Chapter 503: Grave Indexer

Klatos swore as the display filled with green markers blooming behind them, above them, flanking wide like predators that knew the terrain better than prey ever could. Drones first, then heavier signatures riding higher in the air lanes, engines tuned for pursuit instead of transport.

“AIL doesn’t give up,” Klatos said, hands tight on the controls. “They rotate pressure until something breaks.”

“Yeah, yeah. You keep saying that. Just focus on driving.”

Xavier leaned across the cockpit and grabbed the heavy gun mounted beside Klatos’ seat. He ripped it free and braced himself against the frame, firing into the swarm behind them. The recoil hammered his shoulder as rounds tore through two drones, shredding their casings and sending them spinning down into the basin.

It didn’t help much.

More filled the space immediately, shields flickering as they adjusted. Energy fire streaked past them and clipped the rear plating, alarms screaming louder.

“This won’t hold,” Klatos said, voice strained. “Another hit like that and we’re done.”

Xavier exhaled slowly, like he was annoyed more than alarmed. He handed the gun back and pushed the canopy latch open.

“What are you doing?!” Klatos snapped. “Sit down!”

Xavier ignored him and climbed out, boots finding purchase on the hover’s upper hull as wind tore at his clothes. He straightened fully, balancing without effort as the vehicle screamed forward beneath him.

“Xavier!” Klatos shouted, “get back inside! It’s dangerous!”

Serpent’s Fang slid into Xavier’s hand and snapped into chain form, segments lashing outward as he swung it hard through the air. The weapon tore through two drones cleanly, but the reach fell short. The rest adjusted immediately, widening their arc and staying just outside its effective range.

Xavier clicked his tongue. “That’s inconvenient.”

He immediately opened The dimensional store, translucent and sharp, filtering through categories at his command. Weapons → Firearms.

Grave Indexer – Sovereign Pattern.

Xavier bought it without hesitation.

The weapon manifested into his hands, weight settling perfectly into his grip. Matte black body, segmented barrel that shifted as systems came online. The display along its spine pulsed once and locked.

[Ammunition Source: Direct Credit Conversion.]

[Rate: Adjustable.]

[Limit: None detected.]

Xavier smiled.

He raised the weapon and pulled the trigger.

The first shot erased a drone completely, not tearing through it but collapsing it inward as if space itself had decided it was done tolerating the object. The second shot chained to the third, the weapon adjusting automatically, switching modes mid-burst without Xavier needing to think about it.

Drones fell apart in the air. Some detonated. Some simply stopped existing where they were.

AIL’s heavier units pushed in, deploying countermeasures, flares, layered shields that flickered under the assault.

Xavier leaned into it, firing without pause, the weapon humming as money burned invisibly into raw destructive output. The sky behind them filled with debris and fire, broken machines raining down into Glassreach like metallic ash.

Klatos stared up through the canopy, half in awe, half in terror. “You’re insane.”

Xavier didn’t look back. “Keep flying.”

A final wave surged forward, tighter than the rest, and Xavier answered it with a sustained beam that carved through the formation in one brutal sweep. When he released the trigger, there was nothing left chasing them. Just silence, smoke, and falling wreckage.

He slung the weapon over his shoulder and dropped back into the cockpit, sealing the canopy as if he hadn’t just stood on top of a moving hover under fire.

Klatos swallowed. “Remind me not to ask what that thing costs.”

Xavier glanced at the display, already tracking their route again. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s affordable.”

They were going fast, until suddenly, the hover stopped responding.

Klatos didn’t say anything at first. He tried twice more, changing inputs, cutting stabilizers, forcing thrust. The craft kept rising anyway, straight up, like it had been hooked and reeled in.

Xavier looked up through the canopy.

A ship filled the sky. Close enough that he could see seams in the hull, layered plating bolted over older plating, no attempt to hide what it was built for.

“AIL carrier,” Klatos said. “They’re pulling us.”

The hover hit the bay hard. Magnetic clamps locked before the shock finished traveling through the frame. The engines cut themselves off.

Doors opened around them.

Armored units poured in, spreading instead of charging. Drones lifted from the walls and ceiling, settling into fixed positions.

Xavier stepped out.

Klatos followed, weapons already up. “We’re surrounded.”

“I know,” Xavier said.

Serpent’s Fang formed in his left hand. The other weapon stayed where it was for now.

The first line moved.

Xavier sent the chain forward. It cut through two of them and didn’t slow. Bodies dropped. Armor split. The line behind them fired.

Shots hit Xavier in the chest and side. He staggered once, caught himself, and kept walking. Something lodged in his shoulder. He reached up, pulled it free, and threw it aside without looking.

Klatos fired from behind him, controlled bursts, backing up step by step to keep space.

The drones adjusted.

Xavier raised the Grave Indexer and fired. One drone went down. Then another. The weapon shifted on its own as targets changed. He didn’t count shots. He didn’t need to.

AIL units tried to close distance.

The chain came back, wrapped around a heavy frame, and crushed it against the floor. Xavier stepped over it and kept moving.

Something punched through his side. Something else tore across his back. He felt heat, pressure, pain stacked on pain, but none of it mattered. Every step forward was fueled by the same thought, looping and sharp.

They took too much time.

He reached the inner bulkhead and drove Serpent’s Fang straight through it, ripping the metal apart as if it had been waiting for permission to fail. Explosions followed inside, systems dying in screaming bursts as the ship shook under the damage.

AIL units began to fall back.

Xavier didn’t let them.

By the time the bay went quiet, the floor was coated in blood and debris, smoke curling up toward a ceiling that barely held together anymore. Xavier stood in the middle of it, chest heaving, body regenerating slower now under the accumulated damage, eyes still wild.

Behind him, the hover’s restraints failed with a loud crack.

Klatos stared out at the devastation, then at Xavier, voice barely steady. “You’re not human.”

Xavier wiped blood from his face with the back of his hand and looked toward the inner corridors of the ship.

“They should’ve let us go,” he said.

Then he started walking deeper inside, dragging the war with him.

His walking speed had decreased since the damage he had deceived had healed and paralyzed him. But he didn’t stop.

AIL wasn’t his priority right now, but if they kept coming knowing on the door, Xavier had to treat them accordingly.

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