The dust of the ridge had barely settled before Vane hit the floor of the basin. He did not land with a heavy crash. He absorbed the impact through his knees, his star-steel spear held in a tight, diagonal guard. Beside him, Ashe landed with a predatory crouch. Her tekko kagi scraped against the stone, sparking as her oni mana flared in anticipation. Valerica and Isole stood behind them. They formed a wall of cold, calculated intent.

The noble squads from the Blue and Red towers were frozen. They had been kiting the Rank 4 Guardian Construct for nearly twenty minutes. They were tired. Their mana pools were depleted. Seeing four students in standard academy gray enter the fray was a shock their exhausted minds could not immediately process.

"Stay back, commoner!" Marcus, the Blue Tower leader, screamed. He pointed a shaking finger at Vane. He ignored the girls for a moment, his eyes filled with a desperate, class-driven rage. "This is our hunt. Lady Valerica, why are you associating with this trash? If you interfere, the House of Castor will be forced to report this breach of protocol to the Sol patriarch."

Valerica did not even glance at him. Her dark eyes were fixed on the Construct. "The Sol patriarch does not concern himself with the bickering of children, Marcus. And I suggest you stop talking. You are leaking mana with every word."

The bronze giant was recalibrating. Its four arms shifted, the massive stone blades grinding against each other with a sound like a mountain's teeth. The blue glow in its chest was turning a sharp, electric white. It sensed the increase in local mana density. It identified the four newcomers as the primary threat.

"Valerica, the perimeter is yours," Vane said. His voice was calm. It cut through the mechanical shrieks of the beast. "Do not let them interrupt the rhythm. We are on a timer."

Valerica stepped forward. She did not use a wide, wasteful aura. She focused her intent on the ground beneath the feet of the other squads.

[Skill: Event Horizon, Grade S]

The air around the noble squads suddenly became thick and suffocating. It was a physical weight that pressed down on their shoulders and dragged their weapons toward the stone floor. Several students collapsed to their knees. Their lungs struggled to expand against the crushing atmospheric pressure Valerica had created. Marcus gasped, his flame spell flickering out as the gravity swallowed the very heat of the fire.

"Isole, ground the sensors," Vane commanded.

Isole raised her bone staff. She tapped it against the floor. She used the Samsara logic to weave holy and dark threads together.

[Skill: Shadow Bind, Grade A]

Dark tendrils manifested from the shadows of the rocks. They snaked up the legs of the Construct, locking its mechanical joints in place. The Construct let out a shriek of escaping steam. Its movements became jerky and forced. It was fighting against a mana-leech that drained its internal stabilization systems.

"Ashe, we take it together," Vane said. "It is too heavy for a single strike. I will open the armor. You provide the kinetic impact. We have sixty seconds before the noise attracts more squads."

Ashe let out a low, guttural laugh. Her red eyes were glowing. Her obsidian horns hummed. She was ready to test her claws.

[Skill: Weapon Communion, Grade S]

She gripped her tekko kagi. Her oni mana flooded the metal. The obsidian blades began to glow with a terrifying, white-hot intensity. The metal began to hum at a supersonic frequency. She was pushing the weapon to its theoretical limit. The air around the blades began to distort.

"Now!" Vane shouted.

[Skill: Internal Pulse, Grade B]

Vane thrust his spear into the back of the Construct's knee. He synchronized the strike with the Silver Fang logic. His star-steel spear-tip began to vibrate with silver mana. The bronze armor did not shatter. It liquefied under the pressure. The tip sank deep into the mechanical joint.

Ashe arrived a millisecond later. She did not just run. She moved with her Flash Arts.

She moved with supersonic speed, leaving afterimage slashes in the air that struck the target seconds after she had passed. Her boosted tekko kagi slammed into the bronze joint Vane had softened. The combination was perfect. Vane removed the structural integrity. Ashe provided the raw, shattering force. The Construct's right leg buckled as a massive chunk of bronze was torn away.

The beast tilted dangerously. It tried to swing its stone blades. Vane used the Argent Horizon to flow under the attack. He landed on the Construct's broad shoulder. He slammed his palm against the chest plate. He sent a direct Internal Pulse into the metal. He was searching for the resonance frequency of the internal core.

"Ashe, the center plate!" Vane called out.

Vane used his spear to carve a silver line across the bronze chest. Ashe leaped from the ground. She caught the edge of a stone blade and used the momentum to vault upward.

[Skill: Weapon Communion, Grade S]

She struck the center plate with her claws. The obsidian blades bit deep. They were sharper than lasers. They carved through the reinforced bronze as if it were wet paper. With a final, violent twist, she ripped the center plating away.

The core was exposed. It was a pulsing, blue orb of concentrated mana. It flickered in terror.

Vane didn't hesitate. He thrust his spear into the core. He did not use any more mana. He simply used the cold steel to shatter the orb. The blue light exploded. A shockwave of pure energy rolled through the basin. It threw the noble squads further back against the rocks. Vane and Ashe stood their ground.

The bronze giant let out one final groan. Its arms went limp. The massive stone blades fell to the floor. They shattered into a thousand pieces. The sentinel was dead.

As the dust settled, a glowing metallic key floated in the center of the beast's hollow chest. Vane reached out and grabbed it. The metal was warm. It pulsed with the signature of the floor passage.

Vane turned toward the noble squads. Valerica released the gravity pulse. The students from the Blue and Red towers were gasping for air. They looked at the ruins of the Rank 4 Construct. Then they looked at Vane.

"You," Marcus stammered. His jeweled circlet was crooked. He looked at Valerica. "Lady Valerica, you have helped a commoner steal a Major Sentinel. This will be known. The Castor family will not forget this."

Vane pointed his spear-tip at Marcus's throat. The silver mana was still humming on the tip.

"The Castor family is not in this basin, Marcus," Vane said. His voice was a cold blade. "Only you are. And you are out of mana. If you want to spend your remaining energy on threats, do it while you are walking toward the medical bay. If you say one more word about my squad, I will ensure you do not make it to the next floor."

He looked at his squad. Ashe was wiping black oil from her cheek. She was grinning. Valerica and Isole were already moving toward the exit. Their expressions were calm.

"We have the key," Vane said. "The next floor opens in five minutes. If you want to follow us, you are welcome to try. But I suggest you find a weaker target."

Vane turned his back on the nobles. He did not need to watch them anymore. They were no longer part of his calculations. He walked toward the dark tunnel that led to the Iron Labyrinth. He felt the weight of the key in his pocket.

The squad entered the shadows of the tunnel. Behind them, the sounds of the basin faded into a stunned silence. The first-year commoner had just dismantled a Rank 4 Guardian with the help of the empire's elite. The hierarchy of Zenith was being rewritten in the bronze of the deep.

"One floor down," Vane whispered. "Two to go."

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