Chapter 178: The Corroder

"You win! David wins! We surrender! All of us — we surrender!"

Batista's voice cracked across the lawn, and then the dark web stream cut to black.

The silence that followed was the kind that crawled under your skin.

Mia tucked her tablet under her arm and glanced toward the hackers. "I killed the feed. Let them keep watching, and these idiots would've lost their shirts too."

Thirteen mining moguls knelt in a row, hands trembling badly. The digital agreement hovered in front of each of them — compensation terms, mining rights transfers, port facility receivership, all spelled out in black and white.

Batista raised his head, his puffy face slick with sweat. "David, can we negotiate the numbers down a little?"

David didn't even look at him. "Press."

Batista ground his teeth and pressed his finger to the screen. The other twelve followed.

Green confirmation lights blinked on, one after another.

Hassan strode forward, terminal in hand. "Boss — fourteen Stardust Shale mining zones, thirteen port warehousing lines, and two billion in compensation. All transferred and confirmed. The Middle East division is already at the door."

"Take control of the site."

"Understood."

Batista was still crumpled on the ground, mouth dry as dust. "David — it's over now, right? We're done here?"

David was already turning to leave. "You should be grateful you're still breathing."

Victor knelt with a mouth full of blood, not daring to lift his head.

---

Half an hour later. The tarmac.

Hassan handed David a sealed case — the highest-purity Stardust Shale they'd just extracted. The black case opened to reveal a dozen crystal vials lined up in perfect rows, golden sand drifting inside each one, threaded through with fine, deep-crimson specks that almost hurt to look at.

Mia let out a low whistle. "Those old bastards were sitting on a serious stash."

David snapped the case shut and stepped onto the transport plane. "Germany."

"Flight corridor's been cleared." Hassan followed him up the ramp. "I've already notified Jennifer to get the furnace ready."

Inside the cabin, the lights were dialed down low. Mia sat across from him, laptop open, screen covered in mining data and global flight maps.

"The Voch family's been quiet," she said, glancing up at David. "Too quiet. The Black Hourglass just took a hit like this — they're not going to play dead."

David closed his eyes. "Let them come."

---

Five hours later. Germany. The Voch family workshop.

Heavy blast doors rolled open one by one, and the heat from the furnace bay hit like a wall. Rows of magnetic containment coils were already running, and the forge chamber filled the space with a deep, bone-level rumble.

Jennifer had changed into a black heat-resistant work suit. Her wounds had been re-dressed, her complexion still off — but her hands were rock-steady in a way that made it easy to forget she'd been injured at all.

She took the black case, checked each vial's purity, and spoke fast. "Grade is sufficient. The fresh Shale combined with Ross's batch — we have exactly enough for a complete primary weapon. The residual energy you absorbed in the armory, I'll press that in too."

Oleg stood further back, speaking low to the technicians. "Push the magnetic threshold to maximum. Start pre-warming the cooling chamber."

Mia leaned against the control console, straw between her teeth. "Sounds expensive."

Jennifer gave her a sideways look. "Getting it wrong costs more."

The vials went in one by one. The moment the golden Shale touched the dark-red alloy melt, the forge chamber detonated with light. Gold and crimson liquid crept along the channels, star-flecks spinning through it wildly — just looking at it made the back of your neck prickle.

Jennifer's hands flew across the console. "Impact frequency — seven-stage ascent. Magnetic containment wall locked. Core mold, drop."

The roar spiked.

The dark-red meteorite fragments rose above the main crucible, suspended, and the Crimson Tear lifted from David's chest at the same moment. Both energy signatures resonated at once, and the entire workshop shuddered.

Oleg grabbed the railing. "If this thing blows, it'll take half the mountain with it."

David stood at the center of the platform, his telekinetic field spreading slowly outward, pushing back against the energy trying to tear loose.

Jennifer kept her eyes on the data. Orders came without pause. "Pour."

The crimson-gold flow poured into the casting mold. Blinding white light shot to the ceiling.

Mia threw a hand up to shield her eyes. "Okay, that's actually kind of incredible."

Time moved slowly. The workshop stripped down to the sound of machinery and coolant rushing through pipes. Two hours later, the final lock sequence completed.

Jennifer let out a long breath, her hand resting on the master lever. "Final cooldown. Three minutes."

Then every warning light on the ceiling blazed red at once. The gravity sensors went into full alarm.

Mia's expression shifted. Her fingers hit the auxiliary screen. "Two perimeter cameras just went dark. Something's melting through the door!"

Everyone turned at the same time.

The half-meter-thick blast door was disappearing. Dense green smoke rolled up its surface, and the hissing sound hit like nails dragged across a chalkboard. The steel was visibly softening, slumping, starting to run.

Oleg swore under his breath. "Damn it!"

In under ten seconds, the entire door dissolved into a seething pool of molten metal. Through the green haze, a lean figure stepped in.

Dark green pinstripe suit. A silk top hat, worn high. His dress shoes didn't slow a single step crossing the liquid iron. He held three leashes in one hand, each attached to a hairless hound the size of a calf. Wherever their drool hit the floor, the concrete burned black.

The man lifted his hat and gave a small bow. "Good evening, everyone. I'm a senior cleaner for the Black Hourglass. You can call me the Corrosive."

Jennifer's eyes went flat. "The Black Hourglass moves fast."

The Corrosive smiled pleasantly. "Jennifer — your father's talents were never much to speak of, but his talent for making trouble? Exceptional. As for David—"

His gaze moved to David, and the smile deepened. "You've been taking too much, too fast. The Black Hourglass is not pleased."

He spread his arms wide. Thick, near-black green gas poured from his sleeves, his collar, every pore of his skin at once. It spread across half the workshop in seconds. The casing of the alarm panels began to eat away. White smoke rose from the steel frames.

All three hounds dropped low, a rolling growl building in their throats.

Mia pressed her sleeve over her nose and fell back. "God, that smell is vile!"

David raised one hand. A telekinetic barrier snapped into place, sealing Mia and Jennifer behind it.

The green gas hit the barrier with a sound like static — a constant, dense corrosion. The transparent shield rippled across its surface, the edges already darkening, already starting to give.

The Corrosive tilted his head. "My gas doesn't just eat metal. It eats psychic conductor layers. That shell of yours won't last long."

Oleg's voice cracked from behind the equipment. "The gas is eating through the barrier!"

The Corrosive raised a finger. "Go. Kill them."

All three hounds launched at once, tearing through the haze, impossibly fast. Their claws shredded the floor, throwing sparks and acid in the same instant.

David's gaze went cold and still. A wave of telekinetic force slammed down like a hammer.

The lead hound jerked mid-stride. Bones cracked audibly, its front legs folding the wrong way. But it kept moving — the acid it sprayed from its mouth was already burning holes in the suppression field.

The Corrosive laughed, short and cutting. "See that? That shell of yours is brittle."

The second hound hit the edge of the barrier, acid coating its jaws. Chunks tore out of the shield with each bite.

Mia's back hit the console. "David — they're eating through your defense!"

Jennifer's eyes snapped to the cooling chamber. She grabbed the emergency release lever and yanked.

The cooling bay doors slammed up. The heat rushed out — and the blade was there.

Nearly five feet long. Dark red, all the way through. The spine ran with fine star-dust grain, alive in the light. The grip was set with a compressed Shale core. Where the guard met the blade, meteorite fragments had been fused in, leaving a black-gold sheen that seemed to pull the light in from everywhere in the room.

The workshop got quiet under it, like the air itself was paying attention.

"Use it!" Jennifer shouted.

David raised his hand. The blade lifted off its rack and crossed the space in a straight line, dropping clean into his grip.

The moment his fingers closed on the handle, the Crimson Tear pulsed hard against his chest. Dark-red energy poured up his arm and into the blade. The entire length lit up — the edge erupted in a fierce crimson glow, the air around it warping from the heat, the floor beneath blackening in a slow creep.

Mia's eyes went wide. "Okay, that's gorgeous."

The Corrosive's smile finally stalled. "Kill him!"

All three hounds closed the distance at once.

David brought the blade up with both hands and swept it across in a single horizontal arc.

---

The moment the magical glow tore loose, the workshop split open like the inside of a dark-red sun.

The heat field hit first. Every trace of green gas in the air vaporized instantly. The hounds were still in mid-leap when they came apart — bodies severing cleanly, the wounds seared black and bright, scattering into burning fragments before they hit the ground.

For the first time, something moved through the Corrosive's eyes that looked like fear.

He spun to run.

Too late.

The dark-red blade drove through the cloud of dissipating haze and hit him square in the chest. The suit, the bone beneath, the rest of it — all of it tore open in the heat.

He stumbled two steps back and looked down at the scorched, gaping hole in his chest. "This... isn't possible..."

David shook the fire-trace from the blade's edge and walked toward him. "The Black Hourglass sent something like you to die? Really?"

The Corrosive opened his mouth.

Then he split down the middle and dropped. The body was burning before it touched the floor, and within seconds there was nothing left but char.

The workshop went quiet. Only the cooling system still ran, white mist hissing from the vents.

Oleg stuck his head out from behind the equipment, throat dry. "That blade..."

Jennifer stared at the weapon in David's hand. "Stable load distribution. Energy circuit intact. Thermal output exceeded estimates." Her voice was steady. "It worked."

Mia walked over and circled the blade twice. "Does it have a name?"

David looked down at the dark-red length of it. "When it's killed the people it needs to kill. Then I'll name it."

Jennifer picked up her data pad, pressing her fingers flat to stop the faint trembling. "The blade's material has already locked onto your energy frequency. It'll grow with your telekinetic ability."

David sheathed the blade.

Half the room flinched.

Then Mia's tablet lit up red at her hip — a level-one encrypted channel, forcing itself through.

"Someone's hard-crashing the frequency." She frowned and opened it. "High-level clearance... wait. It's Lon."

The feed cut to a face. Lon, blood across his cheek, fire and explosions filling the space behind him. His shoulder was soaked through with red. A half-smoked cigar sat in the corner of his mouth, somehow still there.

"David, my boy." He was breathing hard. "I've got something for you. A hell of a gift."

Another explosion. The camera shook badly.

Mia spoke immediately. "Where are you?"

"Berlin State Opera." Lon coughed blood. "The Dusk Cathedral's creatures — they've got me cornered."

David's eyes narrowed. "What are you holding?"

Lon lifted his blood-streaked hand and angled it toward something just off-screen. The frame caught half of it — a lacquered black case, gold sigils running along the edge.

"The road you've been looking for." He held David's eyes, breath coming rougher now. "The answers are with me. Bring your new toy." His mouth curved, just slightly. "Come late, and all you'll be doing is collecting my body."