While the world watched Sanctum in silence, its forges roared louder than ever.
Deep under the citadel, in the labs once used for basic enchantments, Iden and Arlen stood surrounded by cables, luminous sigil-stone cores, and a half-dismantled MAGLANCE-7 shell.
"This version won't be enough," Arlen said, sweat tracing the grime on his cheek. "Z'RHAKUL wasn't even a true Omega. The final entity won't just walk through the sky—it'll redefine it."
Iden knelt beside a bundle of cracked circuitry. "We need to move beyond standard mana-to-impact conversion. I want the next launch to bend the battlefield, not just erase it."
He turned to a newly-forged schematic glowing in the air. A dense layering of circuit patterns, energy funnels, and stabilization rings.
At the bottom:
PROJECT: FALLOUT-REQUIEM // CROWN EDITION
Arlen blinked. "You want to fuse the tech?"
"Yes," Iden said. "The Crownfall beam isn't a spear anymore. It'll be the chorus of extinction."
The Crownfall Spear Array, previously a four-spear formation designed to concentrate beams into one point, was now reimagined as a layered convergence weapon—a floating superstructure built around rotational synchronization.
It would include:
6 modular satellite nodes to correct for atmospheric distortion.
A reactive targeting core, fed by Rael's soul light.
A mana-cycling prism using Arlen's latest volatile compression theories.
And finally, an omega-class FOCAL HOLLOW, which would suspend a region of spacetime just enough to ensure total containment during impact.
[CROWNFALL ARRAY: PHASE IV UNLOCKED][NEW DESIGNATIONS:– 6x Beam Syphon Spears– 1x Absolute Impact Prism– 2x Stabilizers (Heaven-Fix & Earth-Fix)][Deployment range: 180 km radius][Collateral stability: -9% margin of error. Risk of rupture.]
Kael arrived mid-experiment, dragging in a power core recovered from a crushed Abyssal Titan. "You still working on breaking the sky?"
Iden grinned faintly. "I'm making sure when I do… it doesn't grow back."
The Requiem Line wasn't the only focus.
With Kael and Rael's help, dozens of new protocols began integration:
Mana-threaded explosive warheads, coded to delay detonation until a core weakpoint is exposed.
Soul-linked ordinance, allowing key elites to channel their own resonance into ranged bombardment.
Reverse-pulse EMP triggers to disable Riftspawn synchronization mid-air.
And Arlen's masterpiece: a fully auto-targeting, self-replicating rail-gun battery, which could be deployed mid-combat and upgrade itself as mana saturation increased.
These became known as:
ARCVAULT SIGMA-CLASS[Status: In testing. Activation in final 3 days.]
During the upgrades, Rael remained partially dormant—her soul still resonating with the Echo she had absorbed.
But slowly, her influence began to shape the weapons themselves.
When Iden returned to review one of the fusion cores, he found the mana signature twisted—not chaotic, but alive.
"...This one's reactive," Arlen noted. "It's adjusting based on your intent."
"Not mine," Iden said softly. He glanced up toward the surface. "Hers."
Rael's soul-light, now visible to the Nexus relays, was guiding the final harmonization of weapon output—subconsciously. Her bond with Iden's will turned every design into an extension of his resolve.
On the night of the fourth day, a silence fell over the workshop as Arlen stepped back from the console.
"I think… we've done it," he said.
Displayed in shimmering light:
FALLOUT: GOD-KILLER MODE[Crownfall Integrated][Total Area of Effect: 225 km diameter][Staggered Shockwave: 3-Layered][Energy Output Equivalent: 47.2% of all ambient mana across two continents]
It was no longer just a missile.
It was a statement.
When Iden launches this, there will be no survivors inside the zone. No structures. No gods.
Only glass.