The howling shriek of extradimensional energy thundered violently, generating an ultrasonic wave that rattled Zulfa's skull and made his eardrums feel as though they were about to burst. The air inside the deepest subterranean control room was searingly hot, heavy with the sharp reek of sulfur, and illuminated by a blinding pillar of crimson light radiating straight from the Main Valve.

The colossal, building-wide gear wheel spun wildly at a terrifying speed. Half of the valve’s structure had already been ripped away, exposing an abyss of cosmic void behind it—where millions of unseen eyes stared hunglessly toward the human world.

Zulfa collapsed onto the violently shaking metal deck of the control platform, coughing up a billow of fine dust. Beside him, Naya whimpered softly, gripping Zulfa's arm with violently trembling fingers.

"Zul... we're... we're right at the heart of the fault," Naya whispered brokenly, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at the fractured valve wall before them. "The energy here... it feels like it could crush our bodies to dust in seconds."

"Hang in there, Naya," Zulfa wheezed, helping the girl up to lean against a nearby steel console. He fumbled at his chest pocket; the Arditama ancestor's journal was still tucked safely inside.

Suddenly, the sound of slow, calm applause echoing through the roar of cosmic energy cut through the tension.

Clap... clap... clap...

Zulfa and Naya whipped their heads around. Atop the main control platform, right beside the spinning axle of the Main Valve, a man in a light-gray designer suit stepped out from behind a pillar of hot steam.

It was Vian Pratama, Aethel Corp's director of operations. His face looked calm, but a wide grin split his lips, revealing the absolute madness of a fanatic. Flanking Vian, several elite guards stood on high alert, while in the center of the platform, a ritual altar circle patterned with glowing red electronic circuits lay unfurled.

"Magnificent... truly magnificent, Engineer Arditama," Vian praised loudly, competing with the roar of extradimensional energy. "I doubted your capabilities earlier, but you actually managed to push past the gatekeeper monsters at the intersection and make it right to my doorstep."

Zulfa clenched both fists, glaring at Vian with eyes full of pure hatred. "Your game is over, Vian! Shut that valve down right now before the gateway rips wide open and devours the entire city!"

Vian burst out laughing, his voice shrill over the subterranean roar. "Over? You're gravely mistaken, Zulfa! This isn't the end—it's the dawn of a new era for human civilization!" Vian flung his arms wide toward the torn Main Valve. "Look at that energy! This cosmic rift requires one final soul sacrifice to lock its opening process permanently. And the two of you showing up here... are the absolute finishing touch to the ritual!"

Before Zulfa could reply, Vian's elite guards stepped forward, raising their weapons to seize Naya and Zulfa.

"Naya, run behind the console pillar!" Zulfa snarled quickly. He leaped forward, using his remaining strength and heavy hydraulic wrench to knock away the first guard's rifle, while Naya scrambled to safety in the platform's corner.

"Don't let him near the valve axle!" Vian panicked, pointing frantically at Zulfa.

Zulfa managed to neutralize the guard, but an electromagnetic shockwave from the Main Valve suddenly surged outward, slamming into the platform deck and hurling Zulfa violently toward the edge of the metal chasm. His grandfather's leather-bound journal nearly slipped over the precipice, but Zulfa snatched it with desperate reflexes, clutching it tightly to his chest.

Time was running out. The roaring from within the valve gap grew deafening, and the ground fissures beneath their feet began widening.

Zulfa glanced at the manual in his ancestor's journal for a fraction of a second, then made the most lethal choice of his life. He couldn't run. He had to scale the Main Valve structure manually to punch the mechanical override code straight into its primary axle.

"Zulfa! What are you doing?! That's suicide!" Naya screamed hysterically from her hiding spot as she saw Zulfa sprint straight toward the wildly spinning giant gear.

"If I don't, we all die!" Zulfa yelled back.

Zulfa leaped, grabbing an iron strut on the Main Valve gear structure, which shook violently under the pressure of thousands of tons of mystical energy. Intense heat instantly scorched his palms, but he gritted his teeth against the agonizing pain. He began climbing the colossal metal structure amid a blinding spray of blue fire and cosmic radiation, crawling upward against gravity and raging quake tremors.

"Stop him! Shoot him!" Vian yelled in panic, pointing up at the valve framework.

Yet, bullets from the guards' rifles failed to pierce the roiling field of cosmic energy swirling around Zulfa's body. The youth kept climbing, reaching the main axle of the valve where the manual locking mechanism lever waited.

Zulfa gasped for air, his lungs feeling scorched by toxic air. With his final ounce of strength, he unhooked the hydraulic wrench from his belt, jammed it into the primary axle slot, and cranked it with all his might following the exact mathematical sequence logged in his grandfather's journal.

Clack... clank... CLACK-WHIRR!

A thunderous mechanical grind boomed across the chamber. The blinding crimson flare from inside the valve plummeted drastically in a single blink. The colossal gear slowed, and the massive fractures across the valve structure began snapping back together.

Zulfa smiled in relief amid the sweat and blood streaming down his face.

"It worked..." he whispered hoarsely.

Yet, that smile froze dead on his lips in a fraction of a second.

Before the gear could lock shut completely, a colossal, thousand-eyed shadow hand suddenly thrust outward from within the remaining valve gap. With inescapable lightning speed, the shadow hand lunged forward, locking a crushing grip tight around Zulfa's chest, shattering his ribs and driving straight toward his heart.

"Arghkh...!"

Zulfa choked out a suppressed scream as fresh blood spewed from his lips. The shadow hand's grip felt ice-cold and weighed thousands of tons, draining every last drop of oxygen from his body.

"ZULFA—!" Naya screamed hysterically, bolting out of hiding and watching in absolute horror as Zulfa's body hung suspended amid the vortex of energy.

In the distance, Vian cackled hysterically, even as his control consoles began flickering out.

Zulfa's vision slowly darkened. Naya's screams and the roar of cosmic machinery faded to a dull hum in his ears. As the shadow hand's grip tightened to the breaking point, the chapter faded slowly into absolute darkness, alongside the final seconds where the heartbeat of Aethel City seemed to stop forever.