Chapter 6 – The Rustborn King

The thing on the throne shifted, metal scraping against metal.

Its glowing red eyes locked onto Ryo, unblinking. The air in the control room felt thick, as if the very walls were watching.

Karin raised her rifle. "That thing is still alive?!"

> "Alive…?" The voice echoed, a deep, distorted rasp. "No. Not alive. Not anymore."

The lights flickered.

And then it stood.

The King in Rust

It was tall. Easily over seven feet, a twisted fusion of man and machine.

Its torso was once human—ribs wrapped in steel plating, arms lined with exposed servos. Thick cables ran through its flesh like veins, pulsing with an eerie blue light. The left side of its face was a metal mask, wires burrowing into what remained of its skull.

It took a slow step forward, the throne groaning as cables detached from its back.

Ryo swallowed hard. "Who… the hell are you?"

The thing tilted its head. "Names. A relic of the past. But once… I was General Aldric Voss."

Vos stiffened. "That's impossible. General Voss was a Hellion war strategist. He died ten years ago."

The Rustborn King let out a static-laced chuckle. "Died? Yes. I did."

It spread its metallic arms, revealing its half-decayed flesh fused to its machine frame.

"But I was reborn."

The Fate of the Labyrinth

Ryo's grip tightened on his rifle. "What happened here?"

The Rustborn King exhaled, a sound like grinding gears.

"The Iron Labyrinth was Hellion's greatest experiment. We sought to surpass the limits of flesh. To create warriors who did not tire, did not fear, did not break."

Karin muttered, "Yeah, because that always ends well."

Voss ignored her. "And you were their first test subject?"

The King's red eyes dimmed.

"…I was their first success. And their first failure."

He gestured to the corpses outside. "They could not perfect it. The human mind rejects its own destruction. They screamed. They fought back. The project was… abandoned."

The blue light in his chest pulsed.

"But I endured."

Ryo's stomach twisted. This guy wasn't just a machine. He was a failed experiment that refused to die.

> "Oh, good. So now you've pissed off a self-aware war crime. Fantastic."

Ryo ignored the system.

"…So why are you still here?"

The Rustborn King's metal fingers curled.

"I was left behind."

His voice darkened.

"But I have rebuilt."

Ryo's blood ran cold.

> [WARNING: HOSTILE INTENT DETECTED.]

> "Now… you will join me."

The Iron Throne Awakens

The walls shuddered.

Ryo's heartbeat skyrocketed. "What the—"

The throne behind the King began to unfold.

Gears twisted. Steel groaned.

The cables that had once been attached to his back snaked across the floor, wrapping around the rusted machinery in the room.

Then—

The entire control room moved.

The throne was not a chair. It was a machine.

And the King was fusing with it.

> [WARNING: BOSS ENGAGING – RUSTBORN KING]

> "Yeah, so, fun fact—he's about to turn into a giant murder machine. Maybe run?"

Ryo stumbled back. "We need to go—NOW!"

Boss Fight – Rustborn King

The walls split apart, revealing massive mechanical arms, each ending in jagged claw-like appendages.

The King's voice echoed, deeper, almost mechanical.

> "Flesh is weak. Machines do not fear. Become one with the Ironborn."

Then the room exploded with motion.

One of the massive metal arms swung at them.

"MOVE!" Vos roared.

Ryo barely dove aside as the claw crashed into the floor, sending debris flying. Karin opened fire, bullets sparking off the metal plating.

The King barely reacted.

> "Yeah, regular bullets? Not gonna cut it."

Ryo gritted his teeth. "Then what will?"

> "I dunno, genius. Maybe the Combat Engineer skill you unlocked? Try using that brain for once."

Ryo's eyes widened. Right.

He scanned the room, activating Tactical Analysis.

> Weak Points Detected:

1. Power Core (Chest – High Risk, High Reward).

2. Hydraulic Joints (Legs – Slows Movement).

3. Control Relays (Walls – Disrupts Attack Pattern).

Ryo's mind raced. "We need to take out the control relays! It'll mess with his attacks!"

Vos nodded. "Then we split up. Karin—cover fire. Ryo—do your magic."

Ryo bolted, sprinting toward one of the rusted panels on the wall.

The King roared, the cables lunging for him.

He slid under them, grabbing a fallen crowbar.

With a grunt, he jammed it into the relay panel and ripped the wires loose.

Sparks exploded.

The King staggered, one of his massive arms jerking erratically.

> [CONTROL RELAY DISABLED – SYSTEM DISRUPTION 30%]

Karin unloaded her rifle, bullets punching through the weakened plating.

The King twitched, voice glitching.

> "Y̶o̷u̴… w̶i̴l̷l̶… f̸a̵l̶l̴.̷.̶.̵"

Ryo didn't stop.

He tore through another relay, the King convulsing as its metal limbs struggled to coordinate.

> [SYSTEM DISRUPTION 70%]

Vos yelled. "NOW—TAKE HIM DOWN!"

Ryo sprinted for the final relay.

The King saw him.

The remaining mechanical arm swung down—

Too fast.

Too powerful.

Ryo had one chance.

He grabbed a detonation charge from his belt—one of the rewards from his last fight.

And he threw it directly into the King's exposed Power Core.

A heartbeat of silence.

Then—

BOOM.

The King's chest erupted in a wave of blue fire.

The control room collapsed.

Ryo hit the ground hard, coughing as smoke filled his lungs.

When he looked up—

The Rustborn King was falling apart.

His metal frame twitched, flickering sparks bursting from his wounds.

> "I̶… w̵a̴s̶… a̸ ̷g̷o̶d̷… o̷n̵c̶e̷…."

Then his glowing red eyes dimmed.

And the Iron Throne crumbled.

Victory?

Silence.

Ryo sat up, chest heaving.

> [BOSS DEFEATED – RUSTBORN KING]

REWARDS: 2,500 XP, 5 Gearbound Credits, Blueprint: Hellion Shock Gauntlets.

> "Holy shit, you actually won. Color me impressed."

Ryo let out a shaky laugh.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Me too."

But as the dust settled, he noticed something.

A hatch, hidden behind the throne.

And something inside it… still glowing.

The battle was over.

But the Iron Labyrinth's secrets weren't done with him yet.