed a guard's skull."I know you're watching! Show us your power!"
But the balcony was empty.
And the Empire had recovered from its shock.
Emperor Kaelthas did not even rise from his throne.He simply waved his hand.
"Clean it up," he said, sounding bored.
Royal Mages stepped onto the palace terraces and began their attack.This was not a battle. It was extermination.
Fire rain, acid clouds, and spears of lightning poured from the sky.
Vako's "army of freedom" turned into burning flesh and ash.Kaelen melted under a sphere of acid without even screaming.Vako raised his axe one last time, but a lightning strike hit him square in the chest.
As he collapsed, his eyes were still fixed on the palace balcony.In his final breath, he did not think he was betrayed.He thought Eray was late.
"Where are you… Soldier?"
_ _ _
Up above, in Velira's room, Eray stepped inside from the balcony and pulled the heavy curtain shut.
He could hear the screams below.The smell of burnt flesh reached the room.He also heard Vako's voice fall silent.
There was no sadness on Eray's face.No regret.
"You fulfilled your role," he said coldly."And I fulfilled our agreement.You were pebbles caught in the gears of the machine. You slowed the system."
The display case was open.
Eray took the chest plate of the MK-4 Exo-Suit.The metal was cold. It smelled of rust and machine oil.To Eray, that smell was a thousand times better than lavender.
He put the armor on.
Into the crystal slot on his back, he inserted the raw, unprocessed Aether crystal he had stolen days earlier from Gorak's depot.
The suit's engines coughed to life.Vrrrjjtt… Hiss.
Hydraulics locked. The weight vanished.Eray's body merged with the skeleton of a tank.
The visor lit up before his eyes.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING…EXTERNAL ARMOR: NONEENERGY LEVEL: 34%WEAPON SYSTEMS: ACTIVE
Eray picked up the Lightning Rifle.He checked the magazine. Full.He attached the Trench Knife to its magnetic lock.
The Soul-Binding Collar around his neck flickered wildly due to the energy surge.Its red light pulsed, burning—but now, he could endure it.
Eray grabbed the collar with the Exo-Suit's powered glove and applied full force.
"I have no master anymore," he said.
With brute strength, Eray tore the collar off, ripping skin along with it.Blood ran down his neck, but he didn't feel it.Adrenaline and the suit's pain suppressors were active.
At that moment, the door burst open.
Two Elite Guards stormed in.
"By the Princess's order! Step away from the balco—"
They froze.
The weak, obedient slave was gone.Before them stood a half-human, half-machine Metal Monster, eyes glowing behind the visor.
"What is that?!" one shouted, drawing his sword.
Eray raised the rifle. He didn't aim. At this range, he couldn't miss.
"Technology," Eray said.
He pulled the trigger.
BAM!
The sound wasn't like a magical blast.It was dry, deafening, mechanical.
The first guard's chest armor tore open like paper under the 7.62mm rune-piercing round.The bullet exited his back and embedded itself into Velira's portrait on the wall.
The second guard stood frozen in shock.Eray didn't fire again. He charged forward.
With a single Exo-Suit–powered punch, he crushed the man's helmet inward.The guard flew back like a rag doll.
Eray didn't look at the bodies.He ran for the balcony.
Below, on the ballroom terrace, Velira heard the gunshot and looked up.
And then she saw it.
A metal mass leaping from her balcony.
Eray didn't fight gravity. He used it as a weapon.At the last second, he fired the suit's thrusters and crashed into the lower garden, landing hard among Velira's beloved roses.
THUD!
The ground exploded upward.
Velira rushed to the balcony and looked down.
Among the ruined roses, she saw that figure rise like a metallic insect and sprint into the darkness.
"Eray…" Velira whispered.Her shock turned into pure horror.
Eray didn't look back as he ran.But in his mind, he could see Velira's face.
Vako was dead.Kaelen was dead.Thousands of slaves were dead.Velira's heart was broken.
And Eray was free.
"Phase one complete," he muttered, his voice echoing inside the mechanical helmet."The Moon Tower remains."
In the streets of the Silver City, while the blood of rebellion was still wet,Eray moved like a ghost through the shadows, heading toward the great Aether Crystal.