The black ash fell like a dark, silent blizzard within the giant stone dome of Progenitor Vault Three. It wasn’t ordinary fiery ash. The specks were tiny, jagged burrs of glass-fused void residue that hissed aggressively as they made contact with the glowing stellar iron floor.
Arthur caught a drifting flake on the back of his armored glove. That brought it close to his magnifying glass for immediate spectroscopic analysis.
” Arthur observed the falling soot specks through the magnifying optics of his magnifying glass, watching the tiny burrs wriggle with unnatural, man-made motility. They weren’t inert stone ash. They were bio-clockwork spore pods, programmed to bore through cellular membranes and release a cascade of rotting enzymes that broke down organic tissue into nutrient sludge.
“Aerosolized hungry spores,” Arthur explained through their shared neural link, keeping his voice calm and cold and exact to steady his companions. “Father Genesis designed these spores to dissolve the natural immune defenses of mantle beasts, making them docile cattle for the chimera nesting above. Titus, maintain your sub-zero gravity shield. If even a microgram of this dust penetrates your lung tract, it will induce acute lung heavy bleeding.”
Titus gave a deep, shaking rumble from his chest. His black-ice spires glowed with brighter, more intense azure mana. The sub-zero heat field he projected swelled to ten meters around the squad, causing the falling soot to turn into glass instantly, dropping to the iron floor like harmless grains of coarse black sand.
