Altopereh burst out of Kalian's domain like a black comet. The endless forest of metal spears vanished behind them within seconds as the restored God Unit tore across the crimson desert at impossible speed, waves of sand exploding beneath its thrusters and scattering across Tartarus like blood-red oceans in a storm. Inside the cockpit every system glowed at maximum output, and the deep hum of the restored main core echoed through the chamber like the heartbeat of a living god. For the first time since arriving in Tartarus, Altopereh was complete. The machine no longer limped across the wastelands held together by fractured armor and desperation. The damaged limbs were gone. The instability was gone. There was only overwhelming power. Outside, anti-matter energy flowed across parts of the black armor in shifting streams of dark crimson light, and the great wings on Altopereh's back warped the air with every pulse, sending ripples through the desert itself. The speed alone was monstrous. Dunes the size of mountains vanished behind them in moments, and though the desert stretched endlessly in every direction, Altopereh crossed it like a predator finally unleashed after ages of confinement.
Lea stood silently behind Youri with one hand gripping the rail beside the cockpit wall as she watched the crimson world streak past the screens, and even she looked uneasy now — not because of where they were going, but because of what was taking them there. Youri sat firmly in the center seat with his eyes fixed on the horizon, and for a while no one spoke; only the sound of the engines filled the cockpit. Then at last he broke the silence. "Almesis."
Altopereh answered at once. "What about him?"
Youri leaned forward slightly. "What exactly is his power?"
The moment the question left his mouth, the atmosphere in the cockpit shifted subtly, and even Lea looked toward the core behind them. Altopereh was silent for several seconds, longer than usual, and then its voice echoed through the chamber. "Infinity."
Youri frowned. "Infinity?"
"Yes." The giant machine accelerated further, and outside the desert warped under the pressure of its speed. "No one truly knows what power Almesis holds. Not even among the originals."
Lea folded her arms slowly. "That alone should terrify you."
Altopereh ignored her. "There are powers in Tartarus that belong to what we call the infinite category."
Youri narrowed his eyes. "Infinite category…"
Altopereh's voice deepened, almost as if it were teaching an ancient truth. "There are powers that can be measured. And then there are powers that fundamentally cannot." The cockpit screens flickered as streams of anti-matter calculations scrolled past without end. The halo behind Altopereh pulsed once and sent a shockwave tearing across the desert below them. "My anti-matter abilities fall into that category. Anti-matter is destruction without limit — the negation of existence itself. As long as energy exists, anti-matter can go on consuming."
Lea looked at the core. "Infinite destruction…"
Altopereh laughed softly. "A fitting title." Youri stared ahead quietly as it went on. "Matter energy also belongs there."
"Meaning?"
"The endless creation and conversion of physical existence. There are rulers capable of endlessly producing mass, endlessly generating worlds, endlessly reshaping their surroundings." Youri thought at once of the domains — the volcanic worlds, the frozen kingdoms, whole realities created and sustained by single beings. "And finally," Altopereh said, and the cockpit lights dimmed slightly, "there is light."
Lea's posture stiffened. "The Sacros."
"Yes." Its voice carried unmistakable hatred now. "The power they wield falls into the infinite category as well."
Youri remembered the visions — the golden circles, the cages of burning light, the knights descending from the sky like divine executioners. "What exactly is their power?" he asked quietly.
"Divinity," Altopereh answered at once, and the word echoed heavily through the cockpit. "Light expands endlessly. It spreads. It consumes. It controls." The giant machine's fists clenched slightly. "The Sacros learned how to make a weapon of that principle."
Youri was silent for a moment, and then he asked the real question. "And Almesis?"
Outside, the desert suddenly grew darker — not because night had fallen, since Tartarus had no night, but because something else was changing. The crimson sky deepened into darker shades of red the farther they traveled, and even the storms around them seemed quieter, as though the desert itself had begun to listen.
Altopereh's voice dropped, and even the ancient ruler sounded uncertain. "With Almesis, we know only one thing. His domain is endless." Lea looked toward the horizon uneasily. "And that alone places him in the infinite category."
Youri frowned. "That can't be all."
"It is. No one knows where Almesis begins." The cockpit grew quieter. "No one knows where his domain ends." The wind outside howled violently now, and sandstorms rose across the horizon like living walls. "And no one…" It paused briefly. "…has ever truly fought him."
Youri turned slightly. "What do you mean?"
Altopereh laughed softly. "Think carefully." The machine pointed toward the endless desert ahead. "You have walked through his domain since the moment you arrived in Tartarus."
"That doesn't explain anything."
"No," it replied. "It explains everything."
The cockpit screens flickered violently as warning signals flashed briefly and then steadied again. Lea looked at the sensors at once. "We're entering deeper territory."
Outside, the desert was changing. The dunes no longer looked natural. They moved strangely — like waves, like breathing flesh beneath endless layers of crimson sand — and Youri saw it too. "The ground…"
"Yes," Altopereh said calmly.
For the first time since entering Tartarus, Youri felt real unease — not fear, but something worse: the sense that the world around him was alive.
Altopereh went on, its voice echoing deeper than before. "Infinity is not merely power. It is a concept. Anti-matter represents endless destruction. Matter represents endless creation. Light represents endless expansion." Ahead, the crimson storms slowly parted, and far in the distance something enormous loomed beneath the sky — still too far away to see clearly, but massive enough to bend the horizon itself. "And Almesis," Altopereh finished, slowing slightly, "represents endless existence."
Silence followed. Lea looked at Youri, and even she seemed unsettled by those words. Youri stared at the distant shape ahead. "What does that even mean?"
This time Altopereh didn't answer at once, and for the first time since Youri had known the ancient ruler, it sounded serious — truly serious. "We are about to find out."
The metal wings behind Altopereh flared brighter, and the machine accelerated once more. And ahead of them, the endless crimson desert finally began to change.