The rhythm of Delivery settled into a new normal. Mornings began with the sound of picks in the tunnels, the scrape of Lunch's harness, and the quiet scratching of Mavis's quartz stylus on slate. The "Canopy Project" now covered half the basin—a patchwork of interconnected arches and triangular panes that cast confusing, geometric shadows on the ground below.
Kazuto's days were a cycle of construction, mediation, and practice. He'd expanded the dome section by section, his mental "muscle" for the skill growing stronger with each arch. The headache was gone. Now it just felt like hard work, like lifting heavy boxes all day.
It was during one of these practice sessions, as he carefully filled in a wide gap between two major arches, that the first warning came.
It wasn't a sound. It was a smell.
A hot, dry wind blew through the gully entrance, carrying the distinct scent of charcoal, ash, and something metallic. It was the smell of a city burning, and it didn't belong in the Scablands.
All activity in the basin stopped. Dwarves lowered their picks. The goblins on the rim vanished. Even Lunch stopped chewing, its ears swiveling.
Mavis was at Kazuto's side in an instant, her slate clutched to her chest. "Ash-tasters. Advance scouts for the cleansers. They're here."
Doom hefted his pick, his face grim. "How many?"
"A small group. To assess. To poison the wells and kill any scouts." Her violet eyes scanned the rim. "They won't attack the wall head-on. Not yet."
Kazuto dismissed the half-formed barrier pane. "We need to see."
He, Doom, and Mavis climbed to the rim using the now-well-worn invisible staircase. They kept low behind a rocky outcrop and looked east.
Five figures stood in the distance, at the edge of the barren plain that led to the Scablands. They were humanoid, clad in dark, lightweight armor that seemed to drink in the sunlight. One held a strange, brass device to its eye. Another was crouched, hands on the ground, likely sensing vibrations.
But it was the figure in the center who commanded attention. He was massive, a full head taller than the others, with shoulders like boulders. He wore no helmet, revealing a shaved head scarred with old burns. He carried a single, enormous axe that looked like it could fell one of the giant forest trees in a single swing. Even from this distance, they could feel his restless, furious energy. He paced like a caged animal, glaring at the rocky hills as if they'd personally offended him.
"Balmond," Mavis whispered, her voice tight. "The Berserker of the Cinder-Fist clan. A minor vassal to the Black Phoenix. He doesn't lead cleanser units. He is the cleansing. They send him when they want everything in an area reduced to paste and splinters."
"He looks… impatient," Kazuto observed.
"He's always impatient. His mind is a furnace. He lives for the moment the order to destroy is given."
As they watched, the scout with the brass device pointed directly at their position on the rim. He'd seen them. The crouching scout stood up and nodded, confirming life signs.
Balmond stopped pacing. A wide, terrifying smile split his face. He hefted his axe, said something to the others, and then he moved.
He didn't run. He charged. And he was fast. Unnaturally fast for his size, covering the open ground in great, earth-pounding strides. The four other scouts fanned out behind him, drawing slender, cruel-looking swords.
"He's coming straight for the entrance," Doom growled. "He'll try to break the wall."
"He can't," Kazuto said, but his stomach tightened. This wasn't a goblin with a spear. This was a force of nature with an axe.
« NOTICE: HIGH-INTENSITY HOSTILE ENTITY APPROACHING. DESIGNATION: BERSERKER-CLASS COMBATANT. »
Yeah, I got that.
"Back to the basin," Kazuto ordered. "Now."
They scrambled down. Kazuto sealed the gully entrance barrier just as a thunderous impact shook the ground.
BOOM.
It was the sound of Balmond's axe striking the invisible wall. It wasn't the tink of a goblin spear or the thud of a wyvern's tail. This was a deep, resonant gong, like striking a colossal bell buried in the earth. Dust shook loose from the basin walls.
Everyone in Delivery froze, looking toward the sealed entrance.
BOOM.
Another strike. The sound vibrated in their teeth.
"He's testing it," Mavis said, her knuckles white. "Seeing if it has a limit."
Kazuto walked toward the wall, his heart pounding. He stopped a few feet from the transparent barrier. On the other side, blurred by the distortion of the unbreakable field, was the massive form of Balmond. He was drawing his axe back for another swing, his muscles coiled.
Let him test.
« NOTICE: SUSTAINED PHYSICAL ASSAULT ON PRIMARY BARRIER. INTEGRITY: 100%. »
The third swing landed. BOOM. The axe head didn't bounce. It just stopped dead, all its world-splitting force negated. The shockwave of the arrested blow kicked up a small dust cloud around Balmond's feet.
The berserker staggered back a step, looking at his axe, then at the empty air in front of him. His confused rage was visible even through the barrier. He roared, a sound of pure frustration, and brought the axe down in a furious flurry of blows. BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!
It sounded like a desperate, angry drummer. The wall didn't shudder. It didn't change. Inside the basin, a few dwarves flinched with each strike, but the wall held.
Finally, Balmond stopped, chest heaving. He pressed a hand against the barrier, pushing. Nothing. He kicked it. He shoulder-checked it. It was like a mountain refusing to acknowledge a fly.
He took a few steps back, his expression shifting from rage to a kind of baffled calculation. He turned and bellowed to his scouts, who were now approaching cautiously.
Kazuto watched, thinking. He can't get in. But he can sit out there. He can wait. Starve us out. Or…
One of the scouts pointed upwards, at the incomplete dome, at the wide-open southern half of the basin's sky.
Balmond followed the pointing finger. His furious smile returned. He said something, and the scouts began scrambling up the rocky slopes, not toward the sealed entrance, but to get high enough to look down into the basin, to find a way around the wall.
"They're going for the rim," Doom said. "They'll rain arrows, fire, anything down on us."
Kazuto looked up at his half-finished canopy, then at the open sky. He couldn't dome the whole basin in minutes. But he didn't need to.
"Mavis, get everyone under the finished section. Now!" he shouted.
As the dwarves scrambled under the northern arches, Kazuto focused. He couldn't make one big dome, but he'd gotten very good at making many small, strong shapes.
The first scout reached a high point on the southern rim. He nocked a black-feathered arrow to his bow, aiming down at the dwarves below.
Kazuto didn't try to cover the whole sky. He imagined a single, large, curved barrier pane—a giant, invisible umbrella—directly above the clustered dwarves.
« ACTIVATING [DIVINE OMNI BARRIER] – LOCALIZED OVERHEAD SHIELD. »
The scout fired. The arrow streaked down, then tinked harmlessly against the unseen shield two dozen feet above the dwarves' heads, skittering off at an angle.
Another scout threw a glass vial that erupted into green flame in mid-air. The fire splashed against the same barrier, dripping down its invisible curve like liquid before extinguishing on the dirt.
The scouts stared. Balmond, now watching from below, roared in fresh fury. He pointed at Kazuto, who was standing out in the open, away from the group. A clear target.
Two scouts drew back their bows, aiming directly at him.
Kazuto didn't move. He knew how this worked now. The arrows flew.
« NOTICE: PROJECTILE-BASED HOSTILE INTENT. »
« COUNTERMEASURE: [ETERNAL REFLECTION]. »
The arrows didn't stop an inch from him. Instead, they curved in mid-air, as if repelled by a gentle, irresistible magnet. They swung in a wide, graceful arc and shot back towards the scouts with the same speed.
The scouts dove for cover. The arrows thudded into the rock where they'd been standing.
Balmond saw it all. The unbreakable wall. The invisible ceiling. The reflected arrows. His rage reached a boiling point. This wasn't a fight. It was a mockery. He needed to reach the source. He needed to feel his axe bite into something.
He looked at the steep basin wall next to the sealed entrance. It was climbable, but difficult. With a guttural shout, he jammed his axe into his belt and began to climb, using his immense strength to haul himself up, sending showers of gravel down.
"He's coming over the wall!" Doom yelled.
Kazuto watched the berserker climb. He could make the wall taller, smoother. But that felt like a game of whack-a-mole. He needed to end this, his way.
He walked to the center of the basin, directly below where Balmond would reach the rim. He set down the mysterious package, which he'd instinctively grabbed on his way out of the tunnel. He waited.
With a final, explosive heave, Balmond pulled himself onto the rim. He stood tall, silhouetted against the grey sky, his axe back in his hands. He looked down, his eyes instantly finding Kazuto in the blue uniform. He grinned, a predator seeing prey finally within reach.
He didn't shout. He just jumped.
It was a terrifying leap, a twenty-foot drop into the basin, axe raised for a killing blow the moment he landed.
Kazuto didn't flinch. He focused on the space where Balmond would land. He didn't imagine a wall. He imagined a shape. A box. A very strong, very secure box.
« ACTIVATING [DIVINE OMNI BARRIER] – MOBILE CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL. »
Balmond hit the ground—or rather, he hit the seamless, unbreakable floor of a golden barrier cube that had formed around him in the split-second before impact. The force of his landing was absorbed utterly, silently. He stood inside a ten-foot transparent cube, his axe still raised, his face frozen in mid-roar.
Silence.
He slowly lowered his axe. He looked at the walls. He touched one. He pushed. He swung his axe with all his might against the corner where two walls met.
CLANG.
The sound was deafening inside the cube. The axe vibrated in his hands, but the barrier didn't have a scratch. He tried again. And again. Each strike was a perfect, frustrated CLANG that echoed around the basin.
He was trapped. Just like the overseer.
The four scouts on the rim stared, stunned. Their unstoppable weapon was now in a display case.
Kazuto walked up to the cube. Balmond stopped swinging, breathing heavily, sweat pouring down his scarred head. He glared at Kazuto with pure, animal hatred.
Kazuto met his gaze. He saw the rage, but underneath it, he saw something else: confusion. This man understood force. He didn't understand this.
"The delivery," Kazuto said, his voice calm and carrying in the quiet, "is closed for business today."
He turned his back on the furious berserker and looked up at the scouts on the rim. He made a shooing motion with his hand.
They didn't need to be told twice. They vanished from the rim, the sounds of their retreat fading quickly.
In the basin, the dwarves slowly emerged from under the canopy. They looked at the new, larger, angrier prison-box. They looked at Kazuto.
Doom walked over, looking Balmond up and down. "What do we do with this one?"
Kazuto looked at the berserker, who was now sitting in the middle of his cube, his head in his hands, the image of defeated rage. He was a problem. A loud, violent problem.
"We see if he's interested in a job," Kazuto said. "We're going to need a lot more bricks."
Inside his cube, Balmond heard him. He looked up, his expression one of utter, profound bewilderment. It was the first new expression he'd worn in years.
« NOTICE: PRIMARY IMMEDIATE THREAT NEUTRALIZED. SETTLEMENT SECURITY MAINTAINED. »
Kazuto picked up his package. Another delivery handled. This one was particularly heavy.
He glanced at the original golden cube, where the overseer was pressed against the wall, watching its new, more impressive neighbor with something almost like sympathy.
Delivery had just accepted its most dangerous shipment yet.