Arrows shattered the blacksmith's door. Old Bran listened to Elena's message, then grinned, prying out his wooden eye to reveal a mechanical socket: "Miss, your father hid no key. He hid you—the living cipher."
Deep in the vault, Leo stood over the general's mangled body. A family crest glinted beneath the cracked helmet—Elena's crest. "Pitiful fool..." The general spat blood. "You think the raid was for a key? We purge pollution—the 'Mechano-God's cancer cells' devouring this world are inside you!"
The bronze claw liquefied, burrowing into Leo's wound. System alarms blared:
[⚠️ Corruption Detected! Reincarnation Count -10!]
His rebirth tally plummeted from ∞ to 90...
BOOM! The vault's ceiling tore open. Bran descended under moonlight, a molten-gold spear aimed at Leo's heart: "Sorry, kid. Elena's father tasked me—to execute you before corruption spreads." Elena threw herself before the spear—and bronze veins snaked up her neck.