Chapter 374: SA- The Third Mode (iv)

“Activate it.”

The machine responded immediately. The chamber shook as ancient locks disengaged and the Leviathan’s engines growled awake for the first time in ages. The floor split apart as the massive structure descended into the subterranean rails, glowing red as heat built through its plating.

The moment it disappeared into the under-earth network, the entire bunker felt different—heavier, deeper, as though something powerful had been unleashed beneath the crust.

Above ground, the effects came fast.

The top guilds pushing the front lines reacted first. Blood Reaver Legion had been forming tight formations, shields raised, inching toward the main bunker gates. Their advance came to a sudden stop when a tremor rolled through the field.

The ground under them sank by several meters, and the entire group staggered as their formation collapsed into a large, uneven pit. Tanks slid sideways and infantry struggled to climb out, turning their advance into scattered chaos.

Stellar Wolves had been advancing through broken structures when the terrain shifted beneath them. A long crack spread right under their path, swallowing half their forward scouts as the ground dipped violently. They had to retreat onto higher rocks just to regain control of their movement.

OmegaWraith, the elite siege guild, was preparing a massive artillery push. Their front cannons were about to fire when the earth jerked upward as if something had slammed the underside of the world.

The Leviathan passed directly beneath their formation, forcing the entire siege line to collapse. Artillery shells detonated prematurely, taking out dozens of their own players.

NightmareFront, known for their tunnel infiltration tactics, never even got the chance to enter the underground. Every tunnel they opened collapsed as soon as they entered, crushed by seismic interference from the Leviathan’s path.

Several squads respawned in confusion, unable to understand how every tunnel entrance had become a death trap.

The effect scattered across the battlefield. Waves of dust rose. Tanks lost their footing. Cliffs split open. Teams had to change plans on the fly. None of it favored Xavier entirely, but it absolutely broke the rhythm of the attackers.

The battlefield stopped feeling like a coordinated siege and turned into a chaotic struggle where nobody could rely on stable footing.

Lyden relayed the latest reports. “Commander, enemy casualty rates spiked by eleven percent in the last three minutes. Entire formations are being forced to reposition.”

“Good,” Xavier said. “It keeps them guessing.”

“However,” Kora added, “their numbers are still overwhelming. They’ve recovered enough to initiate another coordinated push.”

“They’re adapting fast,” Varron said. “Impressive for a million-man army.”

Xavier returned to the upper command chamber as the bunker walls trembled from heavy bombardment. The holo-screens continued streaming live footage—guilds reforming, vehicles repositioning, squads calling for support.

Even with the Leviathan tearing the ground open under them, the players kept regrouping. The sight of it almost impressed him.

Lyden brought up new projections. “Commander, estimated time until the next full offensive reaches our inner perimeter: fifteen minutes.”

A notification blinked at the top of Xavier’s view.

[Remaining Time: 00:28:32]

’Less than half an hour left.’

Xavier leaned back slightly and watched the waves of soldiers moving across the map. He read the casualty updates, the projections, the turret ammunition warnings, and the updates from deeper NPC units.

It was all interesting enough for a while, but soon it began to feel repetitive. Numbers shifted, arrows moved, battles surged and fell back, and the bunker continued shaking. The war was intense, but from the command seat, it started looking like a long defensive chore.

He tapped the console once and stood up.

Varron looked at him. “Commander? Another order?”

“No,” Xavier said. “I’m getting bored.”

Kora blinked. “Bored?”

Xavier walked toward the elevator. “I’ll go stretch my legs.”

Lyden glanced at the battlefield data. “Commander… you plan to enter the front lines?”

“That’s right,” Xavier said. “I want to see how they fight up close.”

Varron grinned, half excited, half concerned. “They’ll throw everything they have at you.”

“That’s what I want.”

He stepped into the elevator and descended toward the bunker gates, the alarms echoing through the corridors as the next major wave of players gathered outside.

The world was about to see what the boss could do.

Xavier stood inside the armory chamber while the bunker walls trembled under another distant barrage. The racks along both sides extended far back, filled with every kind of weapon and gear designed for a commander who wasn’t meant to stay behind the walls. He stripped out of the formal commander uniform and suited up in the heavy combat rig.

He locked on the reinforced chest rig first, then the shoulder plates and the bracers. Varron helped secure the clamps along his ribs while Kora adjusted the exo-brace on his back so the recoil dampeners aligned with his spine.

Lyden laid out the weapons across a metal table—rifles, launchers, knives, power cells—everything meant for a commander who planned to walk into a battlefield rather than hide behind a wall.

Xavier strapped a shock emitter knife to each boot, slipped another behind his hip, and a fourth across the back of his waist. He checked the rifle’s weight, swapped the barrel for the close-range mod, then slung the short launcher across his shoulder.

Once everything was locked in place, he rolled his shoulders to test the movement. The gear felt heavy to anyone else, but to him it felt right.

The three generals geared up beside him. Varron carried his shield-breaker spear; Kora packed grenades and holsters; Lyden held a shotgun and a barrier generator. They followed Xavier out of the armory and toward the main gate.

The doors opened, and the war outside swallowed everything—smoke, broken towers, burning vehicles, and the endless roar of a million players trying to break into the bunker.

The moment Xavier stepped onto the battlefield, players rushed toward him, assuming they could overwhelm him with numbers. He shot the first three before they closed half the distance.

The fourth charged from the left, but Xavier dragged him sideways with telekinesis and let Varron impale him straight through the chest.

Kora rolled past Xavier, firing into a group climbing over a collapsed wall. Lyden planted a barrier to block a rain of bolts, fired his shotgun through the haze, and forced the attackers to fall back.

Xavier moved through the battlefield with quick decisions and faster execution. He dodged under a hammer swing, twisted the wielder’s arm, and drove a knife through the armor’s weak spot.

Another player tried to flank him from behind, but Xavier caught the movement and threw a blade straight into the visor. The generals fought beside him, each killing dozens before the next wave hit.

The fight was brutal, and the losses came just as fast. Varron was shouting orders when a cluster of sniper rounds tore into him. One shot punched through his shoulder, another hit his chest, and the last pierced the visor.

He dropped in an instant, disintegrating into pixels. Kora swore under her breath and pushed forward. Lyden shouted Varron’s name and blasted the ridge until the snipers respawned out of sight.

They kept advancing. Xavier cut through one wave after another, dragging enemies into crossfire, shooting down anyone who tried to pin him, and stacking bodies across the field.

The players were skilled, but Xavier wasn’t fighting like an NPC boss. He was treating this like an actual battlefield, reading the flow of attacks and killing enemies before they even knew they were exposed.

He stepped over a fallen turret when someone emerged through the smoke ahead. Not rushing like everyone else. He was just walking toward Xavier calmly with a dark visor and the evil faction insignia glowing faintly on the chest. The posture was familiar enough to stop Xavier mid-stride.

“Impossible…” he muttered.

The figure lifted the visor just enough to show a grin. “Miss me?”

Xavier stared. “ObsidianShade?”

Shade kept walking. “I told you I’d see you in Mode Three.”

“That shouldn’t be possible,” Xavier said. “Dev rules were clear. Anyone who played Mode Two can’t join this one. You should’ve been locked out of the whole server.”

Shade shrugged. “You really think I follow the same restrictions as everyone else?”

Lyden raised his shotgun. “Commander, he’s tagged as an enemy unit.”

Shade didn’t even look his way. “Relax. If I wanted him dead, he’d be gone already.”

Xavier raised his rifle. “Explain. How are you here?”

Shade stopped a few steps away. “Fight me one on one and I will tell you.”

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