Hell ins't hot. Hell is climate-controlled for optimal organic tissue preservation.

  We descended the spiral staircase for too long. With each step, the white marble of the cathedral above gave way to gray, moist, pulsating metal. The walls weren't stone; they were lined with Biopolymer, a synthetic substance mimicking muscle tissue.

  The sound of mass chants was replaced by a low, rhythmic hum. Thump-hiss. Thump-hiss.

  It felt like walking inside a giant iron lung.

  "The mana reading down here is toxic," Luna whispered, holding her nose. The air smelled of ozone and copper. "It's like the air is electrified."

  "It's not natural mana," I analyzed, running a finger along the wall and feeling the vibration. "It's Refined Mana. They're taking the raw energy from the sacrifices upstairs, filtering out human consciousness, and pumping only pure power into the core."

  We reached the bottom of the stairs. A circular armored door, bank vault style, stood open.

  We walked through.

  What we saw stopped us in our tracks.

  We were in a colossal spherical chamber, situated directly beneath the Cathedral's altar.

  In the center, suspended over a bottomless abyss, was the Heart.

  It wasn't a biological organ. It was a machine made of monster flesh and alien technology.

  Thousands of transparent tubes descended from the ceiling (coming from the altar), bringing a constant flow of glowing golden liquid—the essence of the victims.

  The tubes connected to the Heart, which pulsed, converting the liquid into a beam of solid light shooting downward to the center of the Earth, and upward through the Cathedral's axis into space.

  "They aren't just sending a signal," Valéria said, horrified, looking at the monitors on the side walkways. "They're terraforming. The beam going down... is changing the planet's core."

  "They're preparing the nest," I finished. "Turning Earth into a habitable environment for the Devourers."

  CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

  Metallic footsteps echoed on the opposite metal walkway.

  From the shadows of the machinery, he emerged.

  Miguel.

  He was no longer the glorious Archangel. The explosion in Curitiba had taken half his humanity and all his beauty.

  The left side of his body was burnt armor fused to skin. His left arm had been replaced by a crude mechanical claw, salvaged from a Construction Golem. His face was covered by a respiratory mask that hissed with every breath.

  Only his right wing of light worked, flickering with static glitches. The other was a twisted metal stump.

  He dragged the Blade of the Horizon on the ground, carving a groove in the metal.

  "Sewer rats," his voice was no longer telepathic. It was mechanical, coming from a speaker in his throat. "You saw the glory of Ascension and called it a crime. You look at the future and see only biopsies."

  "Miguel," I said, opening my arms, showing my scalpels were still sheathed. "Look at you. Sovereignty rebuilt you with scrap. They didn't heal you. They patched you up to keep serving. You are disposable."

  "I am... NECESSARY!" he roared.

  Miguel charged. He didn't have the hypersonic speed from before, but he had the fury of a cornered animal.

  He leaped the gap between the walkways, the plasma sword descending in a deadly arc.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  "Valéria! Suppressing fire!" I shouted.

  Valéria drew two submachine guns modified with Alchemical-Tungsten ammo (courtesy of the Pilgrims). She unloaded on the fallen angel's chest.

  The bullets hit the armor, exploding in flashes of light. Miguel didn't even slow down. His faith (and plating) absorbed the impact.

  Luna jumped into the action.

  "Shockwave!"

  She slammed the baton on the metal floor. The walkway vibrated violently, trying to unbalance Miguel.

  He stumbled, but used the mechanical claw to anchor himself to the handrail, crushing the steel like paper.

  "Circus tricks!" He fired a beam of light from his cybernetic eye.

  The laser hit Valéria's shoulder, cauterizing the flesh instantly. She screamed and fell, dropping the weapons.

  "Valéria!" Luna ran to protect her, raising a sonic barrier.

  Miguel prepared the final blow on them.

  I couldn't let him.

  The Parasite covered my entire body with black armor. I wasn't Arthur anymore. I was a stain of darkness with red eyes.

  I jumped.

  I intercepted Miguel in mid-air, crashing into him like a flesh missile.

  We rolled across the walkway, trading point-blank blows. His sword burned my carapace. My bone claws tried to rip the cables from his neck.

  "You are a plague, Veras!" Miguel kicked me with his bionic leg, throwing me against the biopolymer wall. "Why won't you die?!"

  I hit the floor, feeling broken ribs regenerating painfully.

  I looked at Miguel. And I looked at the Heart behind him.

  I noticed something.

  There was a thick, pulsating cable connecting the back of Miguel's armor directly to the Reactor.

  "He's not fighting with his own mana," I choked out. "He's tethered. He's plugged in. He's draining the reactor to stay alive and strong!"

  Arthur (the Parasite) confirmed.

  [EXTERNAL ENERGY SOURCE DETECTED. ENEMY HAS INFINITE MANA WHILE CONNECTED.]

  "Luna!" I shouted, getting up and dodging a slash that would behead an elephant. "Don't attack him! Attack the umbilical cord!"

  Miguel realized I understood. He retreated to protect the cable on his back.

  "I will not let you touch the Source!"

  He drove the sword into the walkway floor.

  "Sanctuary of Judgment!"

  A dome of solid light surrounded him and the Reactor, blocking any physical attack.

  Inside the dome, he began channeling energy for an area-of-effect attack that would vaporize the entire room.

  "Valéria, can you stand?" I asked over the radio.

  "My shoulder is barbecue, but my good hand holds a detonator," she replied, voice weak.

  "Detonator?"

  "While you boys were wrestling, I placed Magic-C4 at the base of the feeding tubes." Valéria laughed, coughing. "Learned it from the Pilgrims. If you can't fix it, blow it up."

  "Blowing the tubes won't pierce his shield!" Luna shouted.

  "No," I smiled, understanding the plan. "But it will cut the supply."

  I looked at Miguel inside the dome. He was glowing, about to explode.

  "Now, Valéria! Cut the fuel!"

  Valéria pressed the button.

  BOOOOM!

  On the chamber ceiling, the charges detonated. The feeding tubes ruptured.

  The flow of golden liquid (the sacrificed souls) stopped descending to the Reactor. Instead, it leaked into the abyss, raining down like liquid gold.

  The Reactor sputtered.

  The red "Error" light flashed on the consoles.

  The cable on Miguel's back stopped glowing.

  The light dome around him flickered and failed.

  Miguel looked back, panicked.

  "My... my grace..."

  Withdrawal was instantaneous. Without the continuous flow of divine power, his broken body began to fail. The cybernetics became heavy. Old wounds opened.

  "Now he's mortal," I said, activating my arm blades. "Luna, drop him!"

  Luna ran across the walkway, spinning the baton.

  "Bone-Breaking Frequency!"

  She slammed the baton into Miguel's metal knee. The vibration shattered the joints.

  The Archangel fell to his knees.

  I advanced.

  Not with anger. With precision.

  Miguel tried to lift the sword, but he was slow. Weak.

  I grabbed his wrist. The Parasite extended black tendrils that entered his armor, jamming the servo motors.

  "Surgery is over, Miguel. Time of death called."

  I plunged my free hand, covered in chitin, into his chest.

  Not to rip out his heart.

  To rip out the Helix Control Core I knew was there.

  My fingers found the cold, wet device between the ribs. I pulled hard.

  Wires snapped.

  The red light in Miguel's eyes went out.

  He collapsed, becoming just a mutilated man in expensive armor.

  Silence returned to the chamber, broken only by the Reactor leaking.

  I walked to the edge of the walkway. The Reactor, out of fuel, was slowing down. The beam of light going to space was diminishing, becoming thin and weak.

  "The Signal is dropping," I said, wiping oil and blood from my hands. "Earth has stopped broadcasting."

  Valéria limped over to us, supported by Luna.

  "Did we win?"

  I looked at the Reactor. It was stopping, yes. But something inside it started to beat.

  Not a mechanical beat. A biological beat.

  A slow, deep thud that made my bones vibrate.

  The Parasite inside me shrank in absolute terror.

  [ALERT: THE REACTOR WAS NOT A MACHINE. IT WAS A PRISON.]

  [ALERT: BY CUTTING THE POWER, YOU TURNED OFF THE BARS.]

  The Reactor casing began to crack from the inside out.

  A claw, made of solid starlight and infinite hunger, broke through the metal shell.

  I hadn't turned off the signal.

  I had woken up the thing generating the signal.

  "We didn't win," I whispered, backing away. "We just released the King."

  The chamber ceiling shook. Dust fell.

  Up above, in the Cathedral, the party was over. The floor was cracking.

  "Run," I said, my voice fading. "Run for the surface. Gristle's truck. Now!"

  Because what was coming out of that shell wasn't a monster you could dissect. It was the end of everything.