Skybound Odyssey – Chapter 25: The Throne of Nexus
Ryo's fingers brushed the crystalline control node—smooth, cold, humming with incomprehensible power.
The entire Citadel reacted.
Walls shifted. Engines growled to life. Thunder rolled overhead, not from nature—but from machinery awakening after decades of silence.
> "Neural sync initializing… Subject Zero—core link stable."
Ryo flinched as golden light surged from the node into his Stormheart crystal.
Then—pain. A spike through his mind, a flood of memories not his own. Images of past test subjects. Failed pilots. Lost prototypes. All ending in flames.
His legs buckled.
> "Warning: Incomplete integration. System unstable."
Sena reached for him—"Ryo, break the link!"—but it was too late.
The Citadel had chosen.
---
Vermillion didn't hesitate.
The pirate captain lunged with a flaming blade aimed straight for Ryo's heart.
But Lyra was faster. She intercepted the strike with both sabers, sparks flying.
"You're not taking him!" she shouted, driving Vermillion back.
Vermillion's expression twisted. "You fools don't get it. This isn't about war anymore. This throne was the Empire's final gamble! Whoever sits in it becomes the weapon that ends all resistance!"
Ryo's eyes shot open—gold blazing like the heart of a star.
> "Wrong," he said through gritted teeth.
"I'm not their weapon. I'm your reckoning."
---
Nexus Throne – Activation
A storm exploded from Ryo's body. Not just wind or lightning—force. Gravity. Power. The kind that bent steel and shattered walls.
The throne core reshaped itself around him like armor. Gold veins of energy raced up his arms. In that instant, he was no longer just a storm-charged runaway—he was the living heart of the most advanced weapon ever created.
But he didn't strike.
He resisted.
"I won't become what they made me for," Ryo growled. "I'll rewrite it."
He reached deep into the throne's systems—and changed its code. Redirected its purpose. Overwrote the commands burned in blood and war.
> "New directive: Protect freedom. Destroy tyranny."
The Citadel answered.
---
Outside – The Skies Split
Skyspire's long-range scanners flared. In orbit, satellites reactivated. The entire storm belt around the Veilstorm calmed—as if the planet itself was recognizing its new guardian.
Juno's voice crackled in. "What the hell just happened?! The storm just… obeyed him."
---
Back in the throne room… Vermillion was on his knees.
Not in submission. In laughter.
"You fool… you still don't see it." His eyes glowed with something unhinged. "That throne wasn't built for a single war. It was built for the Great Reclamation. And now that it's online…"
He reached into his coat and slammed a small shard of crystal into the ground.
> "The others will come."
From the sky, distant roars echoed.
Six more Citadel signatures—each buried in the forgotten corners of the world—lit up like fireflies.
Ryo's face darkened. "What have you done?"
Vermillion smiled with blood on his lips. "I lit the match."