Ren's hand hovered over the ancient controls, the cannon pulsing violently under his fingertips.
Ashir's voice faded. Only the screaming winds remained.
Below, Caelum burned in pockets of blue flame. The Sovereign Fleet was mostly destroyed. The Titans limped, broken but victorious.
And yet…
The choice.
Mira's voice cracked over the communicator. "Ren… please…"
Ren squeezed his eyes shut.
Two images collided in his mind.
The faces of the Lords. Laughing, smug, untouchable.
And the faces of the innocent—the workers, the children, the ones who would never even know why they died.
Choose.
Ren's voice broke into the silence. "There's another way."
Ashir stirred faintly. "Explain."
Ren glanced at the cannon's discharge pathway. "I'll redirect the blast. Straight up. Vaporize the entire upper spires. Take the Lords with it. Save the city below."
Ashir hesitated. "It could work. But you will not survive."
Ren smiled, bitter and small. "I know."
Mira's sob reached his ears. "Ren, don't. Please don't—"
He cut the transmission.
Hands trembling, blood leaking from his fingernails, he tore open the control casing, wires spilling like veins.
And with a scream, he manually redirected the cannon.
The charge ignited.
Light consumed the world.
---
Above Caelum
The First King's Engine howled, firing not downward, but upward—into the heavens. The spires of the Citadel disintegrated in a single instant, the Lords reduced to atomic ash.
A shockwave followed, flattening structures, shattering glass for miles, but sparing the city proper.
And at the heart of the blast…
Ren.
The Clockwork Crown shattered into spinning fragments of golden light.
His body burned, skin peeling, circuits tearing from muscle.
And yet, standing there, against the falling cinders… he smiled.
---
The Aftermath
Mira found his broken form beneath a collapsed section of the fortress. Half flesh, half ruined machine, his eyes were open but unfocused.
"Ren…"
He blinked once. Twice.
"Did it work?" he rasped.
Mira nodded, tears falling freely. "They're gone. It's over."
Ren exhaled shakily. "Good."
His body slumped forward.
Ashir's voice spoke one last time, so faint only Ren could hear.
"King of Rust… King of Sacrifice."
Then nothing but silence.
Caelum burned quietly. But the world… was still alive.
[TO BE CONTINUED...]