The Forbidden Sector was no longer a sanctuary. The sound of heavy, rhythmic thumping grew louder until the massive stone walls exploded inward.
Dust and debris filled the air, and through the haze, the Iron-Legion emerged. There were hundreds of them—seven-foot-tall cyborgs, their bodies encased in matte-black 'Anti-Mana' armor. Their eyes were glowing red slits, and their weapons were hooked directly into their nervous systems.
"Target identified: Arkanos," the Legion Commander's voice boomed. "Level 9 Threat. Deploying 'Null-Fields'."
Four massive metallic pillars were slammed into the ground, creating a square perimeter around Ray. Instantly, the air inside the square turned heavy. The violet mana in the atmosphere began to drain away, sucked into the pillars.
"Ray! My gun... it's not charging!" Elara cried, her pulse-rifle sparking and dying.
"They're using a 'Vacuum-Protocol'," Ray said, his voice strangely calm. He looked at his left arm—the arm made of solidified violet light. It wasn't fading. In fact, it was glowing brighter. "But they made a mistake. They thought my power only came from the air."
Ray stepped forward, his boots crushing the stone floor. As he crossed the Null-Field, the red sensors on the Legion's helmets began to flicker.
"Data Corruption Detected," a robotic voice screamed.
"I am the code you can't delete," Ray whispered.
He raised his violet-light arm and pointed it at the nearest Legionnaire. He didn't fire a blast. Instead, he 'pulled' the data from the soldier's own armor. With a sickening crunch, the cyborg's metal plating twisted and collapsed inward, as if crushed by an invisible hand.
"System Override: Legion-Collapse!"
Ray slammed his glowing fist into the ground. A wave of violet 'glitch-energy' rippled through the floor. It didn't destroy the soldiers' bodies—it destroyed their Programming.
The Iron-Legionnaires froze. Their red eyes turned violet. Suddenly, they turned their heavy cannons away from Ray and pointed them at each other.
"Error! Friendly Fire Disabled! Overriding—"
BOOM!
The Forbidden Sector became a graveyard of black steel. The soldiers began to tear each other apart, their mechanical brains scrambled by Ray's digital-magic. In less than a minute, the unstoppable Iron-Legion was reduced to a heap of smoking scrap metal.
Ray stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving. The golden tattoos on his right arm were pulsing in sync with the violet light of his left. He was no longer just a mage, and he was no longer just a human.
"It's over," Elara whispered, looking at the wreckage.
"No," Ray looked up at the hole in the ceiling, where the distant neon lights of Science City were still flickering. "This was just the cleanup. The real war is up there."