The platinum glow of the Sovereign Array began to dim as the primary data transfer completed, but the air around Kael remained heavy, charged with a static pressure that made Lyra's hair stand on end. He stood in the center of the chamber, his posture no longer that of a hunted scavenger, but of a man who had claimed his throne.
"We can't go to the Spire yet," Kael said, his voice now carrying a natural, metallic reverb. "My body has ascended to Year 3 parameters, but my gear is still Z-Town scrap. If I channel Absolute Inertia through this Shadow-Thread cloak again, it will vaporize, and me with it."
He looked at his wrist.
[DEAD MAN'S SWITCH: 11:45:00] [OBJECTIVE: UPGRADE EQUIPMENT TO 'SOVEREIGN GRADE'] [LOCATION: THE GENERAL STORE — SUB-CELLAR FORGE]
"We're going back," Kael commanded. He didn't wait for Lyra's protest. He reached out, his hand cutting through the air like a blade.
"ASTRAL RIFT."
The air didn't just tear; it folded. A shimmering aperture of white and violet light opened in the center of the Runic chamber. On the other side, Kael could see the flickering amber lamps of Bhy Khay's basement. With a single step, they bypassed seventy miles of Azure-controlled territory, appearing in the middle of the General Store's sub-cellar.
Bhy Khay didn't jump. He was a man who had seen the world end once; it took a lot to surprise him. However, he did drop his soldering iron when Kael stepped out of a hole in reality, wreathed in platinum light.
"Kid," Bhy Khay grunted, his golden eyes narrowing as he shielded them from the radiance. "You look like you swallowed a star and it's trying to kick its way out. I assume the 'Frictionless Gate' is no longer standing?"
"It's gone," Kael said, his voice flat. He reached into his satchel and pulled out the Calamity Core of the Frost-Weaver, which was now vibrating with the added resonance of the Array. Beside it, he laid out the shattered remains of Commander Vane's Frictionless Blade and the Azure Memory Core.
"I need a Year 3 set," Kael stated. "The Protocol has provided the blueprints. I have the materials. I need your forge and your Tier-3 Genetic hands to stabilize the resonance."
Bhy Khay walked over to the table, his fingers trembling slightly as he touched the shattered friction-steel. "This is First Circle metal. And that Core... it's been purified by the Array. You aren't asking for a suit of armor, Kael. You're asking for a Sovereign Relic."
The next six hours were a symphony of violence and creation.
Bhy Khay activated the "Void-Forge," a device that used a miniature black hole to compress materials at a molecular level. Kael stood at the center of the forge, not as a customer, but as the power source. He funneled his platinum Aries-Azure energy into the forge, acting as the hammer that shaped the materials.
[CRAFTING INITIATED: THE SOVEREIGN VANGUARD SET] [MATERIAL 1: SHATTERED FRICTION-STEEL (BASE)] [MATERIAL 2: PURIFIED CALAMITY HEART (POWER SOURCE)] [MATERIAL 3: AETHER-INK & SHADOW-THREAD (CONDUCTORS)]
As the black hole compressed the metal, Kael injected his own Bloodline-Zodiac hybrid energy into the lattice. The blue friction-capabilities of the Azure were woven into the red force-projection of the Aries, all held together by the platinum "Inertia" of the Year 3 upgrade.
The result was not armor in the traditional sense. It was a second skin.
When the forge finally hissed shut and the steam cleared, Kael stood before a full-length mirror of polished steel.
He was now clad in the Sovereign Vanguard. The suit was a deep, matte obsidian that seemed to pull the light from the room, but beneath the surface, veins of platinum energy pulsed like a slow, steady heartbeat. The cloak was no longer charcoal cloth; it was a shimmering mantle of "Event-Horizon Fabric," capable of absorbing 90% of incoming kinetic attacks.
On his forearms, the Aether-ink had been replaced by permanent, raised Runic plates of friction-steel that acted as stabilizers for his output.
[ITEM CREATED: THE SOVEREIGN VANGUARD (YEAR 3 GRADE)] [PASSIVE: KINETIC ABSORPTION.] Converts 50% of incoming damage into Energy Reserves. [ACTIVE: THE EMPEROR'S MANTLE.] The cloak can expand into a 10-meter Absolute Inertia field for 60 seconds.
"It's beautiful," Lyra whispered, stepping out from the shadows. She had used the time to refine her own Gemini staff with the Array data, the twin stones now spinning with a terrifying, silent speed. "You look like the man the Director saw in his visions."
Bhy Khay sat back, wiping grease and silver blood from his brow. "You're ready, kid. But remember—that suit doesn't make you a god. It just makes you the biggest target on the planet. The House of Obsidian won't send a commander. They'll send an army."
Kael looked at his reflection. His platinum eyes were cold. He felt the weight of the suit, the way it perfectly synchronized with the Protocol. He wasn't just overpowered; he was the new standard of power.
[DEAD MAN'S SWITCH: 05:30:00] [SYNC RATE: 75%] [NEXT OBJECTIVE: INTERCEPT THE OBSIDIAN HERALD AT THE SECOND ARRAY]
"Let them send their army," Kael said. He turned to the wall and raised his hand. The air began to fold again. "I've spent my life in the gutters of Z Town. It's time I showed the Bloodline Houses what happens when the gutter rises."
With a swirl of his obsidian cloak, Kael stepped back into the Astral Rift, Lyra following close behind. The General Store went dark, leaving Bhy Khay alone in the silence of his sub-cellar.
"Go get 'em, Emperor," the old man whispered.