The Skyspire loomed above Ravenfall like a rusted spear impaled into the sky. Twisted steel veins wrapped around its core, and ancient glyphs flickered intermittently across fractured alloy plates half digital, half arcane.
Aelira eyed the tower warily. "This thing's humming. Like it's…alive."
Ethan's System pulsed with warning:
[You are entering a Technarch-Class Structure: SKYSHARD RELIC STATUS - STANDBY]
Caution: Chrono-scar tissue and residual aetheric fields detected. Signal ghosts may interfere with sensory data.
Warning: Security Protocol Gamma-Seven is partially active.
Access Point: 143 meters up Inner Core Chamber.
The interior was cold and silent, save for the occasional flicker of light or warbled echo—like the building was remembering itself in fragmented dreams.
Elevator shafts long-dead. Spiral walkways wrapped around hollow data towers. Ancient consoles blinked as Ethan passed, reacting to his presence.
At one point, they crossed a suspended bridge of floating platforms—keystones powered by residual aether. Below, endless darkness.
Then the doors opened, revealing the Inner Core.
A smooth, cylindrical chamber, once pristine, now fractured. In the center stood a humanoid construct—ten feet tall, plated in worn technosteel and etched with faded sigils. Its eyes sparked to life as Ethan stepped forward.
[System Recognition Detected: Inheritor-Class Identified.]
Security Override: DENIED.
Activating last-defense protocol…
The warden launched forward, blades forming from arm compartments. It moved with unnatural speed, switching between plasma bursts, gravity well slams, and energy barriers.
Fight Mechanics:
Aelira handles ranged support, disabling shield nodes around the chamber.
Ethan must bait the Guardian into overcharging, exposing its core node.
Mid-fight twist: Guardian "glitches" and briefly speaks in a human voice:
"You… are not him. But you wear his echo…"
After a brutal final blow, fueled by the Wind-Aligned Roc Core, the Guardian falls.
[Boss Defeated: Protocol-Warden Alpha]
+4,000 Points awarded
+1 Technarch Cipher Key (Beacon-Link)
+1 Fragmented Memory Core (AI Module)
A plinth rises from the center console. Ethan slots in the Cipher Key and the Fragmented Memory Core. Energy surges.
The chamber lights shift from red to blue, and a female voice—calm, slightly sarcastic, but refined—fills the room.
"Initializing... Greetings, Inheritor. I am LYRA, sub-intelligence of Stella-Class vessel 'Starling Mk-I.' It's been... one thousand, four hundred, and sixty-two years since I've had a pilot."
"Let's try not to crash, yes?"
Ethan grins. "I think I'm gonna like you."
[QUEST COMPLETE: Echoes in the Sky]
Starling Mk-I AI Core Reactivated.
Features Unlocked: Stellar Navigation, Combat HUD Integration, Tactical Advisory, Emergency Warp Protocols.