Cronus' system: Against the gods

Lukas' body hit the ground with a dull thud, his once-pristine silver armor now dented and scorched by the relentless energy of Seraphina's Aether sword. The faint hum of the blade subsided as she exhaled sharply, her grip loosening. She stood over his unconscious form, her glowing eyes narrowing as though she still doubted he was truly defeated.

Rex stepped closer, his boots crunching against the charred and broken tiles of the arena floor. He folded his arms, his sharp gaze scanning Lukas. The fight had been brutal, intense—but Rex couldn't shake the nagging irritation bubbling within him.

"Damn it, Cronus," he growled inwardly. "If I had taken him down, I'd have gotten the XP and leveled up. But no, Seraphina just had to show off."

Cronus' voice echoed in his mind with its usual infuriating calm.

"A wasted opportunity for you, perhaps, but an efficient resolution nonetheless. Besides, you noticed it, didn't you? Lukas never used his metal-body hardening during the fight."

Rex frowned. That fact had been gnawing at him. Lukas was notorious for his ability to turn his body into a near-indestructible metallic form, but throughout the fight, he hadn't utilized it once. Rex dismissed the thought with a shrug. "Whatever. We won. That's what matters."

"Let's move," Seraphina interrupted, her voice as commanding as ever. She didn't wait for a reply, already striding towards where Magnus was. Rex followed, his frustration dissipating as curiosity took over.

Magnus lay on the ground, pale but alive. Brenda was at his side, her healing device weaving faint golden threads of energy around him. As they approached, Magnus groaned and sat up slowly, his face twisting in discomfort.

"Easy there," Brenda whispered, her voice trembling. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and when Magnus managed to stand, her composure crumbled entirely. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.

Magnus blinked in surprise but patted her back awkwardly. "Uh… I'm okay, Brenda. Really."

Brenda sobbed harder. "You idiot! Do you know how scared I was? She hugged him once more, her expression sober.

Rex arched an eyebrow at the scene. They barely dated for a week, and she's acting like she's known him for years, he thought. But he kept the observation to himself, knowing better than to voice it.

Magnus chuckled nervously, his usual bravado muted. "Sorry. Guess I owe you one."

Brenda pulled back slightly, wiping her tears. "You owe me more than that," she muttered.

"Are we done with the lovefest?" Rex said, his tone light but impatient. "We've got bigger problems to deal with."

Magnus smirked, his old cockiness returning. "Yeah, yeah. Lead the way."

The central tower loomed ahead, its sleek, metallic structure radiating an intimidating presence. Rex approached the console beside the entrance, frowning at the keypad. Yeah, right! Once again, there was just one thing left! He didn't know the password. Before he could curse out, he noticed Seraphina gesticulating

He turned to her. "Uh… you wouldn't happen to know the password, would you?"

Seraphina rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. I've spent more time with Jefferson than you ever have." She stepped forward and entered the code with practiced ease, her hands moving with a speed that Rex couldn't keep up with. It was almost like she didn't want anyone to know but well...it's a password right?.

The doors slid open with a soft hiss, revealing the teleportation chamber beyond.

Inside, the chamber pulsed with faint blue light, its walls lined with intricate machinery and crystalline conduits. The central console buzzed with energy, but Rex stared at it blankly not knowing what to do next.

"He turned to Seraphina who had previously boasted to have known more than him due to her stay with Jefferson. She should know how to operate this right? but surprisingly, she was looking away, whistling to avoid Rex's stare.

"Any of you know how to use this thing?" Rex asked turning his gaze back to the teleportation device. If it wasn't for the big print that was stamped on it, heck he wouldn't have known what it was "Teleportation Device, Unauthorized Personel Not allowed to Use"

Magnus snorted, brushing past Rex and Seraphina. "Amateurs," he muttered with a smirk, stepping up to the central console. The smooth, metallic surface glowed faintly under his fingertips as he ran his hands confidently over the controls. His movements were precise, the series of taps and swipes almost rhythmic.

"Give me a minute," he said, his voice laced with assurance.

Brenda blinked, surprised. "You know how to work this?"

Magnus glanced at her, his grin widening. "I know a lot of things. Trust me."

Rex raised an eyebrow, folding his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Yeah, how wouldn't you know a lot of things?" he thought with a snort, recalling a peculiar stat he'd noticed when he used God's Eyes on Magnus. Number of failed business ideas: 998.

Magnus approached a nearby shelf, his eyes scanning its contents with surprising focus. He grabbed three teleportation crystals—small, translucent stones that shimmered faintly in the chamber's blue light. Walking back to the console, he placed them in designated slots with deliberate care.

"These crystals act like blank slates," Magnus explained, his tone casual. "They can be programmed with specific coordinates and other parameters. All it takes is a little technical know-how—and a lot of brilliance."

Rex rolled his eyes. "More like dumb luck."

Magnus ignored him, his attention fully on the console. With a few quick gestures, he accessed the academy's advanced navigation database. A detailed map of the surrounding regions appeared as a three-dimensional hologram above the console. It spun slowly, glowing lines tracing the boundaries of cities, towns, and even remote settlements.

"Alright," Magnus said, tilting his head as he studied the map. "Brenda, you're first." His fingers danced over the controls, zooming in on her home coordinates. The console responded instantly, displaying her location—a modest countryside manor nestled in rolling green hills.

Magnus tapped a few more buttons, aligning the crystal with the coordinates. The crystal pulsed with a faint golden light as it absorbed the data. "One down," Magnus said, carefully removing the programmed crystal and setting it aside.

Brenda watched, equal parts impressed and confused. "How do you even know how to do this?"

Magnus shrugged. "Had a lot of time on my hands growing up. Let's just say I've dabbled in tech."

"Define dabbled," Rex quipped. "Pretty sure it's code for 'blew up half a lab trying to invent the next big thing.'"

"Hey, trial and error's the path to genius," Magnus shot back without missing a beat. He was already working on the second crystal, zooming in on Seraphina's location. Her home, a grand estate in Astral City's upper districts appeared as a glowing marker on the holographic map.

"Seraphina, you're next," he muttered, adjusting the parameters. The crystal glowed faint blue as it synced with the data.

"Two down," Magnus announced, removing the second crystal and starting on the third. He entered his own home address with practiced ease, a modest flat in the heart of Astral City, surrounded by bustling markets and towering skyscrapers. The final crystal flared green before settling into a soft, steady glow.

"And that's three," Magnus said, straightening up and holding the crystals out with a flourish. "Your tickets home are ready."

Rex raised an eyebrow. "Not bad. For a guy with almost a thousand failed business ideas, you actually pulled this off."

Magnus smirked. "Hey, those weren't failures. They were lessons. And now, thanks to those 'lessons,' we're good to go."

Rex rolled his eyes but couldn't suppress a small grin. Magnus' confidence might be annoying, but he had to admit, it was well-earned this time. "Well, now time to go"

Seraphina hesitated, her gaze shifting to Rex. "I'm not leaving. I can still fight "

"It's Jefferson's orders," Rex interrupted firmly. "You're going home. End of discussion."

Seraphina glared at him but didn't argue further. She clenched her fists, clearly unhappy, but eventually nodded.

As they prepared to teleport, the chamber doors slid open, and a squad of soldiers marched in. Their armor gleamed under the blue lights, and their expressions were grim.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Seraphina Valenbrook and Brenda Voss are not authorized to leave the academy," the lead soldier barked. "Stand down, or we will use force."

Rex stepped forward, his arms crossed. "Jefferson gave us the go-ahead. If you have a problem with that, take it up with him." His voice was calm, but his eyes were cold and unyielding.

The soldiers exchanged uncertain glances. After a tense moment, their leader sighed and nodded. "Very well. Proceed."

Seraphina, Brenda, and Magnus stepped onto the teleportation pads, their crystals glowing faintly. "See you soon," Magnus said with a grin before the chamber filled with blinding light.

When the light faded, they were gone.

Rex turned back towards the console, exhaling in relief. But the silence was short-lived. A low rumble echoed through the chamber, growing louder with each passing second. The ground beneath his feet began to tremble.

"What the—?" Rex muttered, spinning around.

A low, ominous rumble shook the chamber as a fissure snaked across the floor where Lukas had fallen. The tiles fractured, bursting outward in jagged shards that clattered against the walls. From the depths of the rupture, a dark energy erupted, swirling like a storm of living shadows laced with veins of molten metal. The air turned heavy, vibrating with an unnatural hum, as the vortex expanded.

Within its churning chaos, a figure began to rise.

Lukas.

But he was no longer the man they had fought moments ago. His body was a grotesque fusion of sleek, gleaming metal and pulsating, writhing shadows. Plates of armor-like steel jutted from his limbs, glinting with razor edges, while tendrils of shadow energy snaked around his form, twisting and coiling as if alive. His eyes glowed with an eerie, crimson light—two burning embers that pierced the gloom with a malevolent intensity. The faint echo of his heartbeat pulsed in the air, slow and ominous, like the countdown to destruction.

Rex swallowed hard, his breath catching in his throat. His voice, barely more than a whisper, escaped him. "Lukas…?"

The thing that had been Lukas turned its head sharply, the movement unnervingly mechanical. A twisted grin crept across his metallic face, the sharp lines of his features giving him a demonic visage. His voice, deeper and guttural, carried a resonant echo that sent shivers down Rex's spine.

"You thought you could defeat me?" Lukas spread his arms, the metal on his body shifting fluidly, merging with the shadows that churned around him. "You've only made me stronger."

The chamber seemed to constrict under the weight of his presence. The air itself felt alive with menace, thick and suffocating. The glow from the shattered floor cast jagged, flickering shadows on the walls, amplifying the sheer wrongness of what Lukas had become. Rex's heart pounded as he instinctively took a step back, though he fought to keep his composure.

A quiet, almost breathless voice cut through the din, Cronus speaking directly into Rex's mind.

"This is bad. Very bad," Cronus said, his usual sarcastic edge absent, replaced by grim seriousness. "Lukas' stats have all hit 250. Every single one. But that's not the worst part."

"Great! Just what I needed," Rex muttered nervously, forcing his legs to stay rooted despite the overwhelming urge to run.

Lukas took a step forward, the ground beneath him cracking from the sheer weight of his new form. His laughter rumbled through the chamber, deep and chilling, reverberating off the walls. "What's the matter, Rex?" he mocked, his crimson gaze locking onto him. "Do you finally feel fear? You should." He raised his arms, the shadows and metal coiling around him like a storm waiting to strike. "Because I am no longer just Lukas. I am the new god of metal and shadows!"

"Thou surely canst crack a joke now right?" Cronus chuckled

"You want to call yourself a god?" Rex said, his voice low but steady, anger simmering beneath the surface. "Let's see if you can bleed like one."

"Probably not" Cronus sighed