Chapter 26 – Fracture Point
The ruined factory chamber shook as another heavy step echoed across the broken floor.
Dust drifted down from the shattered ceiling like gray snow.
Ronan tightened his grip around the rusted executioner's hammer.
The weapon felt even heavier now.
His arms burned.
His lungs struggled to pull in air.
But the Iron Sentinel Prototype still stood across the battlefield.
And it was moving again.
The crimson glow across its armor pulsed like a heartbeat.
The crack Ronan had created across its chest remained visible.
Thin.
Jagged.
But real.
Proof that the monster could bleed—at least in its own mechanical way.
Ronan exhaled slowly.
"Eighty-seven percent, huh…"
The sentinel stepped forward.
The damaged knee joint dragged slightly against the ground, producing a scraping metallic sound.
Yet its speed hadn't dropped much.
If anything—
It looked even more aggressive.
The system window flickered again.
---
Combat Mode Escalation Active
Guardian Protocol: Maximum Output
Threat Priority: Ronan
---
"Yeah, I figured."
The sentinel vanished.
Ronan's instincts screamed.
He threw himself sideways just as a red blade carved through the space where his neck had been.
SHRRRAAANG!
The strike tore open the floor and shattered a support beam behind him.
The chamber trembled violently.
Ronan rolled across the cracked ground, barely regaining his footing before the second blade came.
He lifted the hammer.
CLAAAANG!
Sparks exploded as steel collided with glowing energy.
The force nearly tore the weapon from his hands.
Ronan staggered backward three steps.
The sentinel pressed forward instantly.
No hesitation.
No pause.
Its blades moved like a storm of red light.
Left.
Right.
Cross slash.
Overhead strike.
Ronan blocked what he could and dodged the rest.
Each impact shook his bones.
Each dodge drained more stamina.
His vision blurred slightly.
Too fast…
The sentinel's damaged knee wasn't slowing it enough.
If anything, the machine had simply adjusted.
Its attacks now flowed more aggressively, compensating for the flaw.
Ronan ducked under another slash.
The blade cut through a hanging conveyor belt above him.
Metal chains snapped and the heavy structure crashed to the floor behind them.
BOOOM!
The shockwave rattled the entire chamber.
Ronan's eyes darted around the battlefield.
Broken pillars.
Scrap metal.
Collapsed machinery.
Ideas formed rapidly in his mind.
Predator Instinct flickered again.
---
Combat Analysis Updating…
Weakness Probability: Armor Joints
Secondary Weakness: Internal Core
---
Internal core?
Ronan frowned.
He hadn't seen anything resembling a core.
The sentinel's chest armor was thick layered steel.
But…
He remembered the crack spreading from his last strike.
Maybe the core was behind it.
The sentinel lunged again.
Ronan stepped forward instead of retreating.
The blades slammed into the hammer.
CLANG!
The impact echoed across the chamber.
Ronan twisted his body and shoved the sentinel's weapons aside.
Then he swung.
BOOOOM!
The hammer crashed into the damaged knee joint again.
CRACK!
The sound of metal fracturing rang sharply through the air.
The sentinel stumbled.
Its leg buckled slightly.
Ronan's eyes flashed.
Got you.
He spun and swung again.
The hammer slammed into the sentinel's shoulder joint.
CLAAAANG!
Another dent formed in the armor.
But the sentinel retaliated instantly.
Its elbow drove forward like a piston.
THUD!
The impact struck Ronan's ribs.
Air exploded from his lungs as he was thrown backward across the floor.
He crashed into a pile of broken steel pipes.
Pain exploded across his chest.
Ronan groaned as he forced himself up.
"Okay… that one hurt."
The sentinel didn't wait.
Its blades ignited brighter.
Red energy surged along their edges.
Then both weapons expanded again—forming longer, sharper extensions.
Ronan's eyes widened.
"Seriously?"
The sentinel dashed forward with terrifying speed.
The first slash came horizontally.
Ronan ducked.
The blade cut through three steel pillars behind him.
The second slash came from above.
He barely rolled away in time.
The blade struck the ground.
BOOOOOOM!
The entire factory floor cracked deeper.
Chunks of concrete collapsed into the pit below.
The battlefield was falling apart.
Ronan scrambled to his feet.
His grip tightened around the hammer again.
I can't win a long fight.
His stamina was nearly gone.
His muscles trembled every time he lifted the weapon.
But the sentinel…
Still moved like a machine built only to kill.
Then Ronan noticed something.
The crack across its chest had widened slightly during the last exchange.
Thin red light leaked from the gap.
His heartbeat quickened.
That's it.
That's the core.
Predator Instinct confirmed it instantly.
---
Target Vulnerability Detected
Core Shielding: Damaged
Recommended Action: Direct Impact
---
Ronan smiled faintly.
"So that's your weak spot."
The sentinel charged again.
But this time—
Ronan ran straight toward it.
The sentinel's blades crossed in a deadly X-shaped strike.
Ronan jumped forward.
The blades slammed into the floor behind him.
CLANG!
He landed directly in front of the sentinel's chest.
The crack was right there.
Glowing.
Pulsing.
Ronan lifted the hammer with everything he had left.
His arms screamed in protest.
His vision darkened slightly.
But he swung anyway.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The hammer crashed directly into the cracked chest armor.
For a moment—
Time seemed to freeze.
Then the crack spread violently across the sentinel's torso.
CRRRRACK!
Fragments of armor broke apart.
A sphere of blazing red energy became visible inside.
The sentinel staggered backward.
Its system voice glitched.
---
Core Exposure: 18%
Emergency Defense Activated
---
Ronan grinned through the exhaustion.
"There you are."
But before he could swing again—
The sentinel's entire body erupted with red energy.
A violent shockwave exploded outward.
BOOOOOOM!
Ronan was thrown across the chamber like a ragdoll.
He slammed into the ground hard and slid across broken metal debris.
The hammer flew from his hands and skidded across the floor.
Pain shot through his entire body.
Ronan groaned as he pushed himself up on shaking arms.
Across the battlefield—
The sentinel stood motionless.
But the red energy around its body had changed.
The glow was darker now.
More unstable.
The exposed core pulsed violently.
Then the system message appeared again.
---
Guardian Protocol Override
Final Defense Sequence Initiated
---
The sentinel's armor plates shifted.
Locking into a new formation.
The blades merged together, forming a single massive weapon glowing with unstable energy.
Ronan's heart sank slightly.
"You've got to be kidding me…"
He struggled to stand.
His body screamed in protest.
His stamina was almost completely gone.
Across the chamber—
The sentinel raised the massive blade above its head.
The weapon gathered an enormous amount of energy.
The entire factory began to vibrate.
Cracks spread across the remaining walls.
Ceiling debris rained down.
Ronan stared at the growing sphere of red energy gathering along the blade.
Even from this distance—
He could feel the heat.
The destructive power.
If that attack landed…
The entire chamber would probably collapse.
And he would be finished.
Ronan slowly looked toward the fallen hammer lying several meters away.
Then back at the sentinel.
His breathing steadied.
"…One last gamble."
He forced his trembling legs to move.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The sentinel's blade reached maximum charge.
The energy sphere roared like a miniature sun.
Then the machine spoke one final command.
---
Execution Protocol
---
The massive blade began to fall.
And Ronan—
Started running straight toward it.