Chapter 334: The Completion
The Evernight Transit Hub, Floating Service Island, Circular Plaza.
It was complete.
Statistically, physically, and magically—it was finished.
From a high-altitude perspective, the Hub resembled a constellation of stars
anchored in the Void. Countless floating islands spiraled outward from the
Central Transit Core, which served as the primary axis of the sector.
The Arcane Legion's Monitoring Towers stood like obsidian needles at the center
of each primary island. Every hour, the spires emitted a rhythmic pulse of blue
Mana—a synchronized chime that served as a chronometer, a beacon, and a
continuous diagnostic sweep.
The outer defensive perimeter, overseen by the Aegis Legion, traced the jagged
edges of the island chain. The walls were six meters thick, carved with the
Imperial skull-crest; from a distance, the sheer pressure of their silhouette
was enough to deter low-tier predators.
The Commercial Sector was a masterpiece of State Army urban planning.
Thoroughfares were optimized for high-volume traffic, streetlamps were aligned
at precise intervals, and banners snapped in the artificial wind from the
colonnades.
Imperial vegetation had been transplanted from the capital, injecting biological
life into a previously dead coordinate. The observation decks had been
transformed into literal "Gardens in the Sky." At the summit of the tallest
lamp-post, a Light of Evernight burned, illuminating the delicate, curling
petals of blue orchids.
This was his design. His success.
The Deputy Commander of the State Army (Thanatos) stood in the absolute center
of the Circular Plaza. His boots clicked against the stone with a soft, rhythmic
tap-tap.
He was dancing.
To be precise, he was spinning.
His skeletal arms were spread wide, looking like a bird with partially repaired
wings, performing a slow circuit of the plaza. One rotation. Two. Three.
There was no music. No accompanying resonance. No audience of high-tier units to
witness the performance. There was only him and an internal achievement-rating
that was currently hitting its peak.
"I laid these bricks with my own gauntlets," he murmured, looking down at the
obsidian pavers.
"I welded the primary framework of that transit array myself."
"The wall behind the logistics sector was misaligned; I oversaw the
reconstruction until the geometry was absolute."
"This path. This array. Every variable in this sector was authorized by me."
The Deputy Commander's pace accelerated from a slow walk into a rhythmic,
clicking tap-dance. His finger-bones traced patterns in the air, pointing toward
the Arcane Spire in the east, then toward the bustling Transit Plaza in the
west. He carried the aura of a new father showing off a high-value infant to the
neighbors.
"In all the Empire's infrastructure history, no project has achieved this level
of aesthetic and structural perfection."
He weighed the thought in his logic-core, then added a secondary note:
Indeed. I was merely born later than the others. In terms of administrative
capacity, I am clearly the Master's most elite asset.
"Deputy Commander."
Behind him, a Vampire Security Warden in a crisp black-and-crimson uniform had
been standing for a long duration, watching his superior spin in circles.
The Warden held a dossier in one hand, his posture a perfect military vertical.
His face remained a mask of professional stillness, yet his eyes held a complex
data-stream of confusion. Does he realize I am currently logging this behavior?
"Deputy Commander," the Warden repeated, his voice quiet yet clinically clear.
On his twelfth rotation, the Deputy Commander finally terminated his movement.
He spun around to face the Vampire, the soulfire in his sockets burning a shade
brighter than the baseline. "Report."
Currently, his mood-parameters were so high that it was statistically impossible
for any variable to induce a frown.
"Standard security audit for the current cycle," the Warden began, opening the
file.
"Transit Gate Sector A is operational. Seven inter-planar test-transits
completed. Variance rate: below 0.3 percent."
"Adequate."
"Sector B: Fourteen commercial stalls have achieved 'Active' status. Eight more
are in the approval queue."
"Adequate."
"Floating Island Three: Defensive aegis detected a microscopic energy
fluctuation. The Arcane Legion is conducting a root-cause analysis."
"Adequate."
The repetitive affirmations caused the Warden to pause. He looked up from the
paper. "Deputy Commander... are you processing the data?"
"I am."
Thanatos's gaze drifted over the Warden's shoulder, locking onto a pot of blue
orchids. He had insisted on their placement because of a fragmented data-entry
in his core: Lia. Tenacious Vitality. Skele-Greed had initially dismissed the
flora as "insufficiently grand," but the Deputy Commander had used his authority
to ensure they remained.
"Instruct the Arcane units to finalize the report on that fluctuation and
present it to me. All other protocols proceed as mapped."
"As commanded."
The Warden snapped the dossier shut, saluted, and took two paces back. He didn't
depart, however; he awaited the formal dismissal.
The Deputy Commander spoke again, his tone one of introspective query. "Your
assessment... how do you evaluate the construction of this Hub?"
The Warden straightened. "The project is superior, Deputy Commander. Output has
exceeded all projected milestones."
"Specify the milestones."
The Warden thought for a moment, providing a more detailed analysis. "Transit
capacity: original projection for Tier 3 units was capped at forty thousand.
Field tests indicate sixty-seven thousand while maintaining structural
stability."
"The suspension altitude of the islands is twenty meters higher than the
blueprints required—improving sensory range and security. Furthermore, the
thoroughfares in the service sector are wider than any primary artery in the
Imperial Capital. In my opinion, the scale is slightly... ostentatious."
The Deputy Commander nodded, offering no rebuttal.
"I authorized the expansion of the roads. The original designs were tactically
narrow. As the Empire's reach extends across the Multiverse, the volume of
inter-planar traffic will scale exponentially. When the masses arrive, a
bottleneck would be a displeasing aesthetic error. I ensured we have room for
growth."
The Warden remained silent. After a heartbeat, he bowed again—deeper this time.
"Your foresight is noted, Deputy Commander. Your toil is appreciated."
Thanatos waved a hand, dismissing the unit. He turned back toward the sprawling
architecture of the Hub, his soulfire pulsing with a quiet rhythm.
The other undead claimed he had once governed this entire Plane. That this soil
had been his to command.
But as he walked these streets, he felt zero familiar resonance. It felt like
his first manifestation—which, according to his new logs, it was. His previous
identity as a "Sovereign" held no more weight or reality to him than a scrap of
weathered parchment.
But this Hub... every brick, every light, every seedling, every optimized
thoroughfare he had authorized...
These variables were real. He had constructed them with his own hands.
Just then, Skele-Avarice manifested nearby. He watched his colleague with a look
of dry, undead exasperation.
"How many times must I state it? We are Deputy Commanders. We should not be
inducing 'Pressure-Debuffs' in our subordinates. Another one of my Liches came
to me with a formal grievance last cycle. He claimed you prohibited them from
conducting research within the Hub."
Thanatos tilted his skull, measuring Avarice.
"I informed that Lich of the protocol quite clearly," Thanatos stated.
"This is a Transit Hub, not a laboratory. Your units attempted to install
diagnostic equipment that would have induced residual energy signatures. If the
Sovereign arrived for a site-visit and detected unplanned fluctuations, who
would bear the administrative penalty? My directive was clear: zero
non-scheduled interference during the acceptance phase."
Avarice walked to his side, hands clasped behind his back.
"You refer to magical research as 'interference.' That Lich merely wished to
utilize a finished tower for a foundational soul-energy test. It would have been
finalized within the hour, leaving zero visible traces. And yet, you forcibly
extracted him to the transit gate and returned him to the Capital."
"Protocol is absolute."
Avarice vibrated with a sharp, clicking huff.
"Unplanned fluctuations are prohibited until the Sovereign has provided his
personal approval," Thanatos continued. "Once the Master has nodded, your mages
can turn the towers into giant magnets for all I care."
Avarice calculated for three seconds. He found the logic to be statistically
sound. If he were managing the Hub, he would likely maintain the same level of
structural paranoia.
"Very well. I shall concede that variable."
He let out a long sigh, falling into step beside Thanatos as they walked across
the plaza.
"However, my manifesting here concerns a secondary directive."
"The Memory Retention Project."
"Mmh. I projected that your unique origin might provide a breakthrough. General
Lust is currently 'Traveling' to stabilize her mood-parameters after being
denied the Eldritch Realm mission. I have zero other resources, so I am
petitioning you for data."
Thanatos remained silent, his gait steady. Avarice performed a rapid mental
summary of the research status.
Ever since confirming that Lia's memory retention was a byproduct of an
independent soul-fragment, the Arcane Legion had been obsessively trying to
replicate the path. The theory was to surgically graft an external fragment into
a target before biological liquidation, allowing the shard to serve as a
reinforced container for the "Self" during the transit into undeath.
Theoretically, the logic was sound. Operationally, the process was a graveyard
of errors.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you