Chaos erupted in the forge. The workers screamed and scattered as steam jets erupted from the floor and molten metal spilled from the overloaded forges.
Vex's calm demeanor finally broke, his face twisting into a mask of pure rage.
"Get them!" he shrieked at his soldiers.
"Get the boy!"
But his soldiers were in disarray, caught between their orders and the self-preservation instinct screaming at them to flee the impending explosion.
Kiera didn't hesitate.
She grabbed Ryu and Joric and hurled them towards a heavy-duty freight elevator at the end of the overlook.
"It's our only way out!"
The elevator was old, slow, and designed for cargo, not a quick escape.
As the doors began to grind shut, Valerius, his face a mask of corrupted fury, leaped across the chasm from an adjacent platform, landing on top of the elevator car with a deafening clang.
"You're not escaping!" he roared, his voice muffled through the metal ceiling.
He began to tear at the roof of the elevator, his enhanced strength allowing him to rip through the steel like cardboard.
Inside the car, the three fugitives could only watch in horror as Valerius's claws pierced the ceiling.
The plant was shaking itself apart around them, and their escape was about to be cut off.
"Ryu, the controls!" Kiera yelled, her blade ready to meet Valerius as he broke through.
"Can you override them? Make it go faster!"
Ryu rushed to the control panel.
It was an ancient, analog system. He had no technical skill, but he had something better.
He placed his hands on the panel and closed his eyes, reaching for the ChainForce.
He could feel the flow of electricity, the crude, simple energy of the elevator's motor.
He didn't try to rewrite its code.
He just... pushed.
He poured his will into the machine, urging it, commanding it, to move faster.
The elevator, which had been descending with a groan, suddenly lurched, dropping with a stomach-churning speed.
The emergency brakes screeched in protest, but Ryu's power was overwhelming them.
They were plummeting down the elevator shaft.
Above them, Valerius was thrown off balance by the sudden drop.
He roared in frustration as the elevator car sped away from him. He was left behind in the collapsing forge, his prize snatched from his grasp.
The elevator slammed into the bottom of the shaft with a bone-jarring crash.
The doors were buckled, the car a crumpled wreck, but they were alive.
They scrambled out into a dark, steaming service tunnel, the sound of the Forge's final, catastrophic explosion echoing behind them, a sound that shook the very foundations of the world.
They were out.
They had the proof. But they had revealed their hand.
Vex knew who they were, and he had seen a glimpse of Ryu's true potential.
They had escaped the deathtrap, but they had just stepped into the fire. The shadow war was about to become a very real, and very public, one.
Vex would no longer be content to pull strings from the shadows. He would come for Ryu with the full, terrifying force of his clandestine army.