1. The Metal Lord's Last Gift

  Lugrez's death throes triggered a metallic apocalypse. The Steel Forge's walls began bleeding liquid iron as weapons came alive. Guns sprouted spinal cords and screamed with the voices of dead Omegas. Blades grew venous networks that pulsed in sync with Adrian's mechanized arm.

  The truth in the molten core:

  A holographic memory erupted from the slag, showing Vaulk's first pact.

  Scene: A chrome altar where a younger Vaulk kneels before seven shadows.

  Shadow #5 (Lugrez's voice): "We accept your offering - the eighth child's right arm."

  Vaulk lifts a screaming infant - its tiny metal prosthesis glowing with the same pattern as Adrian's current arm.

  Adrian's left arm remembered the pain. Its plating unfolded like a grotesque flower, revealing a serial number etched on the inner frame: Ω-8-7-1. Three empty slots labeled Blood ? Bone ? Time. A child's fingernail embedded in the hydraulics (DNA-matched to Adrian).

  The arm whispered: "They built me to hold what you can't carry yet."

  Adrian clenched his fist, feeling the weight of the revelation. The metal in his arm felt heavier, as if it were absorbing the very essence of Lugrez's power. He knew this was just the beginning - the first step in a journey that would test his resolve and humanity.

  2. The Crimson Road's Toll

  The blood river demanded payment to enter Hermag's domain. Adrian had to surrender:

  A Memory: He sacrificed the recollection of his mother's face (causing his right eye to hemorrhage black fluid).

  A Physical Piece: His mechanized arm's pinky finger dissolved into the blood.

  A Future Possibility: The road showed flashes of a timeline where Adrian embraced the Overseer role.

  The path solidified into a bridge of frozen screams, each step triggering memory echoes:

  Null at age 12, strapped to a table as Vaulk injected liquid metal into his veins.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  A shadowed figure (seven-fingered hands) placing the first brand on a baby's chest.

  Prophecy fragments: "When the seventh lord falls, the eighth child will hold the knife to his own throat."

  At the bridge's midpoint, Adrian found his own reflection in the blood-ice - but it showed him with Vaulk's mechanical eye, the Demon King's shadow fused to his back, and a keyblade-shaped hole where his heart should be.

  Adrian's heart pounded in his chest, or where his heart should have been. The reflection seemed to mock him, a grim reminder of the path he was on. He felt a chill run down his spine as he realized that every step he took was bringing him closer to a fate he might not be able to escape.

  3. The Bone Oracle

  The skeleton under the ice wasn't just any hunter - forensic analysis via Adrian's mechanical eye revealed:

  Identity: First Generation Hunter-Commander Rael Oltos (namesake of the Bone Lord).

  Cause of Death: Self-inflicted keyblade wound through the sternum.

  Final Message:

  His ribcage had been carved into a dimensional map showing seven Control Group facilities arranged in a mirror formation and an eighth location hidden in the Antarctic ice sheet. Scrawled in marrow: "The contract was never with the lords - it was with their maker."

  When Adrian touched the skeleton, its right arm detached and grafted onto his mechanical limb. New HUD data flooded his vision:

  ?SYSTEM OVERRIDE: Ω-8 PROTOCOL INITIATED?

  ?BLOODLINK ESTABLISHED TO HERMAG?

  ?WARNING: 5 LORD DEATHS REMAIN UNTIL CORE AWAKENING?

  The bone beetles reformed into a new countdown:

  ?BLOOD LORD ENGAGEMENT IN: 00:03:00?

  Adrian's mind raced as he absorbed the information. The skeleton's final message echoed in his mind, a cryptic warning that hinted at a deeper conspiracy. He knew he had to act fast - time was running out, and the next battle would be even more perilous than the last