NOVGO.NET Chapter 74: The Chair’s Hound
Chapter 74: The Chair’s Hound
The rusted iron elevator shaft plunged sixty feet through the central caisson into the dark, churning depths of Platform Tartarus.
Fin climbed down the steel maintenance rungs with swift, deliberate footing, the cold salt spray dripping from the hem of his fleece jacket.
"How far down are we?" Ruby called down softly from three rungs above him.
"About forty feet," Fin answered, testing the next iron rung with his boot. "I can smell engine grease and disinfectant."
"Look at the cable housing on your left," Nila whispered from the top of the shaft. "The hydraulic lines are vibrating. Something heavy is moving on deck three."
"Listen to that rhythm," Ruby whispered, pausing on her rung.
From the darkness beneath them came a wet, mechanical panting, followed by the metallic click of heavy claws scraping against corrugated iron.
"Hydraulic pumps," Fin said in a hushed tone. "It’s breathing through an artificial respirator."
"The captive commander said the graft was defective," Nila called down softly. "It won’t be able to cool its chest manifold once it starts running."
"Then we make it run," Fin replied, dropping the remaining ten feet onto the grated floor of deck three.
The air in the lower caisson was cold, damp, and thick with the chemical stench of formaldehyde and stale engine oil.
Rows of heavy steel holding cells formed an octagonal perimeter around the central well, the iron bars sealed with glowing magnetic deadbolts.
"Fin, look into cage four," Ruby whispered, dropping lightly onto the grating beside him.
Inside the nearest cage, three small children lay huddled together beneath thin wool blankets, their breathing deep and rhythmic under mild sedatives.
"They’re alive," Ruby breathed, her knuckles whitening around her spear shaft. "Sedated, but alive."
"Don’t touch the magnetic latches yet," Fin warned quietly. "If the master circuit breaks, it might trigger an emergency containment purge."
"Maya," Ruby spoke into her collar mic. "We have visual on the children. Biometrics match the manifest."
"Confirming from here," Maya’s voice came through their earpieces. "The master terminal controls all eighteen cell blocks from the central pedestal."
A deep, vibrating growl rolled through the iron corridor, the red emergency lighting glinting off a pair of glowing yellow optical lenses ten paces ahead.
The Chairman’s Hound stalked out from the shadows of the main pumping station, its quadruped chassis built from reinforced titanium ribs and synthetic muscle grafts.
It stood five feet tall at the shoulder, its jaws lined with serrated tungsten blades that clicked together with hydraulic force.
"Look at the chest plate," Nila murmured, dropping onto the deck behind Ruby with her foil drawn. "The coolant lines are completely exposed behind the collar."
"It’s targeting Fin," Ruby warned, shifting her weight onto the balls of her feet. "It smells the anomalous resonance."
"Let it come," Fin said, loosening his grip on the hatchet. "Ruby, take the angle, don’t meet it straight."
"I know how to deflect a dog, Fin."
The beast did not waste time with posturing, its rear hydraulic pistons compressing with a sharp hiss before it exploded forward in an overwhelming kinetic rush.
The sheer acceleration caught Fin off guard, the iron floor vibrating violently as the massive beast crossed twenty paces in half a heartbeat.
Fin attempted to pivot to the right, but the creature’s armored shoulder clipped his left ribs like a runaway freight car.
The concussive blow sent Fin crashing violently against the steel bars of an empty holding cell, the wind tearing from his lungs in a ragged gasp.
"Fin-!" Ruby shouted, lunging forward with her spear.
’Bruised ribs... partial defense absorbed the blunt impact, but that thing hits with full Rank D Plus mass.’
"I’m up!" Fin wheezed, pushing himself off the bars. "Ruby, flank left-!"
The Hound wheeled around on its rear claws, sparks flying from the iron grating as its tungsten jaws snapped open to tear out Fin’s throat.
"Over here, you ugly mutt!" Ruby roared, driving the reinforced rim of her kite shield directly into the side of the creature’s snout.
The angled steel deflected the snapping jaws sideways, the beast’s titanium fangs scraping across the shield face in a blinding shower of sparks.
"Nila! The rear leg!" Ruby yelled through clenched teeth, straining to hold her balance against the monster’s thrashing weight. "Cut the pressure line-!"
"On it!" Nila’s voice rang out with cold academy precision. "Extending now-!"
Nila lunged forward in a textbook extension, her rapier’s needle point piercing straight through the unshielded hydraulic valve behind the beast’s right knee.
High-pressure black coolant geysered across the floor plates, the Hound howling in screeching digital agony as its right rear leg collapsed.
"Punctured!" Nila called out.
The creature whipped its heavy iron tail around, the barbed tip striking Nila’s forearm guard and throwing her backward across the grating.
"Nila-!" Ruby yelled, struggling to keep her spear leveled as the Hound snapped frantically at her knees. "Fin, it’s pinned on the left!"
’Cooldown is ready... mana is at thirty.’
’One jump behind its neck.’
[ Active skill: Spatial Warp Slip L1 initiated ]
[ Mana cost deducted: 10 mana ]
[ Mana gauge: 30 → 20/40 ]
Fin vanished from the floor beside the dented cell bars in a silent pulse of purple light, the air snapping like a static discharge.
He materialized eight meters forward, landing directly above the creature’s crippled flank on the steel pipes of the upper gantry.
[ Spatial Warp Slip L1 executed successfully ]
[ Ability cooldown initiated: 30 seconds ]
’Now. One burst to crush the manifold.’
[ Active skill: Overclock initiated ]
[ Stamina: 60 → 20/100 ]
[ Agility: 97 → 291 (temporary surge) ]
The entire cavernous caisson room froze into absolute stillness, the black coolant spraying from the severed valve locking into stationary black beads.
Fin dropped from the overhead pipes with two hundred and ninety-one Agility, his boots descending like iron weights onto the creature’s shoulders.
His steel hatchet flashed downward in a blurred arc of lethal, concentrated kinetic force.
The reverse spike struck the exposed cervical junction between the titanium skull and the synthetic spinal column with terrifying precision.
Seventy-seven points of Rank D Plus Strength drove the hardened steel spike straight through the reinforced alloy casing, shattering the core manifold to splinters.
"Break!" Fin roared into the frozen air.
The creature’s synthetic nervous system detonated in a bright flash of blue electrical arcing, Fin leaping backward onto the grating as real time slammed back.
[ Overclock disengaged ]
[ Stamina gauge: 20/100 (strenuous physical exertion) ]
The twelve-second timer expired, Fin dropping to one knee as his ribs throbbed with hot, sharp pain from the earlier impact.
The Chairman’s Hound shuddered violently three times, its mechanical jaws locking shut before its entire massive chassis collapsed limp onto the deck.
The whining hydraulic pumps died into absolute silence, dark coolant and scorched oil pooling around the creature’s shattered breastplate.
"Fin!" Ruby rushed over, catching his arm as he leaned against the wall. "How bad are the ribs?"
"Bruised," Fin wheezed, pressing his hand against his left side. "Not cracked. Frost Skin took the edge off."
"You’re breathing like an old tractor," Ruby murmured, checking his pupils with genuine concern. "Can you stand?"
"I can stand," Fin said, pushing himself upright against the steel wall. "Running on fumes, down to the marrow, but that monster isn’t getting back up."
Nila walked over, rubbing her bruised left forearm while she inspected the shattered skull of the mechanical chimera.
"That was textbook coordination," Nila said, letting out a long, ragged breath of relief. "If you hadn’t dropped from the pipes, it would have ripped through Ruby’s guard."
"You took out its mobility, Nila," Ruby told her. "Without that severed knee, Fin doesn’t get the angle."
"That’s why you hired me, captain," Nila managed a faint, tired smile. "Always puncture the secondary actuator."
Maya’s voice came through their earpieces, breathless and urgent from the deck above.
"Fin! The acoustic sensors just flatlined on deck three," Maya said. "Did you eliminate the Hound?"
"Target neutralized," Fin replied into his mic, taking a slow, steadying breath. "Deck three is clear. The children are still asleep in the holding cells."
"Thank God," Maya whispered. "Hold your position while I scan the carcass for secondary failsafes."
"Scan fast," Ruby urged. "We have one hundred and forty-two kids who need fresh air."
The remote scanner hummed through the wireless link for five tense seconds before chiming green.
"Core is stable," Maya confirmed. "Zero toxic fallout, zero self-destruct relays."
Fin knelt beside the steaming titanium chassis, resting his calloused palm against the shattered core housing.
The golden interface of the Infinite Absorption System flared across his retinas, displaying the harvest options.
[ Eligible source verified: The Chairman’s Hound (Type: Bio-Mechanical Chimera Vanguard) ]
[ Core status: heavily reinforced physical matrix ]
[ Select harvest reward: Strength +12 OR Endurance +10 ]
’Twelve points of raw Strength... or ten points of Endurance.’
’Endurance is already sitting at eighty-nine after the D-plus breakthrough, but my Strength needs to match high-tier gate resistance.’
"Fin?" Ruby asked quietly, noticing the subtle pause. "Is the harvest clear?"
"Choosing Strength," Fin murmured, touching the first option on the floating menu.
[ Harvest selection confirmed: Strength +12 selected ]
[ Unchosen option preserved in personal Log: Endurance +10 (unlocked via Log tokens) ]
A warm, dense rush of physical energy flooded through Fin’s palm, surging up his arm like liquid iron into his shoulders and back.
The massive titanium ribs and synthetic muscle fibers beneath his hand dissolved into fine grey ash, crumbling into nothingness.
His bone density expanded with a sharp, satisfying pop in his vertebrae, his bruised ribs settling into place as new structural strength reinforced his frame.
[ Absorption completed: source carcass fully depleted ]
[ Permanent attribute increase: Strength +12 ]
[ Current attributes: Strength 89 | Agility 97 (Overclock: 291) | Endurance 89 | Sense 54 | Pulse 10 ]
[ Elite prototype eliminated: Chairman’s Hound destroyed ]
[ Event milestone completed: Platform Tartarus command deck secured ]
[ EXP reward: +330,000 EXP ]
[ Current EXP: 2,165,700 / 2,500,000 ]
[ Resource status: Stamina 20/100 | Mana 20/40 ]
Fin stood upright, feeling the incredible, heavy power of eighty-nine Strength circulating through his veins.
"Look at that terminal on the far wall," Ruby pointed her spear toward a glowing green console beside the elevator shaft.
"That’s the master control console for the holding cells," Nila observed, stepping over to inspect the screen. "It’s running on a satellite uplink."
"Not for long," Fin said, walking to the console.
He drew his black dagger and drove the point straight into the automated remote transmission antenna on the console’s rear housing.
The antenna sheared off with a bright spray of sparks, severing the satellite link that connected Platform Tartarus to Genesis headquarters.
"Remote override disabled," Fin announced, turning back toward Ruby and Nila.
"Maya, can you unlock the cell doors from your deck?" Ruby asked into her mic.
"Routing the bypass command through the local circuit right now," Maya reported. "All eighteen magnetic deadbolts will release on three."
"Get ready to catch the kids," Nila said, holstering her foil.
Fin looked at the long row of iron cages, feeling the quiet determination settling deep in his chest.
"Let’s get these kids out of their cages."