The new D-H was located in a massive, sweltering utility chamber beneath the city's Financial District. The Thermal Vipers were indeed swift, snake-like creatures that moved like lightning, their scales glowing with intense residual heat.
The team deployed. Bjorn took the front, his Runic Stamina providing a thermal buffer. Zola solidified the perimeter with thick earth barriers, ready to collapse sections if necessary. Mateo zoomed in and out, distracting the Vipers.
The Vipers were terrifyingly fast. They moved at subsonic speeds, leaving shimmering trails of pure heat residue that instantly raised the ambient temperature of the chamber, accelerating their pack.
"They're too fast!" Mateo shouted, narrowly avoiding a venomous bite that melted the concrete where he'd stood a second before.
"They're accelerating too quickly!" Elara gasped. She was fighting a losing battle, trying to cool the air, but every Viper movement instantly raised the temperature again. She was unable to risk a Core Lock move.
"Kenji! Now! Neutralize the field!"
Kenji took a deep breath, focusing his expanded Rank 3 core. He extended his arms, not to attack, but to pull. He was using the ultimate principle of the Scrapsmith: the magnetic attraction to all residual magic.
[Scrapsmith: Thermal Neutralization]
A visible gray wave of energy radiated from Kenji. It wasn't a blast; it was a vacuum. He began pulling the searing heat residue the thermal scraps out of the air and into his own core.
The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. The chamber's temperature plummeted. The shimmering trails left by the Vipers vanished. Their movement visibly slowed, their scales dimming from orange to dull crimson.
"It's working!" Zola yelled. "They're manageable now!"
The Vipers were still C-Rank formidable, but without the acceleration field, they were sluggish. Elara seized the opportunity, unleashing controlled bursts of ice to trap them. Bjorn, now fighting at normal speed, smashed the immobilized Vipers with powerful, unrepelled fists.
Kenji maintained the neutralization field. The constant absorption of high-level thermal scrap was taxing, threatening to burn out his core, but he had to keep going.
Thermal Viper Destruction Log: Residual Thermal Energy absorbed: +450 units.
He was managing the flow, absorbing the heat and then dissipating it slowly through his feet and the concrete floor, proving his worth as the team's new Regulator.
They cleared the chamber efficiently, with zero collateral damage to the power grid. Ms. Chen, watching remotely, sent a coded commendation.
"We did it," Kenji said, collapsing against a wall, his chest heaving. The quest to prove his Rank 3 worth was complete.