This is the bonus chapter for reaching 300 Powerstones.
--
Deep within the ruins, Lone Wolf suddenly went on high alert.
A terrible sense of danger crawled up his spine.
It was the kind of instinct that could only be developed after countless encounters with death.
He raised his head and looked toward the open ground beyond the wreckage.
There, thirty figures were kneeling on one knee.
Thirty enormous launchers rested on their shoulders.
Every barrel was aimed directly at the ruins where he and Sejanus were hiding.
Lone Wolf's pupils contracted violently.
He recognized those weapons.
Whirlwind-X Single-Tube Rocket Launchers.
Game store price: 300,000 Imperial Coins apiece.
Each missile covered an area one hundred meters in diameter.
And thirty of them fired simultaneously...
He didn't even dare finish that thought.
"BROTHER SEJANUS!!!"
His desperate scream rang through the ruins, filled with a level of terror he'd never experienced before.
"RUN!!!"
Sejanus turned.
He saw the terror on Lone Wolf's face.
Then he followed the direction of the young man's pointing finger.
Thirty kneeling figures stood beyond the ruins.
Thirty enormous missile launchers rested on their shoulders.
Sejanus's pupils contracted.
His mind raced.
Thirty missile launchers.
Thirty missiles.
A blast area stretching across at least a thousand meters.
There was no way they could escape.
His gaze swept across the five white-armored figures still fighting among the ruins.
His brothers.
His warriors.
They were still risking their lives in battle.
A low growl rose from Sejanus's throat.
He raised his bolter toward the thirty figures beyond the ruins and opened fire desperately.
Three bolt rounds struck one Chaos player, killing him instantly.
But before the man collapsed, his finger had already pressed the launch button.
And in the next instant...
Thirty flashes of fire erupted simultaneously.
Lone Wolf's eyelids twitched violently.
He watched thirty white exhaust trails streak toward them at terrifying speed.
His mind raced.
He opened the system store.
His fingers flew across the search bar, desperately entering keywords.
Protection. Shield. Explosion. Defense...
Suddenly, an item caught his eye.
[Personal Energy Shield Generator]
Type: Defensive Device
Function: Generates a spherical energy shield five meters in diameter, capable of withstanding heavy explosive impacts and sustained energy damage.
Duration: 30 seconds
Recharge Time: 72 hours
Price: 888,000 Imperial Coins
Lone Wolf's eyes lit up.
He didn't hesitate for a second.
His finger slammed down on the purchase button.
888,000 Imperial Coins vanished from his balance instantly.
A fist-sized silver device materialized in his hand.
At almost the exact same moment, the thirty Whirlwind missiles reached their position.
Lone Wolf had no time to explain anything.
He grabbed Sejanus by the arm and slammed the silver device onto the ground.
Then he pressed the activation button on top with all his strength.
WHOOOOM!
Silver light erupted from the device.
It spread rapidly through the surrounding air, expanding and condensing into a shimmering barrier.
In the blink of an eye, a spherical energy shield five meters in diameter formed around them.
Sejanus froze.
He stared at the shimmering silver barrier surrounding them.
Then at the rockets rapidly closing in.
His mouth opened slightly.
He wanted to say something.
But a second later...
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
Thirty Whirlwind missiles detonated simultaneously.
It looked like the end of the world.
Blinding white fire swallowed everything.
The shockwaves carried metal fragments and chunks of concrete in every direction, pulverizing everything in their path.
The elite Luna Wolves still fighting in the ruins were consumed by the explosions in the very first second.
Their white power armor melted in the tremendous heat.
Their flesh evaporated under the force of the blast.
They didn't even have time to scream before disappearing into the sea of fire.
The Chaos players suffered the same fate.
They had barely fired their missiles before the resulting explosions engulfed them.
Their lightweight power armor ruptured in the intense heat.
Their bodies disintegrated beneath the shockwaves.
And their usernames all turned gray at almost the exact same moment.
--
Outside the palace's main gate, Abaddon suddenly stopped.
His gaze swept across the layers of ruined buildings toward an enormous pillar of flame rising in the distance.
The fireball surged into the sky, illuminating half the sky.
A wave of heat and pressure swept across the battlefield, making his cloak whip violently behind him.
Abaddon frowned deeply.
"What was that?"
He muttered to himself.
Loken stood beside him, also staring toward the enormous fireball.
His expression remained unchanged.
But his hand slowly clenched into a fist.
Not far behind them, a group of players wearing Imperial Army uniforms had also stopped moving.
[I Want to be the Imperial Regent] stared through his rifle scope at the towering flames.
His pupils contracted slightly.
"Fuck..."
He muttered over the channel.
"Lone Wolf's group..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Because everyone understood what he meant.
An explosion on that scale could flatten an entire palace.
Sejanus...
Could he possibly still be alive?
On the other side of the battlefield, however, one group reacted very differently.
[Chaos Warmaster Abba-Egg] crouched behind a ruined wall, watching the enormous fireball.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"They did it."
His voice was quiet over the channel.
"Those crazy bastards actually went through with it."
"Thirty Whirlwind-X missiles..."
"Sejanus is definitely dead this time."
The Chaos players around him erupted into barely restrained cheers.
--
Three kilometers beyond the center of the explosion, at the edge of a blackened field of rubble...
A charred hand emerged from beneath the debris.
The skin had been completely burned away, exposing red muscle tissue and white bone underneath.
But it was still moving.
The hand began pushing aside the rubble covering its owner.
One piece.
Two pieces.
Three.
When the final chunk of debris was pushed away, a figure slowly crawled out.
He stood approximately 1.9 meters tall.
Every inch of skin on his body had been burned away, exposing the red muscle tissue underneath.
His hair was gone.
His eyebrows were gone.
Even his lips had been burned off, leaving two rows of white teeth completely exposed.
Heat radiated from his entire body.
He looked like someone who had just crawled out of a cremation furnace.
"Fuck..."
His voice was as rough as two pieces of sandpaper grinding together.
"Eight hundred and eighty-eight thousand Imperial Coins..."
"Gone in a few fucking seconds..."
He looked toward Sejanus, who had shielded him against his chest at the final moment and taken the force of the explosion across his own back.
A massive white-armored figure, 2.4 meters tall, was still hunched protectively over him.
Sejanus's once-pristine power armor was horribly deformed, covered in cracks and blackened scorch marks.
His white helmet was gone, exposing a pale face.
Blood covered his features.
His breathing was so faint that it was almost impossible to detect.
But he was alive.
[Undying Silver Lone Wolf] slowly struggled to his feet.
His legs trembled.
His burned body radiated heat.
Every inch of exposed flesh screamed with unbearable pain.
He bent down and reached toward Sejanus with his equally charred hands.
Then he carefully hoisted the injured captain onto his back.
Sejanus was heavy.
He stood 2.4 meters tall.
And that wasn't even counting the enormous weight of his power armor.
Lone Wolf staggered under the burden, nearly collapsing.
But he gritted his teeth and forced himself to remain standing.
He raised his head.
Throughout the false Emperor's palace, the sounds of battle still raged.
Lone Wolf drew a deep breath.
Then he took his first step.
His burned foot came down on the blackened ruins, leaving a bloody footprint behind.
His body trembled.
His vision blurred.
His consciousness was slowly beginning to fade.
Suddenly, Sejanus stirred on his back.
A weak voice sounded beside his ear.
"Easton..."
Lone Wolf stopped for a moment.
He turned his head slightly.
Sejanus had opened his eyes and was looking at him.
There was shock in those eyes.
And gratitude.
"You..."
Lone Wolf forced the corners of his mouth upward into an ugly smile.
Without lips, the expression looked downright horrifying.
Yet somehow, there was still something warm about it.
"Brother Sejanus..."
His voice was hoarse and barely recognizable.
"You said..."
"You said we'd survive together."
"So I'm going to do everything I can..."
"To make sure we both get out of here alive."
Sejanus froze.
He stared at the young man before him.
A young man whose body had been burned almost beyond recognition by the flames of the explosion.
His skin was charred.
His legs were still trembling.
And yet he continued carrying Sejanus forward, one agonizing step at a time.
Sejanus felt his eyes grow slightly red.
He wanted to say something.
But an overwhelming, indescribable emotion tightened his throat.
In the end, he merely nodded.
It was the smallest of gestures.
But behind it was something profound.
Trust.
Lone Wolf didn't waste any more strength trying to speak.
He simply continued walking.
Carrying Sejanus on his back.
One step after another.
Determined to fulfill the promise he'd made.
--
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