However, by the time Nolan finished driving his Terminator armor at maximum sustainable speed and quickly arrived at the epicenter of the devastating explosion, at the ground zero where multiple lascannon beams had converged, the tactical situation had already resolved itself.
Servo-skull reconnaissance drones and surviving Scyllax-class Guardian-automata also moved quickly to surround his position, forming a protective cordon and scanning for additional threats.
But through his helmet's enhanced targeting eyepiece, which provided multiple spectrum analysis and damage assessment overlays, Nolan saw something that required no further violence.
The white-haired elderly gentleman Faust, whose monocle had long since been vaporized or knocked away, stood there with his entire lower body slowly dissipating into streams of green atoms. The Gauss blaster's atomizing effect was progressing inexorably upward.
"Ahem... this was quite a lot of fun, don't you think?" Faust's voice emerged wet and damaged, barely recognizable. "Genuinely entertaining, little cub..."
At this moment, the ancient sorcerer, who seemed to have become decades older in an instant, aged visibly as his body failed. His face was gaunt, hollowed, the skin stretched tight over bone.
He kept spitting out dark, sticky, profoundly foul-smelling blood from between his lips. The corrupted ichor emerged in thick gouts with each rattling breath.
Threads and rivulets of the dark blood also flowed steadily along the corner of his mouth downward to his scarred and surprisingly muscular chest. Where the corrupted fluid touched skin, it made disturbing sizzling, corrosive sounds. His own blood was eating him alive.
At a glance, even the immaculate white suit that Faust had worn with such pride was now mostly burned away. The explosion flames and scorching heat had reduced the fine fabric to charred scraps clinging to damaged flesh.
Occasionally, small wisps of smoke still rose from the remnants, and little sparks would flare where embers continued consuming what remained.
Nolan, wearing his diamond-shaped helmet that completely concealed his expression and denied Faust any read on his emotional state, did not speak a single word.
He simply drove his Terminator armor forward with deliberate, measured steps. The massive plate slowly opened its four servo-mechanical arms wide, spreading them like the wings of some metal raptor.
The posture was intimidating, threatening, designed to dominate the visual space and make it clear that mercy was not forthcoming.
At the same time, focused on the power fist worn on Nolan's right hand, on that dark green ceramite shell, something activated.
A layer of brilliant azure-blue energy field quickly emerged across the weapon's surface. The disruption field hummed with barely contained power, oscillating at frequencies that could tear molecular bonds apart on contact.
The sound it produced was distinctive, threatening, the vibration felt in bones and teeth even at a distance.
"Young man, please, let's be reasonable..." Faust's tone shifted, desperation creeping in beneath the cultured veneer. "I truly have no personal enmity with you whatsoever. I'm just a poor believer in black magic arts, a scholar really, pursuing knowledge. Do you want to know what the specific omen the Great Shadow Demon gave me? Wouldn't that information be valuable?"
He coughed wetly, more corrupted blood spattering.
"Listen to me carefully, this is important. The Great Shadow Demon, Chthon himself, seems to have predicted through his dark divinations that drastic, apocalyptic changes will happen soon to Earth. Catastrophic events beyond imagining. He wants to position himself to get a substantial share of the resulting power and influence, to gain more direct control over this realm..."
Faust's words came faster now, racing against the atomization crawling up his torso.
"My true purpose here was never as simple as merely destroying the magic node of the Sanctum. That would be pointless vandalism. Instead, the plan was to inject tremendous quantities of black magic power to fundamentally transform the entire magical node into a bright beacon! A lighthouse that guides the way back for the Great Shadow Demon to return to full influence in this dimension!"
At this moment, Nolan, encased within his Terminator armor like an implacable engine of destruction, came to stand directly before Faust. He positioned himself to loom over the dying sorcerer, who continued desperately leaking more information in hopes of buying mercy or at least time.
Nolan's cold gaze behind the helmet's eyepiece looked down with absolute judgment, staring at the white-haired old man. The smile that had seemed so confident earlier now appeared much stiffer, frozen in a rictus of fear on Faust's face.
Still, Nolan said absolutely nothing. The silence was more terrifying than any threat.
At this moment, the huge silhouette of the six-armed Terminator armor slowly moved to completely envelop Faust's position below, blocking out the light. The old sorcerer stood literally in the shadow of his executioner.
"Child, please!" The desperation broke through entirely now. "I've noticed during our brief encounters that you know almost nothing about black magic theory and practice! This is a weakness, surely you recognize that! If you need a magical consultant, someone with centuries of accumulated knowledge, I am absolutely willing to draw up a binding thousand-year contract! Even if the Ancient One herself serves as witness to ensure my compliance... I can work exclusively for you!"
Faust's eyes were wild, words tumbling over each other.
"Moreover, think about this opportunity! My castle in Europe also contains and seals the infiltration source directly belonging to the Great Shadow Demon! The ultimate treasure of all black magicians, the legendary Book of the Darkhold itself! I can give it to the Ancient One as a peace offering... No, wait! I can give it directly to you instead! Think of the power, the knowledge!"
At this precise moment, perhaps driven by the intense stimulation brought about by the azure-blue disruption field that constantly hummed and vibrated with barely restrained violence, the energy so close to his face, Faust finally broke completely.
Even someone like Faust, who claimed to know nothing about advanced technological weapons, who had lived for centuries in mystical circles, could recognize imminent death when it was literally inches from his face.
He was completely panicked now, all pretense of dignity abandoned.
Faust gritted his teeth and endured the endless, excruciating pain that was radiating from his lower body as it continued dissipating into component atoms. The agony must have been indescribable.
He began angrily screaming at the silent, implacable Nolan, rage replacing fear as the final emotion.
"Listen to me, you little brat! The Great Shadow Demon is an ancient demon god who ascended and was promoted to Elder God status long, long ago! He is the very source of all black magic power in this universe! You cannot simply..."
However, Faust never got to finish delivering his final pronouncement and curse.
Nolan suddenly swung the buzzing, energy-wreathed power fist in a short, economical arc. He delivered a single devastating punch that connected squarely with Faust's head.
The disruption field tore molecular bonds apart on contact. The kinetic force was tremendous. The combination was absolutely catastrophic.
Faust's entire head simply exploded, detonating like an overripe fruit struck by a hammer. There was no resistance, no protection, just instantaneous obliteration.
A tremendous volume of superheated brain matter mixed with corrupted dark blood sprayed outward in all directions. The gore spattered across Nolan's Terminator armor in a wide pattern, coating the ceramite.
Where the corrupted blood landed on the armor, small pits and divots were immediately and visibly corroded into the surface of the ceramite steel shell. The ichor ate through protective coatings like acid, hissing and smoking.
At the same time, synchronized with the violent explosion of Faust's head, something else occurred.
The incomplete body, which had seemed to retain some structural cohesion through either lingering vitality or protective black magic enchantments, suddenly lost whatever was holding it together.
The remains began dissipating into green atoms at a much, much faster rate than before. Without the sorcerer's will or magic sustaining the flesh, the Gauss effect consumed everything rapidly.
Soon after, mere seconds later, Faust had been completely erased from existence. Not a single trace of the ancient sorcerer remained visible.
All that was left on the scorched floor was a gentleman's walking cane that had been broken cleanly in half. The artifact had survived what its master could not.
"Death is imminent, and still so much pointless talking..." Nolan muttered to himself with something approaching disgust. He shook his diamond-shaped helmet slightly, a gesture of dismissal or perhaps disappointment.
Then he turned deliberately to look at Wong, who stood some distance away. The sorcerer was deathly pale and panting like an exhausted ox, clearly pushed far beyond his comfortable limits.
Nolan's low voice once again emerged through the diamond-shaped helmet's vox-speakers, echoing across the now-quiet battlefield.
"Wong, I need you to focus. Did you hear and understand what Faust revealed just before his death? After your magical nodes have been infiltrated and corrupted by black magic power, transformed into these beacons he described, can they still be saved? Is there a counter-procedure?"
Hearing Nolan's pointed question and understanding its critical importance, Wong took a deep, shuddering breath. He raised one trembling hand to wipe away the drops of sweat that had gradually seeped out and were now streaming down his forehead in rivulets.
He frowned deeply and thought for a long moment, running through theoretical solutions and assessing resources.
Then he nodded heavily, the gesture carrying grim determination.
"If we can channel and use a truly large amount of white magic power to re-infuse the corrupted nodes, to essentially purge and overwrite the black magic contamination, we should be able to save them and restore proper function." Wong's tone was cautious but not hopeless. "The process will be extremely difficult and time-consuming, but theoretically possible."
Then his expression darkened again with new worry.
"But there's a more serious problem. The beacon signal attracting and guiding the Great Shadow Demon has already been sent out into the dimensional spaces. That happened the moment Faust completed his ritual. If the beacon successfully reaches Chthon's awareness, if he actually responds to the summons, then I'm afraid..."
However, Wong's increasingly worried words were suddenly interrupted by Nolan raising one massive metal palm in a stopping gesture, cutting off the spiral of anxiety.
Nolan turned his targeting eyepiece slightly, his attention sweeping across the chamber. He glanced around at the scattered wreckage of destroyed combat servitors and at the slowly disappearing remains of the Dark Apostles, which were fading back to whatever hell had spawned them.
He addressed Wong in a deliberately calm, pragmatic tone designed to cut through panic.
"If the sky falls, there will still be tall people left to hold it up. That's how these things work." Nolan's voice carried absolute certainty. "Master Ancient One is still here on Earth, and she's successfully defended this dimension for centuries. Odin, the All-Father and God-King of Asgard, has not yet passed away or entered the Odinsleep. His power remains vast."
He paused to let that sink in.
"Even if the Great Shadow Demon actually manages to manifest and respond to this beacon, even if Chthon himself arrives, he will find no easy victory here. Those two will ensure he gets no good outcome from this attempted invasion. The Elder God will be repelled."
Nolan's tone became more serious, more strategic.
"However, just as prudent precaution and because we cannot rely entirely on others, we also need to prepare defensive measures in advance. After all, it's extremely easy for these inhuman cosmic entities to accidentally destroy Earth entirely just in the aftermath of their battles with each other. Collateral damage from god-level conflicts tends to be planet-ending."
Nolan's measured words and pragmatic assessment seemed to achieve the desired effect on Wong's psychological state.
At this moment, the sorcerer's previously anxious and borderline panicked state of mind visibly calmed down considerably. The perspective helped ground his thinking.
He panted heavily for another long moment, getting his breathing under control and centering himself.
Then Wong quickly retrieved the sling ring from where he'd stored it within his robes. He immediately began casting the portal spell, his hands moving through familiar gestures with returning confidence.
Golden sparks flew everywhere as the dimensional gateway formed, reality folding to create a shortcut to Kamar-Taj.
When Wong quickly stepped through the completed portal and departed to search for reinforcements and magical support from the other masters, Nolan also began issuing cleanup orders.
He commanded the surviving Scyllax-class Guardian-automata through his command network to systematically clean up the mechanical wreckage scattered all over the ground and to secure the entire battlefield area.
Standard post-combat protocols applied even in mystical locations.
At this moment, one particular piece of battlefield debris caught attention.
The broken gentleman's cane that had belonged to Faust, now snapped cleanly into two pieces, was gently rolled up and lifted by one of the Breacher guards. The servitor used its mechanical tentacles with surprising delicacy to handle the artifact.
The construct slowly carried the broken weapon and delivered it directly to Nolan's position, recognizing it as potentially significant.
Nolan, still wearing his diamond-shaped helmet, had originally not intended to personally pick up or handle this damaged magical weapon that was so clearly related to black magic and dark powers.
After all, his previous experience obtaining and absorbing illusion dust had been unsettling enough. That single incident had taught him caution.
No one could predict what kind of disaster might be hidden within alien artifacts or heretical items of power. The risk was substantial.
However, at precisely this moment, Nolan, who vaguely remembered something about the simulator's harmful substance detection capabilities, acted on sudden impulse.
He subconsciously opened the simulator interface page through his neural link. He aimed the detection function at the gentleman's cane that was broken into two distinct pieces.
Then, a crisp notification prompt from the simulator made him release an involuntary sound of genuine surprise.
[Harmful substances have been detected and identified: Magic (Witchcraft)]
[Current number of harmful substance categories in collection: One]
[Estimated time to obtain extracted resources: One hundred hours]
Nolan's eyebrows, hidden inside the diamond-shaped helmet where no one could observe his reaction, raised slightly in pleasant surprise at this unexpected opportunity.
He did not hesitate for even a moment. He immediately initiated the extraction and absorption process for the gentleman's cane that was broken into two pieces.
The artifact began dissolving, breaking down into component energies that the simulator could process.
[Harmful substances successfully extracted: Magic (Witchcraft)]
[Cooldown time obtained and added to available pool: One hundred hours]
[Currently identified harmful substance categories: Firearms, Genes, Cold Weapons, Magic (Witchcraft), ??? ?]
[Alert: There is only one additional harmful substance category remaining before the new advanced function of the simulator becomes enabled. Please continue efforts to locate qualifying materials.]
"Well now, that's an unexpected gain..." Nolan muttered to himself with satisfaction after the gentleman's cane completely disappeared from the mechanical tentacles of the Breacher guard, consumed entirely by the simulator's extraction process.
He closed the simulator interface page, already thinking about what the final harmful substance category might be and what new function would unlock.