Inferno Ascended

Glax rolled behind the conveyor, abandoning the divine sword to its fate. Megas' massive fist crushed the windmill. The Valosian flinched in disgust, knowing that the Olympian artifact would find its end right then and there. 

A sudden, blinding flash lit up the entire place for a moment, followed by the harsh sound of an electrical discharge. Pieces and screws flew in all directions as the spark passed through the entire body of the mecha, and its oil-lubed body caught fire. 

But that wasn't even the most impressive thing to happen. Glax noticed when the orb commanding the giant robot transferred to the sword. The mecha ceased its movement a few seconds later, its fist still buried in the twisted metal of the conveyor.

The broken sword glowed for a brief moment, then shattered into tiny pieces.

Glax was intrigued, and at the same time glad that his great opponent was out after all.

Before it became impossible to do so, as the fire spread across the robot's surface, Glax climbed the mecha and went to its face, pulling out the antichor bulb. That crap was enough to attract and enslave a soul, and he didn't yet know how it worked.

The work wasn't over. Glax looked into the furnace, and saw that Zotikos and Pydna were pulling the beams that held the boiler door open to be fed constantly. 

The two released the bars that held the furnace door open, and the great metal slab collapsed with a crash. Glax looked at the pressure controls accessible by a catwalk a few meters up. 

Pawns were trying to fix or at least ease the damage that Alexandre, Zotikos, and Pydna had already done to the pressure of the big machine.

The clumsy carabiner that had been his only effective weapon was now lying on the ground. The Valosian grabbed it and ran up the stairs.

"Kal, how is Tychos? Thersos, help me up there!"

Apparently, even the fragile pawns would have to defend the 'mother machine' this time. They came in waves, armed with bars and heavy objects. 

Glax didn't understand if this was some kind of loyalty or if there was some collective control, but he was betting more on the latter.

Certainly 'Sarpedon' did not expect his guardian golem to be easily defeated. Glax was once again sure that swords and spears would have little effect against Megas' armored carapace. Maybe it would have been a lot harder to deal with the mecha if the divine artifact hadn't caused something that crippled the antichor core. 

But now, their concern was the clumsy pawns coming after them.

Glax kicked the first one who could get close down the stairs as he tried to reach the platform. Two pawns were still trying to control the rising pressure of the boiler. With the carbine handle, he hit one pawn, who tried to hit him with a huge spanner. He slammed the robot other with 3 more completely instinctive and not elegant blows, and the pawn flipped over the catwalk rail and fell down on the mess of tubes and pistons.

The closed fuel chamber doors increased the heat, and the metal was roaring and swelling. 

His colleagues also effectively faced their opponents, who were more of a nuisance than enemies to be respected. 

Thersos came to his side shortly after Glax reached the pressure registers and controls. The Valosian was a little confused by the notation. He had no idea what they meant!

"Thersos, help! How much time is left before this thing explodes?"

"Like?! Is this going to explode?!" The armorer exclaimed with wide eyes.

"There are...hm... great chances." Glax nodded. "Can you read this?"

"Ah, I…" Thersos's hands shook as he bent down to see the first pressure manometer. "Oh yes, it's Promethean notation. So, that means…" 

Glax didn't pay attention as he saw one of the pawns get up and walk towards Tychos. The warrior was slumped in a corner, while Kal dealt with six more pawns at once.

The Valosian grabbed one of Thersos's rifles, unlocked it, aimed and fired, knocking the light robot down at the first attempt.

"What were you saying, again?"

"I'm not good at this kind of calculation, but I know if this little ball goes up to this line here... It will blast the ruins of Olympus."

Glax looked again. The ball was coming up too fast.

The big hive could do nothing. Sarpedon had evolved to command and produce other things, and his defenses entirely depended on his minions. 

From his position, Glax could see the sarcophagus, encased in tubes.

"Is that the coffin you mentioned?" he questioned Thersos.

"What?! Oh yes! Lord Glax, we'd better get out of here. Lord Glax, the ball is rising too fast!  Your friends have closed the main exhaust vents! It's better…!"

"I need to get that coffin."

"There won't be time. We need to get out of here! I've seen a boiler burst, and it wasn't a tenth as big as this one. We're all going to die!"

"I know. And if I die, I'll probably get sucked in there and become the next Sarpedon!"

"By the Invisible Old God! No! Please let's go!"

But Glax knew he needed to get the coffin. He just pushed the armorer down the stairs. "Gather the others and get them out of here!"

Thersos still stared at him in amazement once more, but then decided and ran down the stairs, calling out to the others.

On one side of the factory warehouse, the fire was already building, licking the roof, and what was left of Megas. But they still could go back through where they came in.

The smoke was already making everything indistinct and foggy, and Glax still had to get into the grotesque tangle of machinery and drag the coffin out of there.

And he tried to make his way through the moving pipes and gears, but it was impossible. The heat and the risk of burns were enormous. He was much more likely to die than he was going to get what he intended.

Not knowing exactly what to do and having to think quickly because of the limited time available, Glax looked around, already coughing and eyes watering.

"Is that... COFF... a crane?"

In a few moments, the Valosian had reached the operating point of the fixed crane of a few tons.

"Come on, this is like… picking up a stuffed animal from a gas station crane machine… He tried to convince himself, while his mind seemed to count down and showed him the ball rising inside the glass marker.

He began to work the levers, a little stuck, with growing frustration, until he managed to get the hook down near where he remembered the coffin was. Not only he couldn't see very well because of the smoke and obstacles. Glax was starting to feel the effects of the scorching heat. His blood pressure was dropping and he was seeing black dots in front of his eyes.

"Oh come on, grab that damn sarcophagus!" He was trying to fish the sarcophagus much like what he saw in Medea - a Forge of Souls or Valya's Cauldron, as it was called - by the enclosing cage it was in. 

Finally he felt he had touched the object and tried again, squinting and using all his concentration to fit the hook into the grid.

"Worray! Got it!" He took a deep breath so as not to let his euphoria get in the way, and again concentrated on starting to hoist the object. 

The vselys coffin thudded several times and Glax feared he might lose it. But in the end, he hauled it up completely and pull it out with a few jerks so that all the tubes connected to it would break.

"MASTER! MASTER! HEREEEEEEEEE! LOOK DOWN!!!!"

A little stunned to hear Alexander's voice and instinctively worrying for his safety, Glax turned back to where the scream was coming from. 

To his surprise and delight, Thersos and Alekos arrived with a pump cart, which didn't need rails!"

Glax swung the crane down to set the coffin down next to them.

A smaller explosion took them by surprise with the bang.

Something in the most intensely burning area had burst, and it had started to collapse.

"Oh damn, we can't make it! '

"GET OUT OF HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Glax yelled with all the strength left in his lungs.

He regretted several of his decisions today. From the weapon he chose for himself, to when he decided to fetch the vselys coffin to find out what was inside. 

His friends - and he, of course - could die in there. "LEAVE IT, RUN AWAY!"

A change in the hot masses inside the factory caused the smoke to completely dominate the warehouse. Glax could barely see a hand in front of his nose as he started down the stairs.

The big machine was dying with an intense, deafening shriek.

He inhaled a lot of smoke from the crane. Stumbling on the stairs and feeling his way, he coughed so hard and painfully he thought his lungs were going to be expelled by the mouth.

A cold hand caught him, and Glax let himself be guided. 

He only stopped when he tripped over something, and heard Alexander's voice,

"MASTER! Here!"

The hand had released him. Glax groped in the air but couldn't find the person. Instead, his ward's hot, sweaty hand, grabbed his and brought him to the cart.

He still hadn't stopped coughing while his two friends pumped the now a quite heavy cart across the tunnel. Glax already felt the difference between the temperature and air pressure and knew he was out of hell into hell. 

At that point, Glax was too sick and weak to help, coughing his guts and feeling intoxicated.

Everything shook again, and he heard Alexander calling for help from Hermes as they pumped frantically. "Give us your speed, god! Pleasepleaseplease!"

Glax never knew if Hermes ever heard them.." The reddish glow tinged the smoke around them and the rush of air brought the flames through one of the best and greatest air exhausts: the tunnel they were in.