Chapter 137: Evolving Nyssa

The victory parade lasted for hours. The entire capital city celebrated the fall of House Vane.

But the Sovereign of the Forge did not rest. I left the cheering crowds behind and descended into the deepest sublevel of the Iron Estate.

The Royal Foundry was a massive cavern of heat and industry. Nyssa stood in the center of the main workshop.

She was surrounded by hundreds of scattered brass gears, iron barrels, and glowing mana crystals.

She was furiously sketching on a large parchment. Her emerald eyes darted frantically across the complex mathematical equations.

The blueprint for the High-Velocity Arcane Penetration Rounds was pushing her highly intelligent mind to its absolute limit.

"The velocity constraint is the issue," Nyssa muttered to herself. She chewed on the end of her charcoal pencil.

"If we pack too much raw mana into the brass casing, the barrel will shatter upon ignition. We need a secondary cooling rune."

"You are thinking like a standard engineer," I stated, stepping into the workshop.

Nyssa jumped slightly. She turned around and bowed her head.

"Sovereign," Nyssa greeted. "The new data is overwhelming. It completely rewrites our understanding of kinetic friction."

"And it is not enough," I replied.

I opened my crimson interface. I navigated to the Administrator’s Forge tab. I still had thousands of Imperial Points generating passively from my newly terrified Elven subjects. I selected three new advanced blueprints.

[Blueprint Purchased: Aether-Cooled Rifle Barrels.]

[Blueprint Purchased: Auto-Loading Artillery Mechanisms.]

[Blueprint Purchased: Kinetic Mana Dispersion Shields.]

I walked directly up to Nyssa. I placed my brass gauntlet against her forehead.

BZZZT.

Another massive surge of raw mechanical data flooded her brain.

Nyssa gasped violently. Her knees buckled. I caught her gently by the waist to keep her from hitting the stone floor. Her small body was shaking. The sheer volume of cosmic physics and advanced engineering was too vast for a mortal brain to process.

"Master..." Nyssa whimpered. She clutched her temples. "It is too much. My core is burning. My mind is tearing apart."

"I am not going to let you tear apart," I whispered.

I opened the Sovereign Concept tab. I looked at my massive fortune of 250,000 Lust Points.

[System Prompt: Companion ’Nyssa’ has reached absolute critical knowledge mass.]

[Initiate Apex Evolution? Cost: 75,000 LP.]

"Evolve," I commanded verbally.

FWOOSH.

A blinding pillar of emerald light erupted from the floor. It completely swallowed Nyssa. The intense magical pressure cracked the stone tiles beneath my heavy boots.

I stepped back and watched the transformation.

Nyssa floated into the air. The physical strain of the knowledge completely vanished from her face. Her olive skin glowed with a pristine, flawless radiance.

The delicate green arcane circuits on her collarbone spread rapidly.

They traced down her arms and legs, forming complex, glowing geometrical patterns. Her magical core expanded exponentially.

She was no longer just a scholar. She was a supreme architect of war.

DING!

[Evolution Complete: Nyssa has ascended to an Arcane Overlord Goblin.]

[New Law Awakened: The Law of Fabrication.]

The emerald light shattered into harmless sparks. Nyssa slowly floated back down to the ground. She opened her eyes.

They did not just glow green anymore. They hummed with pure, concentrated mechanical authority.

"How do you feel?" I asked.

Nyssa looked at her hands.

"I see the world in numbers, Master. I see the exact structural weakness of every stone in this room. I understand the blueprints completely."

She turned toward the messy pile of brass gears and iron barrels on her workbench. She did not pick up a hammer. She simply raised her glowing hand.

She activated her new Law.

CLACK. CLINK. WHIRRR.

The scattered metal parts levitated into the air. They moved with terrifying precision. Screws threaded themselves into iron plates.

Brass gears locked into perfect alignment. Glowing mana crystals slotted directly into the newly formed cooling chambers.

SHNK.

In less than five seconds, a fully assembled High-Velocity Arcane Sniper Rifle dropped perfectly onto the wooden desk.

She had instantly manifested a weapon using purely her mind and her mechanical knowledge.

"I can build anything you can imagine," Nyssa whispered. Her voice was thick with absolute awe. "As long as I understand the blueprint, the metal obeys my will."

"You are going to outfit the entire Vanguard," I ordered with a dark smile. "We are going to make the Zenith Academy bleed."

The heavy steel doors of the workshop suddenly groaned open.

Rolf stepped into the foundry. The massive Silver Wolf had to duck his head to clear the doorframe. He sniffed the air, his yellow eyes locking onto Nyssa.

"The scent of your magic is completely different, little scholar," Rolf rumbled. "You smell like pure ozone and danger."

"I am ready for the true war, Vanguard," Nyssa replied proudly.

Rolf turned his massive gaze to me. He slammed his fist against his chest plate in a heavy salute.

"Sovereign," Rolf reported. "The prisoners are secured. The Purist border is locked down. But my scouts report strange magical disturbances gathering far to the East. The human lands are moving."

"They know Vane is dead," I stated coldly. "The Zenith Academy will not tolerate a Goblin wiping out their proxy."

I looked at Rolf’s standard gunmetal armor. It was heavily dented from the trench warfare. It was strong, but it was not enough to stop A-Grade human magic.

"Your bloodline does not need an evolution today, Rolf," I said. "You are already a perfect apex predator. But your defenses need a Sovereign upgrade."

I opened my interface again. I bypassed the blueprints and accessed the biological vault using my Lust Points.

[Item Purchased: Symbiotic Origin Metal. Cost: 40,000 LP.]

A heavy vial materialized in my hand. It was filled with a swirling, pitch-black liquid metal. It pulsed with a heartbeat of its own.

"Remove your chest plate," I commanded.

Rolf did not hesitate. He ripped the damaged iron off his massive torso, exposing his thick silver fur.

I threw the vial directly at his chest.

CRASH.

The glass shattered. The black liquid did not drip onto the floor. It surged forward aggressively.

SQUELCH. SSSSS.

The living metal violently bonded with Rolf’s flesh. It spread across his entire body like a parasite.

It hardened instantly, forming a thick, jagged carapace of pitch-black biological armor.

The metal breathed in sync with his lungs. Red glowing veins appeared across the dark plating.

Rolf flexed his massive arms. The living armor shifted smoothly, offering zero resistance to his terrifying speed.

"This is incredible," Rolf growled. His voice vibrated through the metal.

"It feels like a second skin. It is practically begging for blood."

"It feeds on kinetic impact," I explained.

"The harder they hit you, the tougher the armor becomes. You are going to be the unbreakable wall of this kingdom."

"I will shatter their holy knights," Rolf grinned, flashing his silver fangs.

"Gather the rest of the Pack," I ordered.

"Summon Hardsteel and Silas. We hold a War Council immediately."

Twenty minutes later, the massive obsidian table in the war room was completely full.

I sat at the head of the table. Nyssa, Kaelith, Lysandra, and Rolf stood behind me. Prime Minister Hardsteel and Chief Inquisitor Silas stood on the opposite end.

Anise stood near the center. The Level 100 Human Hero traced her fingers over a massive map of the Four Continents.

"The Zenith Academy is not going to send a standard army," Anise warned. Her tone was completely serious.

"They consider House Vane’s destruction a direct insult to human supremacy. They will send the Holy Vanguard."

"Explain their forces," Hardsteel demanded.

"They are A-Grade Paladins," Anise detailed.

"They wear blessed armor that repels standard magic. They wield light attributes that burn through physical shields. They are absolute religious zealots. And they will be led by Archmages capable of leveling cities with single spells."

Silas crossed his arms. "Our steam tanks cannot easily dodge a meteor strike."

"They will not have to," Nyssa interjected. She stepped forward.

"My new kinetic dispersion shields will completely absorb magical artillery. And my high-velocity rounds are explicitly designed to shatter blessed armor. I can arm a thousand men before sunrise."

"We do not march out to meet them in the open plains," I declared. My voice instantly silenced the room.

I leaned forward. I placed my brass gauntlets on the map.

"They think we are just a rogue faction," I sneered.

"They think they can march into the Monster Continent and execute me like a rabid dog. We are going to prove them wrong."

I looked at my loyal commanders.

"We fortify the Great Iron Labyrinth. We turn the entire Ashfall Marches into a mechanical meat grinder. We let the arrogant human Paladins march directly into our territory."

My crimson eyes flared beneath my visor.

"Let the Zenith Academy come. We are going to bury their elites in the mud."