Chapter 82: THE SYNTHETIC LEGION SLAUGHTER

The massive steel plated ceiling of the primary incubation hall tore open with an ear splitting, metallic screech that echoed across the three mile wide subterranean complex, raining tons of shredded titanium framing and shattered, multi layered spell glass directly into the vast chamber below.

Renan descended slowly through the cascading torrents of ocean water and black smoke, his long black Monarch coat billowing gracefully around his legs as his leather boots struck the polished metallic floorboards of the primary bay with a heavy, echoic thud. The ambient air inside Project Tartarus reeked suffocatingly of ozone, volatile synthetic incubation fluid, scorched wiring, and raw, unstable mana leaking from ruptured containment tanks.

Surrounding him in a massive, four hundred meter circular arena were one hundred Synthetic Relic Soldiers the first active combat wave released from the facility’s deep sea incubation chambers.

These terrifying constructs stood over eight feet tall, their physical bodies representing a horrific, unnatural fusion of pale, artificially grown monster muscle tissue and heavy adamantine plate armor inscribed with international spell runes. Embedded directly into the center of their exposed chest plates were glowing, crimson stained Relic Cores salvaged from slaughtered Class S Gate bosses across the world pulsing with an erratic, high density mana output. In their heavy gauntleted hands, they held giant glowing aether blades, high frequency plasma lances, and kinetic warhammers that hummed continuously with pressurized destruction.

[Target Identification: Synthetic Relic Soldiers (First Wave)]

Quantity: 100 Units

Combat Rank: SS Rank Equivalent (Construct Class)

Primary Power Source: Unstable Abyssal Relic Cores

Threat Level: High (Mass Production Military Type)

High above the arena on a reinforced observation balcony, protected behind three inch blast proof glass, the Garrison Commander slammed both of his trembling fists violently against the control console, his face pale with cold sweat.

"Activate the central hive mind uplink immediately!" the Commander screamed hysterically into his headset comms. "Engage full containment protocols! Suppress his physical movement! Use the heavy hydro kinetic gravity fields built directly into their chest armors! Do not let him cast spatial skills or summon his high rank dragon!"

BZZZZZZZZZT!

The crimson Relic Cores mounted on the chests of all one hundred synthetic soldiers flared simultaneously with a blinding, blood red light. A dense, heavily pressurized artificial gravity field expanded across the steel floor bay, instantly increasing the local physical weight by fifty times in an aggressive attempt to force Renan to his knees and pin him to the floorboards.

The reinforced metallic floor beneath Renan buckled, groaned, and sagged violently under the crushing artificial weight, leaving deep, spiderwebbing indentations around his leather boots.

However, Renan did not even bend his knees.

His glowing golden eyes swept over the arrayed army of synthetic abominations with absolute, cold indifference. The 50x gravitational suppression field, meticulously designed by international engineers to crush top tier SS Rank Hunters into liquid paste in seconds, washed over his 60,400 physical stat points like a gentle, completely harmless summer breeze.

"Is this truly the absolute pinnacle of Geneva’s secret military research?" Renan asked softly, his double toned voice echoing crisp, clear, and unyielding through the roaring alarm sirens, red emergency lights, and heavy background machinery. "An army of hollow, artificial flesh... powered by stolen, mutilated hearts."

"KILL HIM! EXECUTE HIM NOW!" the Garrison Commander shrieked hysterically through the facility wide intercom speakers.

ROOOOOOOAR!

The one hundred Synthetic Relic Soldiers moved in unison, their massive, eight foot frames blurring across the steel bay at supersonic speeds, completely ignoring the crushing gravity field. Their heavy adamantine boots left deep, crushed tracks in the metal floor as fifty massive kinetic warhammers, twenty plasma lances, and thirty glowing aether blades converged on Renan’s exact coordinates from every conceivable angle in a flawless, computer calculated killing formation!

"Ignis. Sylas. Rebecca," Renan ordered calmly, stepping forward without even troubling himself to draw his dark Monarch blade. "Clean the floor."

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

From the dark, swirling shadow pool directly behind Renan, Shadow General Ignis erupted forward like a roaring volcano of pitch black dragon fire!

Its colossal, spiked broadsword ignited in searing dark flames as it executed a sweeping, three hundred sixty degree rotational cleave (Dragon Fire Cleave). The dark inferno swept across the front line of advancing constructs, instantly melting twenty synthetic soldiers, incinerating their adamantine armor, and snapping their synthetic bone structures into burning cinders in less than a second!

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

Simultaneously, Shadow Commander Sylas and Shadow Commander Rebecca blurred through the flank lines like twin void reapers harvesting wheat. Rebecca’s poison infused shadow daggers pierced straight through the glowing Relic Cores in the constructs’ chests, corrupting their artificial mana conduits with black necrosis, while Sylas’s twin void blades severed their synthetic heads before their computer assisted nervous systems could even register the spatial attack!

In less than fifteen seconds of brutal, systematic slaughter, forty synthetic soldiers were completely dismantled, their heavy metallic limbs, shattered cores, and burning artificial flesh collapsing in smoking heaps across the ruined bay floor.

The remaining sixty Synthetic Relic Soldiers faltered in their tracks, their computer calculated battle logic stalling and glitching as they faced entities that completely defied every law of standard mana physics and threat estimation.

Renan stepped slowly past Ignis, his long dark Monarch coat trailing gracefully over the burning wreckage. He reached out with his gloved right hand, locking his fingers with terrifying speed directly around the thick neck of an oncoming eight foot synthetic captain construct.

[Skill Activated: ’Sovereign’s Compression Core Extraction’]

CRUNCH!

Renan tightened his gloved grip by a fraction of a millimeter. The synthetic captain’s heavy adamantine neck guard collapsed like tin foil, its artificial throat pulverized instantly under his fingers. Before the construct’s massive body could even begin to drop to the floor, Renan thrust his left gloved hand directly into its chest cavity, ripping out the pulsating crimson Relic Core with his bare hand!

SHATTER!

Renan casually crushed the high density Relic Core inside his palm, letting the glowing crimson dust absorb directly into his skin via his pulsing golden Monarch aura.

[Absolute Extraction System Log]

Consumed: High Density Abyssal Relic Core

+150 Physical Stats | +200 Mana Capacity

The Garrison Commander standing on the elevated balcony watched in sheer, paralyzed, and breathless horror as Renan casually consumed the vital power source of their multi billion dollar weapon system like simple, daily nourishment.

Renan slowly turned his head, looking up through the cracked, blast proof glass of the observation deck. He locked his glowing golden eyes directly onto the Garrison Commander’s trembling, sweat drenched frame.

"Release the remaining two hundred constructs immediately, Commander," Renan whispered, his double toned voice echoing directly inside the trembling Commander’s mind with terrifying clarity. "Or I will tear this entire facility down with you trapped inside it."