The storm of metal shards swallowed Altopereh whole. From outside, the God Unit vanished beneath a violent cyclone of silver-black fragments, millions upon millions of razor-like pieces spinning around the towering Orbiton at impossible speed and forming a sphere of screaming metal that eclipsed the crimson sky itself. The sound alone was unbearable.
Inside the cockpit the warning systems flickered wildly as the whole frame shook under the force of Kalian's reconstruction, and Lea held tight to the side rail as another violent tremor ran through the machine. "What exactly is he doing?" she shouted over the deafening noise.
Youri kept both hands firmly on the controls, bracing himself as the cockpit tilted sharply sideways. "He's rebuilding it."
"That is rebuilding?"
Another massive impact shook the unit. Outside, giant shards slammed into Altopereh's armor and liquefied instantly, melting into the damaged sections like living metal. Broken plating re-formed layer by layer, fractured joints fused together, and torn mechanical muscle regenerated beneath fresh armor. The dark hues that had barely held the shattered sections together slowly faded away. For the first time since arriving in Tartarus, Altopereh was healing completely. The giant core behind the cockpit pulsed violently, black light surged through the entire frame, and the power readings climbed. Output 42 percent… 58… 71… 89…
Lea stared at the numbers. "That's impossible…"
And then everything stopped. The storm faded almost at once, and the countless shards halted in midair before scattering across the desert like silver rain. Silence fell over Kalian's domain again. Standing there beneath the blood-red sky was Altopereh — complete. The damage from Tikadello's assault was gone. The shattered chest plating had been restored into smooth black armor lined with crimson veins of energy, and the broken arm had fully regenerated, layered now with intricate dark metal patterns that pulsed faintly with anti-matter light. Its shoulders looked broader, sharper, more monstrous, and even the plasma scars from the battle against the Hound had disappeared. Altopereh looked reborn.
Inside the cockpit Youri rose slowly from the pilot's seat and stared at the restored systems. Every warning light had vanished and every damaged section was working again. Main core: full stability. Frame integrity: 100 percent. Anti-matter systems: online. Plasma weaponry: restored. Lea looked speechless.
Youri breathed out slowly. "So this is your full form…"
Altopereh laughed, and the sound echoed through his mind like thunder rolling through deep water. "Oh, no." The giant machine slowly clenched its restored hand. "This is merely the body."
Outside, Kalian stood before them in silence, looming over the spear forest while countless metal spires turned slowly behind it like a moving ocean of blades. Altopereh stepped forward. The desert trembled beneath its weight, and the ancient ruler laughed again. "I see you haven't changed at all."
Kalian tilted its head slowly, and the blue glow of its eyes deepened. "Neither have you." Its voice rang coldly across the metal wasteland, and then its gaze narrowed. "I heard they leashed you."
For the first time since entering Tartarus, Altopereh stopped laughing. The atmosphere shifted instantly, and Youri felt it at once — the hatred, the rage, the ancient humiliation buried inside the being joined to his mind. Altopereh's voice dropped. "I was sloppy. That is all."
Kalian kept staring at it. "You disappeared for ages."
"I know."
"And then your presence suddenly returned."
Altopereh slowly raised its head toward the crimson sky. "When I finally got another chance at revenge," it said, its voice growing colder, "they had already evolved again."
Lea folded her arms quietly in the cockpit. Even she could feel it now: these were no ordinary monsters talking. These beings remembered ages far older than history itself — civilizations, wars, extinctions, the rise and fall of worlds.
Kalian's metal body shifted slightly. "Tartarus has changed." It looked toward the distant horizon. "And I do not think that change happened because of him." Its eyes moved to Youri.
Youri frowned. "You mean me?"
"No." Kalian pointed upward. "The sky."
For a moment all of them looked up at the endless crimson heavens. The great cracks stretching across Tartarus seemed larger now, and darker, as though something behind the sky itself were slowly trying to break through.
Altopereh leaned forward slightly. "Either way, that is where I am headed." The anti-matter glow beneath its armor intensified.
Kalian was silent for several long moments, and then the ruler of metal spoke again. "Among us ten originals…" The countless spears behind it slowly lowered, like kneeling soldiers. "…you were always the strongest."
Even Altopereh went quiet at that. There was no fear in Kalian's voice and no admiration, only truth. "And for that," it said, laying one hand over its chest, "you have my respect."
Youri blinked. It was the first time he had heard another ruler speak to Altopereh without hostility. But Kalian went on. "There was a reason we never counted Almesis among us." Lea stiffened at once, Youri narrowed his eyes, and Altopereh chuckled quietly. "Despite our differences," Kalian said, as the spear forest shifted slowly around them, "we coexisted."
Images flashed through Youri's mind — ten ancient rulers, ten domains, ten monsters powerful enough to shape Tartarus itself.
"But Almesis…" Kalian's glowing eyes dimmed slightly. "…was existence itself."
Silence followed, and even the wind across the metal desert seemed to stop. Youri frowned. "What does that even mean?"
Kalian looked out toward the endless desert beyond its domain. "You have walked upon his body since the moment you arrived here."
Youri's face darkened. The desert, the sky, the endless crimson horizon — all of it one domain, one ruler, one existence.
Kalian turned back to Altopereh, and its voice grew heavier. "That is why we never crossed paths with him. We survived because we stayed away."
And then Altopereh laughed — not softly, and not mockingly, but with real excitement, the kind of laugh that comes before destruction. "You say that," it said, raising one restored arm, "because I never tried."
The black plasma veins across its body glowed brighter, and Youri felt the surge of power flowing through the cockpit as Altopereh's voice echoed across the whole domain. "And this time…" A plasma blade slowly formed in its hand and ignited violently, gray-black energy bursting outward and warping the air around it. "…I am trying."
Kalian's spear forest trembled. Lea stared in silence. Even Youri felt uneasy, because Altopereh truly meant it. This wasn't arrogance. It was obsession. The being he was bound to genuinely meant to challenge the ruler of the endless desert itself.
"And now," Altopereh said, pointing its plasma blade toward the distant crimson horizon, "we will finally learn who the true ruler of Tartarus is."