Free Web NovelChapter 124: Chapter 124: Beneath the Command Tower
The maintenance tunnel entrance was hidden beneath the command tower’s western stairwell.
Two defenders removed rusted iron bars while Qin Mo inspected the seal around the hatch. The runes were old, damaged, and stained with black-red marks. Not Blood Sun. Not corruption exactly. More like iron rain residue mixed with battlefield resentment.
Qin Mo frowned.
"This seal is not keeping things out. It is keeping things in."
Hao Jun held a torch beside him.
"After the second siege, some defenders killed by iron rain rose again. They did not attack the enemy. They attacked the tower supports. The old commander sealed them below."
Qin Yuchen’s expression grew serious.
"They are trying to collapse the command tower?"
"Or repeating the last order they failed to complete," Qin Yuheng said quietly.
Hao Jun looked at him.
Qin Yuheng did not explain.
Tower remnants often carried unfinished intent. Some defended forever. Some betrayed forever. Some slept forever. Some attacked without remembering why.
The hatch opened with a deep groan.
Cold air rose from below, carrying the smell of rust, wet stone, and old blood.
The panel appeared.
[Hidden Fortress Area discovered.]
[Command Tower Maintenance Tunnels]
[Objective]
Repair tower foundation supports.
[Warning]
Iron-Rain Fallen detected below.
Qin Mo looked at the panel.
"I prefer when hidden areas are storage rooms."
Qin Lian descended first, silent as a shadow. Qin Yuheng followed, then Qin Mo, then Qin Yuchen. Hao Jun wanted to come, but Qin Yuheng refused.
"You are needed above."
Hao Jun clenched his fist, then nodded.
"Then I will hold the tower until you return."
The tunnel was narrow and damp. Iron pipes ran along the ceiling. Some leaked black water. The walls shook each time iron rain struck above. Dust fell in thin streams.
After fifty steps, they found the first fallen defender. freewebnoveℓ.com
It stood facing a support pillar, striking it slowly with a broken hammer.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Its armor was pierced by several iron spikes. Its face was hidden beneath rusted metal. A faint gray light burned inside its chest.
[Iron-Rain Fallen]
[Level: 25]
[Type: Resentment remnant]
[Weakness: Chest resentment core, iron spike anchors]
The fallen turned.
It did not roar.
It raised the hammer and charged.
Qin Yuchen met it first, deflecting the hammer downward. Qin Lian appeared behind it and pulled one iron spike from its back. The fallen staggered. Qin Yuheng pierced the chest core with controlled thunder.
The body collapsed.
A faint whisper rose.
"Hold... tower..."
Qin Yuheng paused.
It had not wanted to destroy the tower.
It had been trapped in a distorted action.
Qin Mo’s face softened slightly despite himself.
"This place is ugly."
They advanced.
The maintenance tunnels split into three paths. Qin Mo studied the foundation map carved into the wall.
"Three support nodes. East, central, lower west. All damaged. We need to repair at least two to stabilize the tower. Three for full restoration."
Qin Yuheng did not hesitate.
"Three."
Qin Mo sighed, but this time did not argue.
The east support node was guarded by four Iron-Rain Fallen. They fought in cramped space, making movement difficult. Qin Yuheng could not use wide sword arcs. Qin Yuchen’s precision became more useful. Qin Lian removed iron spike anchors. Qin Mo repaired the node using Stone Puppet Hall mechanism methods and Star Iron reinforcement pieces.
[East Support Node repaired.]
[Command Tower Integrity stabilized slightly.]
The central node was worse.
The tunnel had collapsed partly, and iron rain fragments had pierced through from above. Each impact sent sharp vibrations through the support beams. Qin Mo had to crawl beneath a tilted beam while Qin Yuheng and Qin Yuchen held it up.
Qin Lian warned them twice of approaching fallen.
At one point, Qin Mo was almost grabbed from behind by a fallen with no legs, dragging itself through water. Qin Lian cut its arm off before it touched him.
Qin Mo looked at her.
"Thank you."
She nodded.
"Continue."
"I am continuing with fear."
The central node required a core.
Qin Mo looked at Qin Yuheng.
"Puppet Commander Core fragment or Gate Guardian Core fragment. Something stable."
Qin Yuheng chose a lesser evolved puppet core, not the highest treasures. Qin Mo installed it into the foundation brace.
The support lit up.
[Central Support Node repaired.]
[Command Tower Integrity: 41% → 52%]
The tower above stopped groaning as loudly.
Then came the lower west node.
The path descended deeper than expected.
The air grew colder.
The iron rain sounds faded.
At the bottom stood a circular chamber directly beneath the tower foundation. A huge iron pillar rose through the center, cracked in three places. Around it knelt dozens of fallen defenders.
At the front knelt a larger figure wearing commander armor.
Hao Jun had said the old commander sealed them below.
Qin Yuheng now understood.
The old commander had sealed himself too.
The panel appeared.
[Iron-Rain Fallen Commander]
[Level: 29]
[Type: Fortress resentment commander]
[Status: Bound to damaged tower foundation]
[Optional Objective]
Release or destroy the Fallen Commander.
Qin Mo whispered, "Release sounds complicated."
The Fallen Commander raised his head.
His helmet was split open. One eye burned gray.
"Who commands above?" he asked.
Qin Yuheng stepped forward.
"I do."
The fallen soldiers stirred.
The commander’s voice scraped like rusted metal.
"Did the tower fall?"
"No."
"Did the beacon burn?"
"There is no beacon here. This is Iron Rain Fortress."
The commander froze.
Memory distortion.
Qin Yuheng activated Gate Thunder Command Field lightly.
The class aura spread through the chamber.
Not controlling the fallen.
Calling to command structure.
The Fallen Commander stared at him.
"You carry command... but not mine."
"I carry the current command."
"The tower must hold."
"It will. But you are damaging its foundation."
The fallen soldiers trembled.
The commander looked down at his own broken weapon, then at the cracked pillar.
For the first time, he seemed to understand.
"Then... my last order became rot."
Qin Yuheng said nothing.
The optional objective changed.
[Release possible.]
[Condition]
Defeat Fallen Commander without destroying command core.
[Reward increased.]
Qin Mo looked at Qin Yuheng.
"Harder option."
"Yes."
The Fallen Commander stood.
"Prove the tower still has a commander."
He attacked. freeweɓnøvel.com
The chamber erupted.
The fallen soldiers did not all join immediately; they formed a circle, watching. The commander wielded a broken halberd with frightening weight. Each strike carried fortress pressure, old command authority, and resentment.
Qin Yuheng met him head-on.
Not with full power.
With command.
Qin Yuchen supported the right. Qin Lian removed iron spike anchors from the commander’s armor when openings appeared. Qin Mo repaired the pillar in stages between attacks.
The challenge was delicate.
Too much force would shatter the command core.
Too little would fail.
Qin Yuheng used the flat of his blade, thunder pulses, and Gate Thunder Command Field to weaken resentment without destroying structure.
The Fallen Commander struck hard enough to crack the floor.
Qin Yuheng slid back, boots scraping sparks.
"Yuchen, bind weapon."
Qin Yuchen caught the halberd shaft with his sword and twisted.
"Lian, back spike."
Qin Lian appeared and removed a long iron spike from the commander’s spine.
The commander roared, but the gray fire in his eye dimmed slightly.
"Mo, pillar."
Qin Mo slammed the final reinforcement into the cracked foundation.
[Lower West Support Node repair progress: 80%]
The Fallen Commander entered a final rage.
Iron rain residue gathered around him like a storm.
Qin Yuheng stepped forward.
"Commander to commander," he said quietly. "Rest."
He struck the command core with a controlled thunder-gate pulse.
Not breaking it.
Waking it.
The gray resentment cracked.
The Fallen Commander froze.
His halberd fell.
The kneeling fallen soldiers slowly lowered their weapons.
[Fallen Commander released.]
[Iron-Rain Fallen pacified.]
[Lower West Support Node repaired.]
[Command Tower Integrity: 52% → 71%]
[Hidden Objective completed.]
The Fallen Commander looked at Qin Yuheng.
"Hold the tower."
"I will."
The old remnant saluted.
Then he and his soldiers dissolved into gray light.
Qin Mo sat down on the wet stone.
"We repaired a tower and gave ghosts closure. Productive tunnel."
Qin Yuheng looked upward.
The command tower now stood stronger.
But above them, the final siege horn began to sound.
The enemy commander had arrived.
