The elevator shaft howled.
Wind rushed past them as the platform rocketed upward. Below, the red glow of the magma ocean faded, swallowed by the distance and the smoke of the dying fortress.
Marcus sat against the railing, his chest heaving. The ceramic plate armor was scorched black. His Vibro-Gladius lay on the grate beside him, the blade still humming faintly.
Narcissus stood by the controls. His blue eye was fixed on the darkness above. The frost on his skin had melted, leaving him slick with condensation.
"Are we followed?" Galen shouted over the wind.
"No," Marcus said. He looked down through the mesh floor. "The Leviathan is too big for the shaft. And the explosion... nothing survived that."
Lucilla was huddled in the corner. She held the datapad with white knuckles.
"It erased everything," she whispered. "The factory. The drones. The ore."
"We hurt them," Marcus said. "That base took years to build. Vane just lost a prime asset."
"He didn't lose it," Lucilla corrected. "He wrote it off. To kill us."
The lift slowed.
Red warning lights flashed on the walls. LEVEL 1. SURFACE ACCESS.
The air grew cooler. The smell of sulfur faded, replaced by the stale, dusty scent of the upper mines.
CLANK.
The lift stopped.
The doors hissed open.
They stepped out into the cavern of the refugee camp.
It was chaos.
The earthquake caused by the Leviathan's awakening had cracked the walls. Dust hung thick in the air.
Decimus stood by the barricade, holding a torch. His face was pale.
"Caesar!" the Centurion shouted. "The mountain shook! We thought the roof was coming down!"
Refugees emerged from the shadows. They looked terrified. They expected monsters.
Instead, they saw kings.
Marcus stepped into the torchlight. His armor was scarred but unbroken.
Narcissus walked behind him, a towering silhouette of black metal and blue light.
Galen carried a crate of medical supplies.
And Lucilla... she didn't look like a CEO anymore. She looked like a survivor.
"Is it over?" a woman asked, clutching a child.
"The machine below is dead," Marcus lied. He didn't tell them about the Leviathan. Fear was a resource he couldn't afford to waste right now. "The mine is safe for now."
He signaled to Galen.
"Open the crates."
Galen set the box down. He pried the lid off.
Silver pouches spilled out. Nutrient Paste.
"Food!" a man shouted.
The crowd surged forward.
"Order!" Decimus roared, banging his spear on a shield. "Line up!"
Marcus watched them. They grabbed the pouches with shaking hands. They wept as they ate the tasteless sludge.
"They are desperate," Lucilla said softly.
"They are fuel," Marcus said. "And we just filled the tank."
He turned to the cave wall. It was smooth limestone.
"Lucilla. Show me the prize."
Lucilla nodded. She plugged the datapad into a scavenged projector unit Galen had built from drone parts.
A beam of light hit the wall.
A map appeared.
It wasn't just Italy. It was the world.
The refugees fell silent. They stared at the glowing image.
"This is the Board's network," Lucilla explained.
Red dots covered the globe. Mining sites. Processing centers. Forward Operating Bases.
But there were other colors too.
ROME: A black crater. Labeled [SANITIZED].
NORTH AMERICA: A massive cluster of red. [CORPORATE HQ].
CHINA: A chaotic mix of red and yellow. [ACTIVE WAR ZONE].
Marcus stepped closer. He scanned the map.
He looked East.
In the mountains of Syria, a single green light blinked.
[RESISTANCE POCKET DETECTED: LEGIO X FRETENSIS]
[STATUS: ACTIVE]
Marcus's heart stopped.
"Marcia," he whispered.
"She held the line," Narcissus rumbled, stepping up beside him. "The Tenth Legion lives."
"They have cannons," Marcus said. "They have gunpowder. And they are fighting."
He turned to the crowd.
"Listen to me!"
His voice echoed off the stone walls.
"You think this hole is safety? It is a grave waiting to be filled. The thing that shook the mountain today... it will wake again. And when it does, it will eat this mine."
Murmurs of fear.
"But we are not trapped," Marcus said. He pointed at the map.
"The world is burning. But there is a fire burning back in the East."
He drew his Vibro-Gladius. The gray blade hummed in the silence.
"We have food. We have weapons. And we have a destination."
He looked at Decimus.
"Gather the spears. Pack the crates. We leave at dawn."
"Leave?" Varro the smith stepped forward. "To where? The surface is poison."
"To the sea," Marcus said. "We march to the coast. We steal ships. And we sail for the rising sun."
He looked at the map one last time. At the green light in Syria.
"We go to build an army," Marcus said. "And then we come back to kill the gods."
The crowd stared at him. They were scared. But for the first time in weeks, they weren't looking at the ground. They were looking at him.
"Hail Caesar!" Decimus shouted. It was ragged, but loud.
"Hail Caesar!" a few soldiers joined in.
Then the miners. Then the women.
The chant filled the cavern.
Marcus sheathed his sword.
"Rest," he ordered. "Tomorrow, the war begins."
One Hour Later.
Marcus stood at the tunnel entrance, looking out at the acid rain falling on the dead forest.
Lucilla walked up to him. She held the datapad.
"I decrypted the last file," she said quietly.
"What is it?"
"A message," she said. "From Vane. Sent five minutes ago."
She handed him the pad.
It was a video file.
Vane sat in his pristine office. He was drinking whiskey.
"Commodus," Vane said. "You're persistent. I'll give you that."
He swirled the glass.
"You took my factory. You stole my map. You think you've won a victory."
Vane leaned forward. His eyes were cold.
"But you forget. This isn't a war. It's a business. And you just became too expensive to ignore."
He picked up a phone on his desk.
"Activate the Apex Predators," Vane ordered. "Authorization: Omega."
He looked back at the camera.
"Run, little emperor. Run to the East. My dogs are faster."
The screen went black.
Marcus handed the pad back.
"Apex Predators?" he asked.
"I don't know," Lucilla admitted. She looked frightened. "It's a clearance level I've never seen. Above Liquidation. Above Asset Denial."
"It doesn't matter," Marcus said.
He looked at his hand. The ceramic gauntlet was scratched, dented, but strong.
"Let them come," Marcus said.
He turned back to the cave, where the fires of his new army were burning in the dark.
"I'm done running."