✨ CHAPTER FORTY-TWO — COLLISION OF THE SIGIL SPHERE ✨
The world snapped back into color like someone slammed reality into place.
The shockwave flipped cars, shattered windows across five blocks, and cracked the Citadel's lower walls. Heat rippled upward in gold, silver, and crimson layers.
Smoke churned.
Silence.
Then—
Aiden stumbled out of the crater, wings flickering wildly.
Maya's silver threads snapped back into place around him, stabilizing his energy before his knees buckled.
"Aiden—hold steady! Don't let your aura collapse!"
Dara sprinted to his side, coughing through dust.
"BRO—BRO—ARE YOUR INSIDES STILL ON THE INSIDE?!"
Aiden forced a breath.
"Still alive."
From the smoke, a red glow started to pulse.
Dara's eyes widened.
"…Oh come on. Not again."
---
THE EXECUTOR SURVIVES
The red glow intensified until the Executor stepped out.
Its crystal musculature was scorched.
Its torso was cracked.
One shoulder drooped unnaturally.
But it was still moving.
Still stable.
Still hunting.
"Analyzing collision data."
Its voice was deeper now, distorted by the damage.
"Vessel durability: exceeding projections."
Maya's eyes narrowed.
"It survived direct distortion recoil… That shouldn't be possible."
The Executor's head rotated toward Aiden in a slow, unnatural turn.
"Conclusion: escalation necessary."
Aiden steadied himself.
"Good. Means we can break it."
Dara tapped Aiden's elbow.
"Bro… this is not the time for confidence one-liners. Look at its chest. It's charging something."
---
THE DEADLY NEW FUNCTION
A red orb formed in the Executor's chest cavity, but this time it didn't look like energy.
It looked like molten metal.
Maya's expression tightened.
"That's not a beam. That's a core overload seed. A micro-collapse bomb."
Dara blinked.
"A WHAT BOMB—?!"
"If it detonates, it'll carve a hole in the city."
Aiden cracked his knuckles.
"Then we don't let it fire."
The Executor moved its hands outward—
Shaping the molten core—
Rings of distorted gravity forming around it.
"Omega Compression: initializing."
The ground beneath it bent upward like a warped sheet of metal.
---
TRIO STRATEGY: PHASE SHIFT
Maya grabbed Aiden's arm again—silver threads weaving faster than ever.
"Aiden—we can't block that. We can't dodge it. We can't redirect it."
Dara threw up his hands.
"That's a lot we can't do, Maya!"
"But—" she continued, eyes gleaming,
"—we can destabilize the formation before it fires."
Aiden nodded.
"Pressure strike. Direct to the core."
"Yes, but—" Maya pointed upward.
"We'll need altitude. Aerial momentum. And a synchronized boost."
Dara blinked.
"…so like… yeet him upward?"
Aiden placed a hand on Dara's shoulder.
"Yes. Exactly like that."
Dara grinned.
"Oh I'm SO down."
---
THE BOOST
Aiden crouched.
Maya channeled silver through his wings, stabilizing their structure.
Dara planted his feet behind Aiden.
"On three! One—two—"
He shoved Aiden upward with all his strength.
The Vessel amplified the push tenfold—
Aiden shot into the air like a golden missile—
Maya's silver threads trailing behind him like comet tails.
The Executor's head snapped upward to track him.
"Interception protocol activ—"
It didn't finish.
Aiden slammed downward from above—
CRAAAAAACK—!!
A golden-white fist crashed into the Executor's chest, right into the forming core.
The impact blasted the molten sphere sideways, melting half the plaza wall.
The Executor staggered— its entire armored chestplate caving inward.
Dara pumped his fist.
"YESSSSS!! BOOM! TAKE THAT, YOU ALIEN PRESSURE COOKER!!!"
---
THE EXECUTOR'S DESPERATION MODE
The Executor froze.
Then its symbols flared chaotically.
Not aligned.
Not patterned.
Chaotic.
Maya's eyes widened.
"Aiden—Dara—step back—NOW!"
"Why?!" Dara yelled.
"It's entering Desperation Mode—it's abandoning combat protocols!"
The Executor began tearing its own armor off—
Ripping away restrictions—
Breaking off stabilizers—
Peeling away layers of control.
Aiden felt the pressure spike.
"Maya—what does that mean?"
She didn't hesitate.
"It means it's about to stop fighting like a machine…"
The Executor's remaining armor shattered—
Revealing the full black-crystal body underneath—
Veins of red pulsing like magma—
Its voice turned into a distorted roar:
"TARGET… DELETE."
Maya finished:
"…and start fighting like a monster."
Aiden took one step forward, aura igniting.
"Good. Monsters break easier."
The final clash was moments away.