Chapter 66 The Queen of Ruin
Luna’s POV
The Sentinel’s massive arm lifted toward Selene and for a moment, the world stood perfectly still, so that even the wind seemed to stop moving, then Kai slowly leaned closer to me, his voice barely above a whisper. “Please tell me that thing is about to hit the right person.”
The Sentinel took another heavy step up the courthouse stairs and stone groaned under its weight, with its glowing eyes locked onto Selene as if awaiting a final command. But Selene did not move; instead, she simply stared at the towering machine with quiet interest, with her silver hair swaying gently in the night breeze.
Then she laughed softly at first and then louder. Then the sound sent chills crawling down my spine.
“Oh Luna,” she said, shaking her head slowly. “You really thought you won something, didn’t you?”
My heart tightened. Because I feel something was wrong and the Sentinel’s arm swung down…. But it stopped inches from Selene’s face. It stood frozen and its metal joints trembled violently as if fighting invisible restraints. Then Selene raised one delicate hand and the machine shuddered.
Then slowly… it turned back toward me. With the sight of that, I felt my stomach drop. “No…” I whispered.
Kai’s voice was sharp with disbelief. “How did she….?”
Selene lowered her hand and smiled at us like a teacher disappointed in her students. “You truly believe the network would choose you over me?” she asked calmly.
The Sentinel stepped down the stairs again and then back toward us. Each footstep felt like a hammer striking the ground. I could still feel my connection to the core, but Selene had wrapped around it again, tightening her grip like a serpent.
“You have power,” she continued softly. “But you lack experience, control, and vision.”
Then her eyes burned with cold hunger. “I built my life studying the network and studying people like you.”
My breath caught. “People like me?”
“Anchors,” she said simply.
The word hit me like ice and Kai frowned beside me and asked. “Wait… there were others?”
Selene’s smile widened. “Oh yes.” The Sentinel’s chest began glowing again as it approached. “Many others,” she added.
My pulse pounded. “What happened to them?”
Selene’s eyes glinted. “I broke them.”
The words were delivered so casually that for a second I thought I had misheard, but her expression remained perfectly calm and perfectly cruel.
“They were weak,” she continued. “Each one awakened with potential. Each one believed they could control the system.” She gestured lightly toward me. “Just like you.”
A cold wave rolled through my chest. “You killed them.”
Selene tilted her head thoughtfully. “Not always.”
Then suddenly the Sentinel stopped ten feet from us, and its glowing core hummed with gathering energy. “Sometimes,” she continued, “I simply removed their usefulness.”
Kai whispered beside me, “That woman is insane.”
Selene heard him and she chuckled. “Insane?” she repeated softly. “No.”
Her gaze returned to me. “I am necessary.”
Then her voice sharpened. “The network is not a tool for protecting towns and saving frightened civilians. It is a weapon. A system of immense power meant to shape worlds.”
The Sentinel’s chest burned brighter. “And weak anchors cannot wield such power.”
My hands trembled as the anchor energy surged again. “You think destroying people proves strength?” I asked.
Selene stepped slowly down the last few stairs. “No,” she replied calmly. “It proves survival.”
Then her eyes hardened. “But if you insist on moralizing…”
Her hand flicked slightly and one of the broken constructs on the ground suddenly jerked to life, with its damaged limbs twitching violently. Then it launched forward, but not at me. It was at Kai.
“Kai!” I shouted.
The construct slammed into him before he could react, throwing him hard against a nearby car. Metal crunched and he collapsed to the pavement with a groan. My vision flashed red. “You….!”
Selene watched without emotion. “Your attachment is your greatest weakness, Luna.”
The Sentinel’s core flared blindingly bright and energy screamed through the air.
Selene’s voice turned cold. “Anchors who care about people make predictable decisions.”
Then she pointed toward Kai’s unmoving body. “They hesitate.”
My heart pounded in my ears. Kai struggled to push himself up. “I’m… fine,” he groaned. But I could see the blood on his forehead.
Selene’s lips curved slightly. “Are you?”
The Sentinel’s chest reached critical brightness and the blast was seconds away. “Watch closely, Luna,” Selene said softly. “This is how you remove a weakness.”
My body moved before my mind did and I threw myself forward, with silver energy exploding from my hands. Then the Sentinel fired, a beam of concentrated energy tore across the courtyard and the blast struck my shield with a deafening impact.
Pain ripped through my arms and the ground under me cracked. But the energy stopped and the blast dispersed into silver sparks around me.
The Sentinel powered down slightly, with its core dimming after the discharge.
I staggered but stayed standing.
Selene’s expression shifted again. But not a surprise this time. It was interesting. “You protected him.”
I glared at her through the fading light. “Yes.”
She sighed quietly. “How disappointingly human.”
My voice trembled with anger. “You call yourself strong but all you do is destroy people who trust you.”
Selene’s eyes turned colder than ice. “Trust,” she repeated slowly.
Then she laughed again.
But this time there was no amusement in the sound. It was only bitterness. “Trust is the first thing the world takes from you, Luna.”
The ground suddenly shook. It shook hard.
The cracks in the sky widened again and lightning-like fractures spread across the clouds as the guardian core struggled to maintain the barrier.
Selene looked upward and then she looked back at me. “You see?” she said calmly. “The system is collapsing.”
Kai pushed himself up behind me. “You caused that!”
Selene shrugged. “Of course.”
My stomach twisted. “You’re destroying everything.”
Her smile returned. “Yes.”
The word fell into the night like a stone. “I am forcing evolution,” I said.
The Sentinel stepped forward again and Selene’s voice softened. “And if Crescent Valley must fall to awaken the system fully…” Her eyes burned with ruthless certainty. “…then so be it.”
My chest tightened with fury. Then behind me, Kai muttered quietly, “Okay… yeah. She’s officially the worst person alive.”
Selene lifted her hand again and the Sentinel’s core began charging once more. But this time…every construct in the courtyard started rising again, and the metal scraping with eyes glowing. Dozens of machines turned toward us, and Selene’s voice drifted through the air like a dark promise. “Let’s see how long your compassion survives
s against inevitability, Luna.”
The army of constructs took their first step forward. And the real nightmare began.