Lucien decided to accelerate things.
He descended to the battlefield.
Below, Starforge still moved like a machine with a heartbeat.
Lilith continued giving precise commands.
Steel flashed. Alloykins buckled and rose again, stubborn as rusted hinges refusing to break.
Kaia was there too. Her flame crawled along her arms like living scripture.
Lucien watched for one breath and made a decision.
He wanted to refine and perfect his new technique here, on this very battlefield.
Weaker enemies meant less resistance.
Lucien lifted his hand.
Structural Insight activated.
Lucien exhaled.
Then he spent a little of what remained of his divine energy. Not as a blast but as ink.
Thin threads of divine energy shot out and latched onto the exposed strings of multiple Alloykins at once.
Every Alloykin he touched gained the same invisible stain. Divine energy clung to their existence like wet paint on a contract.
The Alloykins felt it late.
Their heads snapped.
