SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!
Chapter 49: The Core Guardians

Chapter 49: The Core Guardians

Ryan journeyed deeper and deeper into the Labyrinth, following the golden road laid out for him by his Neural Map and the Labyrinth Keystone.

The levels he passed through now were a world away from the crumbling outer corridors he had first explored. Here, the architecture was pristine, made of seamless black stone that seemed to absorb the light.

Glowing blue energy conduits pulsed in the walls like veins, and the air was still and cold, filled with the scent of ozone and ancient, dormant power.

He felt like an explorer who had just found a secret passage in a pyramid, leaving the tourist areas far behind and stepping into the real, untouched chambers.

The Keystone he held was a magical "do not disturb" sign, and it worked wonders. Laser grids that would have sliced him into tiny cubes fizzled out as he approached.

Giant stone crushers that were meant to turn intruders into pancakes ground to a halt. He walked through these ancient death traps as if he owned the place, which, in a way, he now kind of did.

But the Keystone didn’t turn everything off. Some of the Labyrinth’s defenses were not connected to the main security grid.

They were independent, living guardians who had been sleeping for ages, and his presence was like a very loud, very annoying alarm clock.

He turned a corner into a massive, cavernous chamber that served as a grand antechamber to the Core itself. And there, standing guard, were two of the biggest, meanest-looking constructs he had ever seen.

They weren’t humanoid like the Sentinels. These things were built like monstrous, metal rhinos, each the size of a small house. They moved on four thick, powerful legs, and their bodies bristled with a terrifying array of energy weapons.

Cannons, missile pods, and strange, glowing discs were mounted all over their armored chassis. Their heads were just a single, glowing blue slit, like the visor on a knight’s helmet, that swiveled and locked onto him with cold, mechanical fury.

The god Interface chimed, as always.

[Labyrinth Warden (Level 8 Anomaly)]

Threat Level: SEVERE.

Description: An advanced quadrupedal war-construct designed for heavy assault and territorial defense.

Abilities: Multiple Energy Weapon Systems. Adaptive Shielding.

"Two of them?" Ryan muttered, his grip tightening on his knife. "You guys couldn’t just have one? Had to be greedy, huh?"

They were Level 8, the same as the Vault Guardian Prime he had barely survived. But these two were awake, alert, and working together. This was going to be a brutal fight.

The slight delay caused by his arrival and the sudden, massive spike of energy from the two Wardens activating did not go unnoticed.

He knew that other high-level players in Sector Gamma were also exploring the Labyrinth. Players like Zara Khan or Tom Kane. They might not have a master key like he did, but they were smart and powerful in their own right.

They would surely detect this massive energy surge. He could almost picture them looking at their own maps, seeing a giant flashing red light, and saying, "Hey, what’s that?" He was on a clock.

He had to finish this fight and get to the Core before his rivals figured out what was happening and came to investigate.

There was no time for a clever plan. This was going to be a brawl.

Ryan charged forward. The two Labyrinth Wardens immediately opened fire. One launched a volley of crackling energy bolts, while the other fired a barrage of small, heat-seeking missiles.

The chamber erupted in a storm of light and sound.

Ryan was a blur of motion. He used his Chrono-Manipulation, casting "Haste" on himself. The world seemed to slow down just a bit, giving him precious fractions of a second to react.

He weaved through the energy bolts, the explosions of the missiles kicking up dust and debris around him. His Boots of Alacrity were working overtime, giving him a burst of speed with every successful dodge.

He needed to get close. As he ran, he focused on one of the Wardens. Its body was protected by a shimmering, blue energy shield. He activated his new "Energy Siphon" talent. A thin, black tendril of energy shot out from his hand and latched onto the Warden’s shield.

He felt a rush of power flow into him, replenishing the Spirit he was using to power his Haste ability. The Warden’s shield flickered and dimmed for a moment.

That was his opening!

While the shield was weak, he used his Phase Step skill which is now much more stable thanks to his B-Tier Chrono-Manipulation talent and teleported right next to the giant construct’s leg.

He drove his knife into the complex joint where the leg met the body. His blade scraped against the super-hard alloy but managed to bite in, severing a few power cables.

The Warden let out a loud, mechanical roar of fury and tried to stomp on him. Ryan was already gone, using his Haste to dash away.

The fight was grueling. It was a chaotic dance between two mechanical titans and one very fast, very determined human. He couldn’t stay still for a second.

The Wardens were smart. They learned from his tactics. When he used Energy Siphon on one, the other would cover it with a hail of suppressing fire.

Their Adaptive Shielding was a nightmare; after he hit one with his poison-coated knife, its shield shimmered and re-calibrated, becoming more resistant to biological agents.

Ryan took hits. A stray energy bolt clipped his shoulder, scorching his cloak and sending a jolt of pain through his arm. A missile exploded too close, and the shockwave threw him against a wall, leaving him dazed.

His Boots of Alacrity got scorched by a plasma blast, and their speed boost felt a little weaker. But he kept fighting. His higher stats, his deep pool of Vitality, and his diverse collection of skills were the only things keeping him in the fight.

He was a jack-of-all-trades fighting two masters of destruction, and his versatility was his greatest weapon.

He realized he couldn’t destroy them from the outside. Their armor was just too thick. He had to find a way to take them down from the inside.

He changed his tactics. He focused all his attention on one Warden, ignoring the other as much as he could. He used his Energy Siphon over and over again on its shield, not just to replenish his own energy, but to actively drain it. The Warden’s shield flickered more and more desperately as Ryan relentlessly sucked its power away.

Finally, with a loud pop, the shield on the first Warden overloaded and collapsed completely.

"Gotcha!" Ryan yelled.

Before the Warden could reactivate its shield, he used his Weaver’s Interface Gauntlet’s "System Override" skill. It wasn’t powerful enough to take control of a Level 8 war machine, but he could use it to send a short, confusing burst of code. He targeted its weapon systems.

The Warden’s cannons sputtered. Its missile pods sparked and went dead. For a few precious seconds, its weapons were offline.

Ryan seized the moment. He ran up the Warden’s leg, leaped onto its back, and found what he was looking for: the main power core, protected under a thick plate of armor.

He jammed his knife into the seam of the plate and, with a surge of strength, wrenched it open, exposing the glowing, pulsating core.

He didn’t hesitate. He stabbed his knife deep into the core.

The Warden convulsed violently and then exploded in a massive fireball that threw Ryan clear across the chamber. He landed hard, his ears ringing, but he was mostly unharmed by the blast thanks to his high resistances.

One down, one to go.

The second Warden, seeing its partner destroyed, went into a state of berserk fury. It abandoned all tactics and just unleashed every single weapon it had in a continuous, overwhelming barrage.

The entire chamber became a blender of explosions and energy beams.

But fighting one Warden was infinitely easier than fighting two. Ryan, now an expert on their weak points, dodged the storm of attacks, siphoned its shield dry, overrode its weapons, and repeated the process.

It was still a tough, dangerous fight, but the outcome was no longer in doubt. He pried open its core and delivered the final blow.

The second Warden exploded, and then, finally, the chamber was silent.

Ryan stood there, breathing heavily, dirty and bruised. His clothes were ripped, and his body hurt. But he had won.

The god Interface chimed twice, a sweet, sweet sound.

"+900 god Points!"

"+900 god Points!"

The massive influx of experience points filled his bar. He was now Level 7, with 2450 out of 3000 god Points. He was so close to Level 8.

On the floor, where the two Wardens had exploded, two small, perfectly cubical objects lay shimmering. They were the "Warden Power Matrixes," the central processors and power sources for the mighty constructs. They were incredibly valuable Tier 5 crafting components.

He collected his loot, took one last look at the wreckage-filled chamber, and then turned to face the massive, sealed door at the far end. This was it. This was the entrance to the Core Chamber. The final guardians were defeated.

He walked forward, the Labyrinth Keystone in his hand pulsing with a warm, expectant light. As he approached the door, the Keystone’s light intensified. With a deep, groaning sound that shook the very foundations of the Labyrinth, the massive Precursor door, sealed for untold millennia, began to slide open, revealing the secrets that lay within.

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