High above the shrouded, jagged peaks, the Plague Doctor stood like a conductor of chaos, weaving a tapestry of dark magic. With a fluid, rhythmic twirl of his arms, he pulled at the very fabric of reality, solidifying the Relic Barrier. Slowly, the entire Relic Region became encased in a shimmering, translucent shield—a fortress of pulsing green and black energy that sat like a bruise between dimensions.
The Doctor turned his gaze toward the towering, metal frame of the Overseer. In a rare moment of stillness, he reached up and slowly removed his mask. Beneath the porcelain was a sharp, handsome face, slick with sweat and twisted into a triumphant, terrifying grin.
The Overseer let out a shriek—a sound so violent it vibrated through the very foundations of the mountain. Before his eyes, the machine began to mutate. Massive, jagged claws erupted from its joints, and its core began to hum with the devastating potential of a Relic Blast.
"Finally," the Doctor breathed, the air crackling and snapping around him. "Our Overseers are complete!"
The space behind him hissed as a black hole tore open in the air. Tenebris Marcam stepped through the void, his presence cold and heavy. "Are we ready?"
The Plague Doctor snapped his mask back on, the red lenses igniting with a predatory light. "Yes. Tenebris Marcam, release the Anti-Golem and declare war on the Awakened Army!"
Tenebris nodded, pulling an outdated, rusted radio from his belt. He spoke into the crackling static: "Stand your ground. We are moving to the Ragnarok Site to engage the Awakened Army. Unleashing Anti-Golem in 3... 2... 1..."
Light-years away, on the GDA Spaceship, the steady hum of deep-space travel was shattered by a frantic, piercing alarm. The Advisor hurried across the bridge, leaning over a technician's shoulder.
"Gerald, have you located Dr. Xenon's primary base yet?"
Gerald's fingers flew across the keys, his breathing shallow. "Yeah, I did—OH MY FUCKING GOD! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!"
The Advisor leaned in, his visor reflecting the frantic data streaming across the control panel. A massive, blinding green ray had erupted from Earth, lancing through the fabric of space and piercing into a different universe entirely.
"Did the Relics do this?" The Advisor's voice was hollow, stripped of its usual authority. "Did they sense something?"
He snapped upright, his posture rigid with a sudden, paralyzing terror. "We need to be ready for what's coming next! All hands to battle stations!"
"What do you mean?!" Gerald yelled, his face turning a sickly pale.
The Advisor gritted his teeth, his jaw tight under his helmet. "The Relic Faction sensed something more dangerous than us! Something more dangerous than the Calamity!" He slammed his fist onto the navigation console with a thunderous bang. "WE NEED TO GO BACK TO EARTH! NOW!"
The massive GDA spaceship groaned as its engines roared to life, straining against the laws of physics. With a deafening boom that shook the stars, the vessel hit lightspeed, becoming a streak of white light racing back toward the blue planet.
Back in the swirling, grit-choked dust of the oil field, John and Victoria stood side-by-side. Their weapons were braced, their muscles locked in anticipation. Suddenly, the realization hit them both like a physical blow.
"Dr. Xenon!?" they shouted in unison.
The Eradicator Mark 2 tilted its light-green helmet, its mechanical vocalizers emitting a distorted, mocking laugh that sounded like grinding metal. "Glad you noticed, dipshits!"
The machine raised its left arm, the twin six-barreled rotary guns spinning into a lethal, high-pitched blur. The acrid scent of ozone and overheated metal filled the air as the barrels began to glow a white-hot orange.
The first shot was about to be fired