Deep beneath the Convention, the subterranean rock groaned. Miles away on the Fireside Ascent, Roy felt the vibration before the sound reached him. He turned back toward sector D1 in time to see the sovereign domain rupture from below, the center of the Convention bulging upward for one impossible instant before the ground, the asphalt, and the layered laws beneath it all gave way at once.
The shock hit a second later as a deafening roar of grinding stone and tearing earth drowned out the distant sounds of Truman's nuclear aftermath. A colossal, monstrous worm erupted through the magical asphalt, breaching the center of the supposedly impenetrable sovereign domain and crashing upward into the cavern light.
Across Otherrealm, every active screen carrying the dungeon broadcast flickered into an idle display.
Please be patient. Experiencing broadcast difficulties.
Inside Evarran's training grounds, Washington stood with Lincoln and Teddy before the frozen feed, his attention fixed on the message as the drills around them fell briefly silent. "We need to hurry this up. Things are getting sticky down there."
Evarran gave the screen one measured glance. "They should survive. Although, if you can kill me, you may leave early to protect your captain."
"Understood," Washington replied.
Back in D1, the worm punched higher through the Convention's broken heart. Chains of sovereign light snapped against its armored body as the creature forced itself through the roof of the domain, dragging stone, asphalt, and magic upward in a single catastrophic breach.
The sheer kinetic force of the eruption caught the inner defensive line completely off guard. Jefferson, Monroe, Madison, and Adams were violently launched through the air, their heavy metal frames thrown aside like discarded toys as the massive creature crashed upward into the cavern light.
A strange, mournful sound echoed across the perimeter, ringing out like the tolling of fading bells. The glowing boundary walls of the Convention flickered wildly. The floating scrolls tore in half, and the sovereign pillars cracked straight down the middle. The absolute laws holding the territory together began crackling and fizzing, dissolving entirely into the dark air.
Within seconds, the glowing perimeter vanished. From the massive tunnel left in the worm's wake, thousands upon thousands of screaming monsters poured out onto the shattered asphalt, flooding the ruined domain.
Roy stared at the collapsing feed for half a breath. "FDR, we need to go back!"
The Fireside Ascent had already begun to turn beneath them. "Already adjusting course."
The spell stopped, reversed, and launched back toward D1 with the same ruthless smoothness that had carried them away from C3. Around FDR, the air warped as he conjured a wave of his mechanical armada.
"Forgotten Scripts and Forgotten Tongues: Phantoms of the Industry."
Massive ghostly battleships materialized high in the cavern sky above the grid, leveling their main batteries to fire long-distance artillery barrages that screamed toward the D1 breach. Squadrons of spectral bombers spawned in the air and accelerated across the miles, racing toward the Convention to drop payloads of violet fire directly into the mouth of the tunnel.
Holding the line while the Phantoms closed the distance, the Nightshatter's drone armada mobilized over the breach, pouring rapid-fire artillery down into the massive hole to slow the overwhelming tide.
"Serenity," Eisenhower ordered over the comms. "Send the aerial suicide drones directly into the tunnel. Collapse it on top of them."
The closest aerial suicide drone plunged into the massive hole and detonated, ripping a heavy chunk of stone from the ceiling that crashed down into the horde. The monsters adapted instantly to the tactic. As the rest of the aerial suicide drones dove for the opening, the swarm focused their attacks upward, swiping and blasting the incoming machines out of the air long before they could reach the tunnel entrance.
"No time to let the breach breathe," FDR said.
Dozens of heavy artillery howitzers materialized in his wake, slamming down across the battlefield hard enough to crush stray monsters beneath their conjured weight. The heavy barrels angled steeply upward and launched concentrated parabolic barrages high over the battlefield to crash down into the densest pockets of the distant flood.
"Serenity, redirect the large artillery drones to form an exclusive perimeter around Takara and the trio," Grant requested over the comms. He shifted his attention to the scattered inner defense. "Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Monroe. Fall back to the trio. Be extremely careful. Stick strictly to dodging, and only just barely. If you overcommit your movements, you will not be able to dodge the subsequent strikes."
"They are not fast enough in mind or body to do so," Serenity said. "Roy, open a portal near their line. I will send mini drones through and handle the extra computation myself."
Roy raised his hand and tore open another portal near the scattered defenders. A swarm of mini drones shot through, small mechanical eyes scattering through the dust and broken asphalt around the four Presidroids. Serenity looked through them all at once, pulling attack paths from the chaos, compressing the predictions, and feeding the results back in sharp directional bursts. It was just enough to make it possible.
The four Presidroids scrambled through the debris, narrowly dodging strikes while simultaneously laying down runic mines to slow the rushing swarm. While the mechanical guards fought their way back, the swarm of walker suicide drones charged directly into the monsters attempting to reach the humans, detonating in massive shockwaves to buy precious seconds.
The Presidroids threw themselves between the vulnerable group and the surviving monsters, establishing a tight defensive line. They cast layered barrier magic while sweeping arcs of fire ripped from their hands to cut through the closest threats.
"We will handle this incoming group," Jefferson announced over the network, holding the magical barrier steady.
"Understood," Eisenhower replied. "All remaining attack drones, redirect fire. Concentrate entirely on the giant worm."
Hundreds of weapon platforms swarmed the sky over D1, unleashing a deafening barrage of explosive light directly onto the colossal beast. The heavy runic shells tore through the air but did little more than scorch the worm's thick armored hide, resulting in entirely superficial damage.
Riding the Fireside Ascent, Roy tapped his earpiece. "Serenity, make sure you are not broadcasting the Convention's destruction. Stick exclusively to the battles happening on the front lines."
"No need to order that," Serenity replied smoothly. "I was already doing it."
On Roy's Allphone, the drone feed cut through the dust as the worm drove higher through the shattered domain. For one brief moment, he caught sight of a very tall woman standing on top of the creature, balanced on its armored body while the Convention collapsed beneath her.
Then Grant's defensive marker pulled Roy's attention back to the feed around Takara and the trio. Andri, Rava, and Orin were lying unconscious among the debris, while Takara looked dazed and injured but aware.
Roy raised his hand and tore open a portal just feet away from them. Four custom one-wheeled hook-drones rolled out of the dimensional aperture, each dragging a heavy chain that remained stretched through the portal to a squad of Presidroids waiting on the Nightshatter.
The automated drones rolled rapidly through the dirt to the fallen group. Once they reached them they began digging away just enough debris for their clamping mechanisms to find wrists, ankles, and reachable anchor points. Once the hooks locked on, the Presidroids on the ship hauled the heavy chains backward. Their massive pulling force dragged the drones and their living cargo safely out from under the rubble, freeing them from the wreckage.
Once clear of the debris, Takara gathered a simple spark of electric magic at her fingertips. She pressed her hands to the trio, shocking the three apprentices awake.
"Are you hurt?" Takara asked quickly.
The three of them shook their heads, thoroughly disoriented but otherwise unharmed.
Watching the successful extraction on his Allphone, Roy let out a sharp cheer.
The celebration died instantly.
Right as the Fireside Ascent approached the boundary of sector D1, a streak of raw, orangish-red flesh tore through the heavy crossfire. FDR halted the spell immediately, stopping their momentum dead in the air.
Tommy dropped onto the broken asphalt directly in front of them, completely ignoring the mechanical warfare raging around him. His lanky, irritated limbs twitched with restless adolescent energy. The massive, interlocking ivory hands fused to his ribcage gleamed in the violet light of the artillery fire. He tilted his oversized head, fixing his eyes entirely on Roy.