Chapter 1398: Why Do You Like Explosions?

The gunfire outside the mechanical pyramid had only just died down when everyone preparing to rest heard a deep rumble.

It came from inside the entire pyramid.

The metal framework maintaining the city’s shape began to shift. Gears locked into place, steam burst from the seams, and the buildings at the top retracted to either side as the pyramid’s tip stretched higher.

Before long, the tower-like spire had transformed into a colossal cannon barrel.

Its muzzle pointed toward the distance.

At the base of the mechanical pyramid, an enormous launch mechanism unfolded from the outer shell. Energy conduits connected one after another, and all remaining resources were fed into the city’s core. Red energy flowed through the pipelines and gathered at the cannon’s muzzle.

The pressure in the air continued to rise.

Once it accumulated enough energy, the ultimate weapon would unleash an attack capable of destroying a vast area.

The mechanical city’s constant raids for resources had all been to supply this cannon.

But when Merrin activated the launch sequence in despair, he had forgotten something extremely important.

During the earlier battle with Thromm, Korrick’s laser had missed its target, pierced the city’s interior walls, and struck the core chamber.

The beam had only hit the outermost defenses instead of penetrating the core itself, but it had still caused damage.

The ultimate weapon required an extremely stable energy supply.

Even the slightest deviation could cause the charging process to fail.

And if the core was more badly damaged than they realized, the energy would be unable to discharge along its intended route. The entire mechanical pyramid would explode from within.

Whether their luck was truly bad enough for that to happen, Merrin no longer had the strength to consider.

In the control room, Ethan paid no attention to his threat.

The rumbling continued overhead, shaking the control panel and metal walls. Ethan looked up for a moment and quickly connected the noise to the flow of energy above the city.

"The core’s right above me?"

He rubbed his chin, curiosity entering his eyes.

"What would happen if I gave it another push?"

A sphere of white energy gathered in his palm.

Ethan watched it spin for a moment, then tossed it directly into his mouth. The energy merged with his body, and white lightning spread along his limbs as he rose from the control console.

In the distance, Merrin was still pinned beneath Thromm, trying everything he could think of to escape the combined machine.

Ethan ignored him.

He walked to one of the control room’s metal walls and raised a hand, forming another energy sphere. The moment it touched the wall, it released its power, focusing the white impact on a single point.

Boom!

The metal plating exploded outward.

A circular tunnel appeared in the center of the wall, severed cables spitting sparks around its edges. There were no other buildings beyond the opening, only an endless sky and churning clouds.

White energy extended from Ethan’s back and formed a pair of wings.

He stepped into the opening, but before leaving, he turned and gave Merrin a universally understood hand gesture. Then he leaped from the mechanical pyramid and flew toward the others.

Merrin could only watch him leave through the surveillance feed.

The control room fell quiet again, apart from the mechanical alarms and the core’s deafening charge cycle. Merrin looked around the lifeless corridor, then down at Korrick’s corpse.

His last hope rested with Ferrick.

Using the armor’s internal system, he opened a communications channel and called for his lord again and again.

Once.

Twice.

There was never any answer.

"My lord, why did you have to leave so soon...?"

Merrin’s voice gradually lost its strength.

"You could’ve taken me with you."

He closed his eyes and stopped struggling, waiting for the end of this hopeless situation.

Outside the mechanical pyramid, everyone was watching the colossal cannon continue to charge.

Red light climbed from the device at its base, nearly reaching the muzzle before it began to flicker. The once-steady glow went out, came back on, and went out again.

Then it died completely.

Just as everyone was about to approach and investigate, a white figure flew in from the distance.

Ethan passed through the lingering smoke and landed near Seraphina.

"What are you all standing around for?"

He pointed at the mechanical pyramid, which was still shaking violently.

"That thing’s about to blow! If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!"

"It’s going to explode?"

Kaelira’s purple-red eyes quickly regained their clarity.

She glanced at the mechanical pyramid, then discreetly curled one finger behind her. A small energy sphere slipped from her palm and flew toward the pyramid, concealed by the smoke left over from the bombardment.

If she didn’t throw it now, she’d never get another chance.

The energy sphere had barely left her hand when Ethan turned toward her.

He grabbed Kaelira by the wrist and pulled her toward Seraphina’s back.

"Why do you like blowing things up so much?"

Ethan landed with her on the dragon’s back, but he wasn’t done asking questions.

"Were you always this obsessed with explosions?"

Kaelira didn’t answer.

Everyone else was already waiting on Seraphina’s back. The four little girls also emerged from Ethan’s body and gathered with the others.

They were all aboard.

Seraphina wasted no time.

Compressed cyclones spun beneath her four claws as she swept her wings back. With one powerful beat, the dragon shot into the distance like a cannonball, carrying everyone away from the mechanical pyramid.

Inside the city, red warning lights continued to flash.

A mechanical voice repeatedly echoed in Merrin’s ears.

"Core damaged."

"Activating automatic maintenance system..."

Merrin’s eyes opened again.

A glimmer of hope returned to his empty gaze. If the maintenance system could repair the core, the ultimate weapon might stop charging, and the city might not self-destruct after all.

But as soon as the repair machines deployed, a purple-red dot appeared on the control room monitors, rapidly approaching the core.

It was the energy sphere Kaelira had left behind.

The sphere entered the mechanical pyramid through the tunnel Ethan had blasted open. Tracking the strongest concentration of energy, it repeatedly adjusted its course until it reached the core chamber.

The moment Merrin saw the surveillance footage, his newfound hope shattered.

"No!"

He desperately pulled against the combined armor that refused to separate.

"Don’t—"

The energy sphere passed the maintenance machines and flew straight toward the city’s core above Merrin.

It carried more than Kaelira’s power.

It also carried all her resentment over not getting to blow up the mechanical pyramid herself.

The purple-red sphere touched the core.

Boom—!

The explosion spread outward from the heart of the city.

The core’s outer shell shattered first. The compressed energy broke free of its restraints and surged backward through every pipeline into the ultimate weapon. The destructive power intended for the cannon’s attack combined with Kaelira’s energy, causing the mechanical pyramid’s shell to bulge from within.

The first explosion hadn’t even ended when the second impact arrived.

Thick white smoke swallowed the mechanical city.

Shock waves burst outward one after another, pushing the surrounding clouds into enormous waves. The ultimate weapon’s barrel was thrown to one side, and the entire pyramid vanished within the white light.

A colossal mushroom cloud expanded through the sky.

Energy leaking from the core flashed within it as the temperature continued to rise. Metal, gears, and steam-powered mechanisms melted first. Then even the liquid metal evaporated in the heat.

When the white smoke finally cleared, nothing remained.

The mechanical pyramid was gone.