The war facility swallowed them whole, sealing them inside as the last remnants of the Marked faded into the night. The air was thick with age, untouched for centuries, and the scent of rust and stale metal clung to the walls. The moment the doors finished closing, a deep hum resonated through the structure, ancient machinery waking from slumber. Faint golden veins pulsed along the walls, illuminating the darkened corridors like blood flowing through arteries.
Elias took a slow breath, adjusting his visor to compensate for the dim light. His armor still pulsed faintly from the Vanguard Core's energy surge, recalibrating after the fight. His hands flexed, feeling the raw power humming through his gauntlet. They had barely scratched the surface of what the Core could do, but right now, survival took precedence over discovery.
Marco was already at the nearest terminal, hands flying over the cracked interface, bypassing security locks with a mixture of old code and brute force. His screen flickered as he ran diagnostics. "Power levels are holding. The Core's energy pulse might've jump-started the system. Looks like most of the facility is still operational."
Reinhardt leaned against a rusted pillar, arms crossed. "That means whoever built this place didn't expect it to fall apart. That's either really impressive… or really suspicious."
Ivy remained near the entrance, arrow nocked, scanning the shadows for any sign of movement. "This place is too intact. I don't like it."
Lira's daggers flicked between her fingers. "I'll take a fully intact ruin over one crawling with more of those things. At least this one hasn't tried to kill us yet."
Cecilia smirked. "Yet."
Kierian exhaled, stepping forward, his eyes scanning the facility walls. "This was more than a weapons lab. This was a command center. Look at the engravings." His hand traced the faded insignia near the entryway, a crest of the Obsidian Vanguard, half-buried beneath layers of dust. "This wasn't just a stronghold. This was where they made their final stand."
Elias's gaze darkened. The knowledge of what happened to the Vanguard still lingered in fragments inside his mind. The war they fought, the enemies they faced, the betrayal that ended them. This was a graveyard of an empire that had once stood against the Primordial Lords, and now, they were standing in its remains.
Marco's console beeped as the first wave of security systems fell. "Alright. I've got partial access. Let's see what's in the archives." He tapped a final command, and the room shifted. The walls came alive, holographic displays flickering to life, casting golden projections of battle records, schematics, unfinished projects.
Then, they heard the voice.
It wasn't human. It was old, broken, fragmented, yet still laced with authority.
"Vanguard identification required. Please authenticate."
The group tensed. Lira's grip on her blades tightened. Ivy pulled her bowstring taut. Reinhardt cracked his knuckles, ready for anything.
Elias stepped forward. The Vanguard Core pulsed in response, its energy syncing with the facility's network. His gauntlet hummed, and his visor flashed a single word: AUTHENTICATED.
The entire facility shifted.
Lights flickered, then stabilized. Holograms sharpened, once-broken systems repairing themselves in real time. The machinery within the walls groaned as it came fully back to life, no longer locked behind rust and time. The war facility was awake.
The voice returned, smoother this time, more aware.
"User authenticated. Engineer Elias Graham, unauthorized designation. Identity: anomaly."
Elias exhaled sharply. "I get that a lot."
The voice hesitated, processing. Then, the holograms changed. The battle records moved, showing footage from centuries ago. The final days of the Obsidian Vanguard. Soldiers in black and gold armor, fighting against a force that shifted and changed with every strike. Creatures of smoke and nightmare, their bodies twisting into monstrous shapes, a darkness that consumed everything in its path.
Then came the Academy.
Not as scholars. Not as neutral observers. But as executioners.
The battle footage jumped, showing the final stand. The Vanguard was outnumbered, surrounded on all sides. Their own war machines turned against them, their weapons sabotaged. And standing at the heart of it, watching as the last of the Vanguard fell—
Was an Academy Grandmaster.
Elias felt his fists tighten. "They didn't just lose." His voice was cold, even, filled with an anger he hadn't realized had been simmering. "They were erased."
Kierian's face was unreadable, but his silence spoke volumes.
Marco's hands trembled slightly over the controls. "This… this isn't just a war record. This was a cover-up."
Cecilia folded her arms. "Then why didn't they wipe this place from existence?"
Lira's gaze flickered between the holograms. "Because they didn't know it was still here."
Ivy lowered her bow slightly, expression sharp. "Which means we just became the only people alive with access to the truth."
The voice returned, unfazed by their revelation.
"Final Vanguard protocol activated. Awaiting command."
Elias turned back to the controls, the weight of what came next pressing against him.
They had two choices.
They could take the knowledge and vanish, arm themselves with everything the Vanguard had left behind, and prepare for the war ahead in secrecy.
Or they could send a message.
A declaration that the world was no longer under the Academy's control. That the Obsidian Vanguard had not been erased. That the war they had once fought was about to begin again.
The others were watching him now, waiting.
Kierian finally spoke. "This is your war now, Elias. What's the next move?"
Elias's gauntlet glowed, the Vanguard Core's energy syncing with the facility, linking him to every war machine, every weapon, every piece of forgotten knowledge stored within these walls.
His next words would decide the course of history.
He exhaled.
And then, with absolute certainty, he gave the command.
"Reactivate everything."
The facility roared to life.
Every war machine shuddered as systems rebooted. Weapons caches unlocked, power surging through the stronghold like a heart starting to beat again after centuries of silence. The holograms shifted, battle maps redrawing themselves, showing strategic locations—Academy fortresses, enemy strongholds, hidden allies who had once fought under the same banner.
And then, for the first time in centuries—
The Obsidian Vanguard's battle signal was sent.
A pulse of energy rippled outward, silent yet undeniable, spreading through the world like a beacon. It was an announcement, a challenge, a warning.
The war the Academy thought they had ended wasn't over.
And Elias Graham had just brought it back to life.