Chapter 312 - Claimed Ground

Lukas landed on the damp, uneven ground, his boots sinking slightly into the muck as he scanned the tunnel. The glow from the surrounding Meca units and the beam of his rifle lit the way, revealing more than just what the EM waves picked up. The air smelled of rust and rot, thick with humidity.

All around them lay dozens—no, hundreds—of Xok’al eggs. Most were long-abandoned, their cracked carapaces dull with age, yet some still pulsed faintly, slow and rhythmic, like a dying heartbeat.

“Any anomaly?”

Chiara hovered on one of her discs, just above the ground beside him, her eyes closed in deep concentration. “No. Nothing alive within four hundred meters, except the eggs. No movement beyond that.”

“Alright,” Lukas muttered, adjusting his grip on the rifle. “Let’s keep going.”

With Arjun and Wang covering the rear, and Imani leading Jun’s squad and their Meca units up front, the team advanced through the twisted arteries of the underground nest. The walls narrowed and widened without warning, shifting between rough natural stone and old reinforced alloy.

Finally, they reached the designated point.

At the entrance of the corridor, Alonso stood leaning against the wall—relaxed, yet alert. As they approached, he raised his head and gave them a quiet nod.

Lukas walked forward, eyes scanning, but paused when he saw Chiara flinch. One of her floating discs wavered mid-air.

He narrowed his gaze and raised his rifle slightly, ready for the worst.

But no attack came.

“What…” she muttered, barely audible, eyes fixed ahead.

Lukas caught the tone. Not fear. Surprise?

He turned to Alonso. The man’s gaze met his calmly—perhaps too calmly. There was something unreadable in those eyes now. Not pressure. Just... depth. Like staring into the dark undercurrents of the ocean, knowing something vast was there, just out of reach.

And Ayu?

Imani reached the corridor ahead, but as he stepped forward and glanced past Alonso, he froze.

“Is everything alright?” Lukas asked, voice steady, cutting through the tension.

“Ayu is recovering,” Alonso said. “Can you link with her and speed up the process? I’ll stay here. Keep watch, in case another one comes.”

Lukas’s thoughts raced.

Recovering? From what?

Another one?

“Okay. But… what happened, Alonso?”

“A Warden appeared,” Alonso replied. “Tried to trap us in the lab—cut off the signal to you.”

A Warden!?

Lukas’s pulse jumped.

That made no sense. This far south? He had accounted for every possibility, even reached out to General Noh to confirm their last movements. Had he misread the data? Had this all been a setup? Worse—was the lab itself a lure!?

It had also waited for the perfect moment to trap their escape and block their signal?

Still, that wasn’t what shocked him most.

“And?” Lukas asked, slower this time.

“We killed it.”

The words were soft.

And yet, for a moment, the space fell silent.

Wang’s jaw dropped. Arjun’s breath hitched.

Lukas didn’t respond. He just stepped past Imani and into the corridor.

And there it was.

The Warden’s massive body lay crumpled on the ground, the stench of burnt metal and blood thick in the air. Scars marred the walls, floor, and ceiling—deep gouges, charred plating, and dried blood smeared across every surface.

Whatever had happened here hadn’t been just a fight.

He looked further in and saw Ayu slumped against the wall. Her skin was torn and red, barely distinguishable beneath dried blood and bruising. But she was breathing. Her chest rose and fell, slow and steady.

He turned back to Alonso.

“You two killed it?”

Alonso nodded.

For a moment, Lukas just stared.

His lips parted, but no words came. The magnitude of it hit hard. Relief, awe, disbelief—all tangled behind his eyes.

Then he exhaled, sharp and grounding. “Alright.”

He snapped back into it, the shock buried beneath operational focus.

“Can you handle another one?”

“Alone… would be too risky,” Alonso said. “But if you link with me—and if Chiara can affect it even for a moment—we should be able to take one.”

He paused for a beat, gaze steady.

“If more come… then it might get ugly.”

Lukas gave a single nod, jaw tight.

“Understood. Jun, station the Meca units at all key junctions of the nest. And take care of the eggs—bring me a few samples for analysis, but destroy the rest. I want full feedback the moment anything stirs, no matter how faint or strange the signal.”

He turned to the rest of the team.

“Everyone else, move into the lab and secure it. Alonso will keep watch.”

The others stirred, but Lukas’s voice grounded them, snapping them back to focus.

Lukas locked eyes with Alonso and sent him a pulse. “I’m sorry we couldn’t do more.”

“It’s alright,” Alonso replied, shrugging slightly. “They planned deeper than us this time. I’m sure you’ll come up with a solid strike-back.”

Then he turned to Chiara. “There’s a water control room at the back. Can you access it and help Ayu clean up?”

“Of course,” she said quietly, already starting to move. “I’ll take care of it.”

Alonso gave her a gentle smile and pulled off his hide and fur coat, holding it out to her. “Thank you. If it’s not too much… could you also wash her clothes?” His eyes briefly drifted to the corridor. “I’d do it myself, but I need to stay here in case another one comes. Use this to keep her warm while they dry.”

Chiara caught the coat mid-step and nodded once before disappearing inside.

Imani, who had clearly been waiting for the right moment, walked toward him next. He stared at Alonso for a moment, then stepped forward and stood beside him, shield ready.

Alonso tilted his head. “You will be safer inside. I’ve got this.”

“At least… let me do this,” Imani said, his tone heavy.

Alonso stayed quiet a moment longer. “Arjun told me.”

Imani’s eyes widened slightly.

“Thanks,” Alonso added with a soft smile.

Imani opened his mouth, then closed it again. He stood still for a beat, “It’s nothing. I should be the one apologizing. The… inscription. Ayu didn’t seem pleased. For good reason.”

Alonso gave a quiet laugh. “Yeah, she was really pissed wasn’t she.”

They both looked ahead. The air still carried the sting of acid and blood, but neither seemed to notice. Behind them, faint sounds echoed from the lab—equipment shifting, people moving.

“You’ve changed,” Imani said at last.

“I guess we all have.”

“No, I mean more than that,” Imani turned his head toward him. “Your eyes. They’re not the same. The fire’s still there, but it’s controlled now.”

Alonso didn’t respond right away. Then, he shook his head lightly. “Perhaps.”

“When I served under old Mwamba,” he said, voice low and distant, “he used to tell us—‘A young lion roars to be feared. An old one doesn’t need to.’”

A flicker passed through Alonso’s gaze as he breathed calmly. Then he smiled. “So, you’re saying I’m old now?”

“You used to be wild. A young lion—fierce, reckless, always pushing forward like you had something inside you that needed to be seen. Something to prove.”

He paused, glancing sideways.

“Now… it feels like your blade has found a stronger reason to strike.”

“That’s pretty deep for just a change in my style, don’t you think?”

Imani stared ahead again, his gaze settling on some distant Xok’al eggs. After a moment, he sent Alonso a private pulse.

“Wang looked pretty broken when he came back. What happened?”

“He was struggling against the Commanders. Ayu and I couldn’t have saved him if things went south. So I told him to retreat.”

“I see… he’ll get over it. Wang’s changed too. He used to be even more prideful than you were back in the Oasis. Heir to a strong Chinese family—felt like the world was his. But reality hits hard, and it never stops hitting. He’s grown. He’s a good lad. Now he just wants to go back and see his little sister again one day.”

“We all have people we want to see again,” Alonso said quietly. “That’s why we have to stay alive and keep going.”

Minutes passed in casual chatter until Lukas stepped out.

“All right. Plan is—we’ll be staying here for the next week,” Lukas said, locking eyes with Alonso. “Chiara’s expected to reach the Third Pillar State before then, and I’ll need time to analyse the Xayen schematics to upgrade our Mecas and weapons—and Wang’s armour.”

He turned to Imani. “We’ll need your help with a few things. The techniques described lean more towards the Ajnal capacitor system of smithing than the Azcoyatl mental node approach.”

Imani nodded. “Fine by me. But… there’s something I have to finish first,” he added, glancing at Alonso.

“Oh,” Alonso chuckled. “Looking forward to that. Also—Lukas, with the SP boost from the Warden’s orb, Ayu should be able to reach the Third Body State within a week as well. If she hasn’t by then—and unless it’s urgent—let’s hold off until she does.”

Lukas’ expression flickered—surprised both that Ayu had taken the orb and that she was already that close to the Third State. Still, he gave a nod.

“Okay. I’ll establish a communication channel to the outside so we can link directly with Mei’s squad at the floating platform and also scout the nest for any surprises. We’ve got enough rations for three weeks, so no need to worry about supplies. We’ll also set a strong EPM net and place the Cyclotron Pulse Cannon at the end of the corridor, just in case. But… I don’t expect another Warden to show up. Their plan failed, and we’ve regrouped. Sending another now would be suicide, and they know it. And if they send two…”

He looked firmly at Alonso.

“We’ll be ready.”

“I know,” Alonso said, smiling. “Feels good to have such a reliable team.”

Lukas shook his head with a faint smirk. “Alright. I’ll get everything set up and keep boosting Ayu’s recovery. She should be in perfect shape in under an hour.”

“Thanks.”

As he left, Imani turned toward Alonso.

“About the blades—I have a few questions before I start forging.”

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“The first is about the capacitor nodes. What stage are you at now? I can’t feel the passive domain of either the Lords of Sparks or the Sun Bearers around you. Did you keep them in the Stone Jaguar state? Or did you abandon that path entirely?”

“Well… yeah, you could say I abandoned them, but not completely. I felt that path didn’t suit me, so I broke it down. Instead of linking strong EM capacitors to a few core Body State nodes, I replaced them with micro-capacitors spread throughout my body. Every part that moves—or is involved in movement or tension—has a micro-capacitor embedded. They can only store a fraction of the energy and can’t be discharged with that resonance burst the Ajnal use. But I don’t use them that way anymore.”

Imani frowned slightly. “So… how many of these do you have? And how exactly do you use them?”

“I don’t wear conductive armor anymore, but I still need a way to use EM waves to amplify my body’s movement. I took inspiration from Wang’s Awakening and adapted a variation of the Ajnal method to store EM energy—not for bursts, but to act as micro-magnets I can control with waves. That way, every movement becomes a blend of muscle and EM field, perfectly synchronized. It gives me control at a much deeper level.”

Imani stared at Alonso, clearly amazed, though not entirely surprised. He knew well how talented this good friend of his was.

“All right. In that case, I suppose you can’t use the Heart of Sparks, so I can skip the linkage carvings in the forging process. Any particular requirements for the weapons? You want them exactly the same as the ones you’re using? They’ll be slightly heavier since the material is denser,” he said, eyeing Alonso’s swords.

“Hmmm… yeah, just keep them as smooth and uniform as possible. That’s it.”

Imani nodded. He didn’t need to hold them again—he remembered perfectly from before the battle and had every dimension clearly in mind.

He turned and started walking toward the corridor. “It should take roughly ten to twelve hours. I’ve never worked with anything as strong as Warden-grade metal.”

“It’s okay. We’ll be here for a week anyway. No rush.”

After Imani went back inside, Alonso stayed out alone.

His torn muscle ligaments were already knitting themselves back together, the pain fading as Houston silently worked to accelerate the healing. Alonso felt the damage wasn’t worth Lukas’ link.

He closed his eyes.

Breathed.

Then let it all unfold.

Every motion. Every twitch. Every shift in weight and angle. The Warden’s strikes. Ayu’s counters. His own footwork. He ran the battle again and again through his mind—different angles, altered rhythms, missed chances. Could his path have been cleaner? His timing sharper? Could he have ended it sooner?

And then, he removed Ayu from the memory.

Created a new Warden.

Faced it alone.

And fought.

Again.

And again.

And again.

While the others moved inside—calculating, configuring, preparing—he remained motionless, grounded like stone at the mouth of the ruins.

But his grip shifted now and then.

A faint twitch of fingers.

A subtle pulse of tension.

More than a hundred duels fought in silence.