Episode-1057
Chapter : 2113
"It’s not enough," Eun-ha analyzed quickly, her eyes tracking the energy spikes. "The roots are draining the battery, but the core is generating power faster than you can drink it. If it overloads, it creates a thermal detonation right here."
"Then we cage the explosion," Lloyd said, his eyes locking onto a specific point in the air next to him.
He reached out with his mind, pulling on the strongest, most durable bond he had. He called for the shield that had never failed him, the friend he had dragged back from the grave.
"Jasmin!" Lloyd yelled. "Center stage!"
From the shadows of the ruined archway, a figure blurred into motion. It moved with a speed that defied its composition. It was Spirit Jasmin, the Black Star-Diamond warrior.
She didn't look like a maid anymore. She looked like a statue carved from the night sky, her body made of a material denser than anything on the planet. She slid to a halt in front of the struggling, smoking machine. She didn't have a weapon in her hand. She was the weapon. Or rather, she was the wall.
"I see it, Master," Jasmin said. Her voice was calm, resonating with the heavy, crystal clear tone of her new body. "It wants to go boom. I won't let it."
Lloyd looked at her. "We need the box, Jasmin. The big one. We need a perfect seal. Nothing gets out. Not light, not heat, not gravity."
Jasmin nodded. She understood the physics. She understood the assignment. She stepped right up to the thrashing machine, ignoring the heat that was turning the grey roots to ash.
She placed her black crystal hands on the ground.
"Diamond Coffin," she whispered.
The air around the cyborg shimmered. It wasn't magic in the traditional sense; it was a restructuring of reality. Jasmin extended her own form, projecting her diamond essence outward.
Walls of black, translucent crystal shot up from the ground. They rose around the machine, four massive slabs of indestructible material. They slammed together with a sound like a church bell ringing deep underwater. A roof formed over the top, sealing the box.
The PRIDE machine was trapped. It hammered its fists against the inside of the coffin, but the black diamond didn't even scratch. The roots of the Void Wood were still inside with it, pinning it down, but now the struggle was contained.
"It’s sealed," Jasmin reported, her form slightly transparent as she focused her essence on maintaining the box. "But Master... I made a modification."
Lloyd limped forward, getting closer to the black box. "What modification?"
"The inside," Jasmin said. "I made it smooth. Perfectly smooth. Like a mirror."
Lloyd smiled. It was a grim, terrifying smile. She had remembered the lesson from the desert. She had remembered how they beat the first firefly agent.
"Perfect," Lloyd said. "Mirrors are good. Mirrors reflect."
He stood in front of the coffin. The machine inside was a blurry shape through the dark crystal, struggling and glowing. The heat inside was building up, but the diamond held it all in.
Lloyd looked at his own right arm. The sleeve of his uniform was torn away. He raised his hand.
"Okay," Lloyd said to the air. "The rat is in the trap. The trap is locked. Now... we need to fill the trap with gas."
He closed his eyes. He didn't need the [All-Seeing Eye] to know what he had to do next. He had to summon the rest of the family. He had to bring out the heavy artillery.
"Everyone," Lloyd’s mental voice boomed through the connection to his spirits. "Wake up. It’s time to finish this."
The air around Lloyd began to distort. The temperature fluctuated wildly—hot, cold, electric. The mana in the courtyard swirled, drawn to him like water to a drain.
The Containment Phase was over. Now, it was time for Annihilation.
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Date: Year 2513, Month of Sun, Day 18 – 06:50 AM
Location: Ferrum Estate Ruins
The black diamond box stood in the center of the ruins like a monolith. Inside, the PRIDE machine was a blur of frantic motion, pounding against the walls, its purple energy reflecting off the mirrored interior, creating a kaleidoscope of chaotic light.
Lloyd stood ten feet away from the box. He was the conductor of an orchestra that was about to play a single, deafening note.
He needed power. Not just a little power. He needed the kind of power that burned holes in maps.
"Iffrit," Lloyd commanded.
The air to his right ignited. There was no smoke, just sudden, intense heat. A rift of fire opened, and Iffrit stepped out. The Demon King of Fire was massive, nine feet of magma armor and burning hate. He carried his greatsword, the Zanbatō, resting it on his shoulder. The ground beneath his feet turned to glass instantly.
"You called for the hammer?" Iffrit rumbled, his voice like rocks tumbling in a volcano.
Chapter : 2114
"Not the sword," Lloyd said. "Just the fire. The hottest fire you have. The white fire."
"Fang Fairy," Lloyd called next.
To his left, the air cracked with the smell of ozone. A bolt of blue lightning struck the ground, and when the flash cleared, the Storm Goddess was standing there. Her silver hair floated in a static charge. Her wolf ears twitched as she looked at the box.
"It’s a cage," Fang Fairy said, her voice vibrating with electric energy. "Do you want me to break it?"
"No," Lloyd said. "I want you to fill it. I want pure voltage. No thunder, just the strike."
"Bingyu," Lloyd whispered.
The temperature dropped. Behind him, the Ice Queen materialized. She didn't make a sound. She was just suddenly there, elegant and cold, her dress woven from frost.
"Ice?" Bingyu asked, raising an eyebrow. "Fire and Lightning I understand. But why Ice? Do you want to cool it down?"
"Stability," Lloyd explained, his eyes fixed on the box. "We are about to create a sun in a bottle. If we just pour heat in, the diamond might crack from the thermal shock. I need you to sheath the energy. Wrap the fire in a layer of absolute zero until it hits the target. Keep it dense."
Bingyu nodded slowly. "A cold fusion. Very well."
Finally, Lloyd looked at his own right arm.
"Nova."
The skin of his arm shimmered and vanished. The white-and-gold futuristic plating of the Nova spirit encased his limb. It shifted, locked, and extended. The hand disappeared, replaced by the wide, humming muzzle of the Nova Cannon.
This was the delivery system.
"Everyone," Lloyd said. "Into the cannon. Now."
This was dangerous. Mixing spirit energies was volatile. Mixing Fire, Lightning, Ice, and Plasma was suicidal. It shouldn't work. The energies should fight each other. They should explode in his face.
But Lloyd had the [Unified Power Architecture] from the System 2.0 update. His body was the mixer. His soul was the blender.
Iffrit dissolved into a stream of red light. Fang Fairy turned into a bolt of blue. Bingyu became a ribbon of white mist.
All three spirits flowed into the back of the Nova Cannon.
The weapon screamed.
It was a mechanical shriek of metal being pushed past its limits. The white plating of the cannon began to glow. It turned red, then orange, then a blinding, terrifying white.
Lloyd gritted his teeth. The weight of the arm increased tenfold. He had to use his [Steel Blood] just to keep his bones from snapping under the pressure of the gathering energy.
"Warning," the System flashed in his eyes. "Energy density at 400%. Containment critical. Weapon failure imminent."
"Hold it," Lloyd growled.
Inside the barrel of the cannon, a sphere began to form.
It wasn't fire. It wasn't plasma. It was something else. It was "White Void" energy. It was a ball of pure, unstable destruction. It crackled with black lightning. It dripped liquid fire that froze before it hit the ground. It was a miniature star, screaming to be let out.
Lloyd took a step forward. His boots cracked the stone floor. He lifted the heavy cannon.
Jasmin, sensing the buildup, adjusted the coffin. On the side facing Lloyd, a small, circular hole appeared in the diamond wall. It was an aperture, just big enough for the barrel of the cannon.
"Ready, Master," Jasmin said, bracing herself against the back of the box.
Lloyd jammed the barrel of the Nova Cannon into the hole. The fit was perfect. He pressed his shoulder against the stock of the weapon.
He looked through the scope. He could see the PRIDE machine inside. It had stopped thrashing. It was looking at the barrel of the gun poking through the wall. Its red eyes were fixed on the glowing white light inside the muzzle.
"ERROR," the machine whispered. "CALCULATION... IMPOSSIBLE."
"It's not impossible," Lloyd said, his finger tightening on the trigger. "It's just heavy."
Date: Year 2513, Month of Sun, Day 18 – 06:51 AM
Location: Ferrum Estate Ruins
The trigger of the Nova Cannon was heavy. It wasn't a hair-trigger like a sniper rifle; it required intent. Lloyd Ferrum squeezed his finger back. He felt the mechanical click vibrate through his arm, through the reinforced bones of his shoulder, and into his very teeth.
The weapon didn't just fire. It screamed.
The release of energy was so violent that the ground beneath Lloyd’s boots cracked into a spiderweb of fissures. He had to activate his [Steel Blood] to turn his legs into immovable pillars just to keep from being thrown backward by the recoil.
From the muzzle of the cannon, the beam emerged.