The warning lights in the bunker were a rhythmic crimson pulse, syncing with the demonic red lightning crackling in the sky above.
Inside the fabrication bay, steam hissed from pressure valves.
Jiang Chen stood on a gantry, his back exposed. The System's nanites were working furiously, welding the final connection ports of his thermal suit to the open cockpit of the machine in front of him.
It was not a sleek, sci-fi warrior. It was a monster of industrial necessity. The Mark I "Titan" was essentially a repurposed mining loader encased in two inches of scrap steel and reinforced concrete. It stood four meters tall, smelling of grease and ozone. Its "head" was just a sensor cluster protected by a heavy roll cage. Its right arm ended in a massive Rotary Rock Drill. Its left was a hydraulic claw the size of a man.
[SYSTEM CHECK: TITAN FRAME][Hydraulics: 110% Pressure.][Power Source: 3x Rank 2 Spirit Cores (Overclocked).][Armor Integrity: High (Against Kinetic), Low (Against Thermal).]
"Close the cage," Jiang Chen commanded.
CLANG-HISS.
The heavy steel chest plate slammed shut, sealing him in darkness. Screens flickered to life, projecting the outside world in a grainy, green wireframe. He didn't feel like he was wearing armor; he felt like he was driving a tank.
"System," Jiang Chen gritted his teeth as the neural link engaged, sending phantom weight to his limbs. "Let's go god-slaying."
Outside, the end of the world had begun.
Elder Mo floated in the eye of the storm. The blood-red clouds churned, forming a funnel. He was chanting, his voice resonating with the frequency of the earth, causing rocks to float and shatter.
"Perish," Mo whispered. He pointed a finger at the bunker entrance.
A bolt of red lightning, thick as a tree trunk, descended.
BOOM!
The concrete blast doors vaporized. The rubble melted into slag.
But through the smoke and molten rock, something moved.
STOMP. STOMP. STOMP.
The ground shook—not from magic, but from mass.
Elder Mo frowned. "Another puppet?"
The Titan burst through the smoke, its rear thrusters (mining charges) detonating to launch the 5-ton machine into the air. It wasn't flying; it was falling with style, straight at the Elder.
"Insolent!" Mo waved his hand. A Wind Blade, capable of slicing through steel, slashed horizontally.
Jiang Chen saw the trajectory lines in his HUD.
'Boost!'
He fired the lateral thrusters. The mech jerked to the right with bone-jarring force. The Wind Blade sheared off the Titan's left shoulder plate, sending sparks and metal spinning, but the main chassis held.
"Hello," Jiang Chen's amplified voice roared.
The Titan crashed into Elder Mo.
The Elder's golden shield flared, but this wasn't a bullet. It was five tons of steel moving at eighty kilometers an hour. The physics of momentum took over.
CRUNCH.
Elder Mo was swatted out of the sky like a fly. The Titan landed on top of him, slamming him into the snowy canyon floor, creating a crater ten meters wide.
"DRILL!" Jiang Chen screamed, slamming the right control stick forward.
VRRRRRRRRRRRR!
The rotary mining drill spun up to 5,000 RPM. The diamond-tipped teeth shrieked as they ground against Elder Mo's Golden Shield.
Sparks showered the canyon like fireworks. The sound was deafening—metal screaming against magic.
Underneath the mechanical fist, Elder Mo's face contorted. He was holding the drill back with pure telekinetic force, his hands glowing blindingly bright. The shield was buckling, inches from his nose.
"You... piece... of... SCRAP!" Mo roared.
The Elder's Golden Core pulsed. A shockwave of pure energy exploded outward.
BANG.
The Titan was thrown backward, skidding across the ice, carving deep trenches. The drill arm was bent, smoking.
Jiang Chen tasted blood inside the cockpit. The concussion had rattled his brain.
[WARNING: Integrity at 70%. Right Arm Servo Damaged.]
Elder Mo rose from the crater. He looked terrifying. His skin was cracking, leaking gold light. He was burning his own lifespan to fuel this power.
"I will tear you out of that shell," Mo hissed. He clapped his hands. "Art of the Stone Prison!"
The ground beneath the Titan turned to quicksand. The mech sank to its knees. Then, the rock hardened instantly, trapping the legs.
"Now, burn."
Mo opened his mouth, and a stream of True Samadhi Fire—a white-hot flame that could melt spirit tools—erupted, engulfing the Titan.
Inside the cockpit, the temperature skyrocketed.
[Cabin Temp: 60°C... 80°C...][Coolant Failure.][Pilot Vitals: Heat Stroke Imminent.]
Jiang Chen gasped, sweat pouring into his eyes. The metal around him was turning cherry red. He could smell the rubber seals melting.
"System," he wheezed. "Eject... Heat Sinks."
[Confirm?]
"DO IT!"
On the back of the Titan, four vents blew open. Superheated coolant—liquid nitrogen mixed with spirit water—blasted out, creating a cloud of freezing fog that instantly neutralized the fire around the mech.
Through the steam, the Titan moved.
It didn't try to free its legs. It rotated its torso.
"You want to trade blows?" Jiang Chen growled. "Let's trade."
He raised the Left Arm. The Hydraulic Claw opened. Inside the palm wasn't a hand, but a thick steel spike—a Pile Bunker.
Behind the spike was a shaped charge of C4.
Jiang Chen didn't aim at the Elder. He aimed at the rock holding him.
BOOM.
The explosive spike shattered the stone prison. The Titan lurched free, one leg dragging, sparking.
Elder Mo was preparing another spell, his hands weaving complex signs.
Jiang Chen didn't give him the time.
"Deploy Countermeasure: The Sun."
The Titan's chest plate popped open. A rack of Flashbang Grenades (Magnesium-infused) launched.
POP-POP-POP-POP!
A blinding white light, brighter than ten suns, flooded the canyon.
Elder Mo, whose eyes were enhanced to see Qi, shrieked. The sensory overload blinded him instantly. He covered his face, his spell fizzling.
"MY EYES!"
"Target Blind," Jiang Chen stated coldly.
The Titan surged forward, closing the distance in two massive strides.
Jiang Chen didn't use the drill. He didn't use the claw. He used the Titan's mass. He grabbed the Elder's frail body with the hydraulic claw, pinning his arms to his sides.
"Let go! Unhand me, vermin!" Mo thrashed, his aura burning the metal claw. The steel began to warp and drip like wax.
"System," Jiang Chen said. "Detonate the Left Arm."
[Warning: This will sever the limb.]
"Detonate."
Jiang Chen punched the eject button for the arm.
The hydraulic claw detached from the Titan's shoulder, still gripping the Elder.
And the internal battery of the arm—a volatile, overloaded Spirit Core—went critical.
Jiang Chen fired the Titan's reverse thrusters, backing away desperately.
"No..." Mo realized what was happening. He looked at the glowing metal limb crushing him. "NO!"
KABOOOOOM!
A mushroom cloud of blue fire rose into the night sky. The explosion rocked the canyon, sending an avalanche of snow tumbling down the cliffs.
The Titan was knocked onto its back, its front armor blackened and fused.
Jiang Chen lay in the cockpit, breathing hard. The silence returned.
[Target Status: Analyzing...]
The smoke cleared.
There was no crater this time. Just a scorched patch of earth.
And lying in the center, missing an arm and half his face, was Elder Mo. He was not regenerating. His Golden Core had been shattered by the point-blank detonation.
He was still breathing. Shallow, raspy breaths.
Jiang Chen kicked the manual release. The Titan's chest hissed open.
He climbed out, stumbling into the snow. He held his M1911 in his hand. He walked over to the fallen Immortal.
Mo looked up with his one remaining eye. There was no rage left. Only confusion.
"What... art... is this?" Mo whispered.
Jiang Chen stood over him. He racked the slide.
"Engineering," Jiang Chen said.
BANG.