Global Awakening: Apocalypse Ender's Chronicle Chapter 1284: Watching Helplessly

For several seconds, Sylas just stood there, trying to understand how the situation had changed so quickly. He had been watching the mechanical weapons surrounding them only moments ago, yet after the barriers descended and the corridor shifted, both Sandara and Tieria had somehow disappeared from his immediate surroundings.

"Sandara?"

There was no response at first.

Sylas immediately turned around and attempted to locate her through his enhanced senses, but the strange energy interference within the First Citadel made it difficult to determine exactly where she was. Even worse, the walls surrounding him seemed to be constantly shifting, making it impossible to rely on his sense of direction.

"Sandara!"

"Sylas!"

Her voice finally came from somewhere ahead of him.

"I’m here!"

Sylas immediately moved toward her voice, only for a massive metallic barrier to descend from the ceiling and slam into the floor between them.

BOOM!

The impact shook the entire corridor. Sylas stopped only a few meters away from the barrier and placed his hand against the cold metal surface.

"Are you injured?"

"No, I’m fine."

Sandara’s voice remained calm, although Sylas could hear the tension in it.

"What about Tieria?"

"I don’t know. I lost sight of him when the barriers came down."

Sylas frowned.

That was a serious problem.

Tieria’s mechanical eye was one of the most valuable tools they had inside the First Citadel, and losing contact with him meant that they had also lost one of their most reliable sources of information about the facility’s defensive systems.

"Stay where you are. I’ll get to you."

"Wait."

Sandara’s voice immediately stopped him.

"There are more weapons appearing around me."

Sylas looked toward the surrounding walls, and his expression became slightly darker.

"I have them here as well."

The mechanical panels around him were slowly opening again, revealing another series of hidden weapons. However, these were different from the narrow energy weapons they had encountered earlier.

The newly revealed machines were larger and considerably more complicated, with several mechanical arms extending from recessed sections of the walls. Some carried long metallic blades, while others had spear-like weapons attached to their ends...

The First Citadel was clearly not running out of defensive systems.

If anything, it seemed to have an almost endless supply.

Sylas slowly drew his weapon.

"Stay alive until I get there."

Sandara gave a faint laugh.

"You’re saying that as if I’m the one who needs to be worried."

Before Sylas could answer, one of the mechanical arms suddenly moved.

A long metallic spear shot across the corridor toward him.

Sylas immediately turned his body aside, allowing the weapon to pass within centimeters of his chest before he stepped forward and cut through the mechanical arm at its joint.

Thud!

The severed weapon fell to the floor, but three more immediately moved into position.

Sylas frowned at the sight.

"They’re adapting."

He had already noticed it during the previous barrage, but the situation had become even more obvious now. The machines were no longer simply firing at random targets. They were observing his movements and changing their attack patterns based on how he responded.

Every time he dodged to the left, another weapon covered that direction.

Whenever he jumped, the weapons above him adjusted their angles.

Even his attempts to approach the barriers were being anticipated.

Then, on the other side of the barrier, Sandara had reached the same conclusion.

She fired an arrow at one of the mechanical arms, striking its joint and causing the weapon to collapse, but the moment she moved toward another position, the remaining weapons immediately adjusted their aim.

"They’re predicting my movements," she muttered.

She quickly released another arrow.... However, she soon noticed something strange.

The machines weren’t attacking her head.

Even when they had a clear opportunity, they deliberately aimed at her arms, legs, or the space immediately beside her body.

"They’re planning to capture us..."

She had barely finished speaking when every weapon suddenly stopped.

The entire corridor fell silent.

Soon, a circular pattern had appeared beneath her feet.

"That’s not good."

She jumped backward, but the circular pattern moved with her.

Sandara’s eyes widened.

"The floor is tracking me?"

The moment she landed, the pattern expanded.

A powerful burst of energy erupted from the ground.

Sandara immediately threw herself sideways, narrowly avoiding the attack, and rolled several times before quickly recovering and raising her bow again.

"What the hell is this place?"

Sandara barely had time to recover before the circular pattern beneath her feet suddenly changed.

The energy that had been gathering below the floor explored again, but this time, it did not explode outward. Instead, several thin streams of energy shot upward and wrapped around her body.

"What—?"

Sandara immediately tried to break free, but the energy restraints tightened around her arms and legs.

She released her bow and reached for one of Lyra’s talismans, only for a mechanical arm to suddenly emerge from the wall and knock it from her hand.

"Dammit!"

Across the barrier, Sylas immediately heard her voice.

"Sandara!"

"I’m fine!"

She tried to reassure him, but her voice had become strained.

Sylas immediately moved toward the barrier, cutting through every mechanical weapon that attempted to block his path. However, the moment he reached the barrier, the entire corridor suddenly shook.

A section of the floor beneath him opened.

Sylas jumped backward, but more mechanical cables shot from the opening and wrapped around his legs.

He immediately severed them with his dagger, but more cables emerged.

"There’s too many!"

Sylas disappeared from his position, avoiding the restraints before they could catch him, but it was not enough.

Meanwhile, Sandara’s restraints continued tightening.

A mechanical platform rose beneath her, carrying her several meters into the air.

"Sylas!"

"I’m coming!"

Sylas pushed forward again, but a massive barrier suddenly descended between them.

BOOM!

This time, Sylas’s expression showed genuine panic.

"Sandara!"

She looked toward the barrier.

"Sylas..."

A mechanical arm emerged behind her and injected something into her neck.

Her body immediately weakened.

"What did you..."

Her vision blurred and the last thing she saw was the facility’s mechanical arms surrounding her before a section of the wall opened and pulled her inside.

"SANDARA!"

Sylas roared and charged toward the opening.

But before he could reach it, the floor beneath him suddenly collapsed.

Several cables wrapped around his body and dragged him downward.

He fought violently, cutting through one after another, but more continued to emerge from the darkness below.

Then the facility released a powerful pulse of energy.

Sylas’s body suddenly went rigid.

His vision faded and the last thing he heard was Sandara’s distant voice.

"Sylas..."

Then everything went dark.

The corridor became silent once again.

Both of them had disappeared, and Shane could only watch helplessly through Cloud’s limited connection to the facility.