Chapter 144 - The Golem's Grave

The central den of the Iron-Groves was a cathedral built of rusted girders and stagnant poison. At its center, the Mercury Hydra uncoiled like a nightmare of moving liquid; its three heads hammered against the floor with a rhythmic, bone-shaking force that made the very air vibrate. Captain Varkas stood in the center of that silver storm, a battered titan whose white-gold aura was now little more than a frantic, stuttering film. The beast's toxic breath had done what no blade could; it had begun to dissolve the conceptual density of his Justiciar-rank protection, turning his radiant shield into a grey, corrosive slush.