“Energy accumulation has exceeded 30%.”
The junior priest lifted his head.
Above the blue spell circle, a massive mana core hovered in midair. Thin lines ran along its surface, pulsing in steady beats.
The chamber was quiet.
Not peaceful quiet.
More like every sound—breaths included—was being sucked into the circuits and erased.
“Faster than expected.”
The high priest stopped walking.
His gaze skimmed the crystal display, then returned to the core’s center. The core shuddered once in a slow, heavy *thump,* like a heart.
“Status of the subject?”
“Emotional response is rising due to continuous combat. According to the logs··· anger, focus, extreme tension.”
Numbers climbed on the crystal display.
[35%]
[38%]
[40%]
The rate wasn’t smooth.
It didn’t rise like steps. It *jumped*—sharp spikes in the moments his breath tore.
The high priest’s mouth curled, slowly.
“That’s right··· let it boil.”
He pressed the small crystal on the back of his hand.
The mana circuitry trembled, and the core’s pulse deepened once more. A blue hairline glow spread between the wall sigils, then vanished.
[45%]
[50%]
[55%]
The junior priest swallowed.
“The increase is too fast.”
The high priest nodded with his eyes closed.
“He’s being driven to the edge.”
The junior priest stepped closer, careful.
“At this rate, the subject may collapse first. The body’s limit—”
“I know.”
The high priest’s voice stayed even.
He looked past the core for a moment. Behind it stood a shielding barrier like a curtain of blue. The inside wasn’t visible, yet pressure seeped through its seams—like something was breathing there.
“But what matters is···”
His fingertip pointed at the circle.
“The result.”
A ripple snapped from the core’s center.
The floor circuits flared, then dimmed again. The junior priest’s eyes wavered.
“That shock just now··· backflow in the circuit—”
“Don’t worry.”
The high priest smiled.
“It means he’s fighting well.”
The junior priest murmured, low.
“Can we really··· use that boy as the key?”
The high priest didn’t answer.
He only flicked his finger.
*Click.*
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
The circuitry woke again, and a thin vibration formed in the air. It circled the observation room once, then was pulled into the core.
The crystal display reacted.
[58%]
[60%]
“60%. That spike was—”
“He used a big technique.”
The high priest turned his head.
A projection stone mounted on the wall cleared, drawing in the scene from the combat chamber.
In the middle of blood and wreckage, blue light spread from Rynel’s eyes. Fragments suspended in the air spun, swallowing light.
“···Burst.”
KWA—!!
The ten meters ahead shattered.
Chimeras broke apart, flesh spraying. The ground slicked, the air turning thick.
Yet Rynel didn’t fully drop.
His breathing was split, his fingertips trembling—
but his eyes didn’t go out.
“···It’s not over.”
Back in the observation room, the junior priest checked the numbers.
[62%]
[64%]
[65%]
“Just crossed 65%.”
“Good.”
The high priest’s eyes narrowed.
“The peak is coming.”
The junior priest hesitated, then spoke.
“Abnormal physical reactions detected. Unstable breathing, muscle spasms··· the mana circuits inside him are overheating. At that consumption rate—”
“Doesn’t matter.”
A cut-off reply.
Soft, but pressed down with certainty.
“Collapse isn’t a ‘loss.’ It’s··· the price.”
The junior priest bowed his head, face tight.
Words caught in his throat.
The numbers kept rising.
[68%]
[70%]
And then···
The crystal in the junior priest’s hand trembled.
Mana surged through the circuits at once, shaking the floor in a shallow wave.
“Something is reacting.”
The high priest was already looking behind him.
“Yes. Finally.”
Behind the core, the shielding barrier—like a blue curtain—began to sway, very slowly. Like fabric sagging under weight it couldn’t hold.
The first thing visible inside was a red mass.
A heart-like shape. No beat, but a fine vibration.
When it pressed the barrier, the surface rippled like water.
“Movement detected inside the seal.”
“It’s not at the level of ‘opening its eyes’ yet.”
The junior priest added carefully. “But··· the pulsing has started.”
The high priest stepped forward, approaching the sarcophagus, and murmured.
“All of this is for that being.”
When his palm touched the lid, he felt it beneath the surface—
a cold, incomplete throb.
Something that barely qualified as alive, writhing as if searching for form.
“One person’s struggle, anger, sacrifice··· it all flows here.”
He smiled.
“Beautiful.”
The junior priest lowered his voice.
“The subject is still resisting. Signs of collapse are··· severe.”
“Keep it going.”
The high priest turned, eyes on the projection stone.
On-screen, Rynel was still holding.
Numbers climbed.
[75%]
[78%]
[80%]
The junior priest whispered.
“Will it really··· wake?”
The high priest answered with the same smile.
“It must. And in that moment, the world is reborn.”
Then—
from inside the sarcophagus, a faint sound began.
Not quite breathing.
More like air being crushed.
That pressure seeped into the observation room, tightening their lungs.
[82%]
[85%]
[90%]
No alarm.
Only numbers rising like a curse.
The bigger the jumps, the more often the circuits *flickered.*
“Wave threshold reached.”
At the core’s center, the sealed heart pulsed—once.
*Thump.*
The junior priest flinched.
“That vibration—! The shielding barrier—”
“We’re almost there.”
Hands clasped behind his back, the high priest stared into the projection again.
Rynel was on one knee, gasping.
Wounded. Covered in blood.
Yet his gaze still lived.
“Continue.”
The high priest’s voice was low, clear.
“Keep going··· prove it.”
Order. Prayer. Curse.
“The harder you resist, the closer our perfect being comes to completion.”
Red sigils layered themselves over the mana circuitry.
Mana overheating.
Threshold exceeded.
The junior priest stepped back.
“At this rate··· the subject breaks. And if the wave grows any larger, the observation circuits will—”
The high priest didn’t answer.
He simply pressed the crystal again.
*Click.*
The circuitry shuddered with a vibration like clenched teeth.
The mana core pulsed larger.
◇
Combat chamber.
Rynel’s breathing was ragged, near tearing apart.
His leg muscles twitched, and sensation dulled in his fingertips.
‘···My body, it can’t···’
Then more chimeras poured down the walls.
“···Kgh—!”
Rynel closed his eyes once, then opened them.
Blue still lived in his irises.
Telekinesis—compressed.
Fragments around him trembled. Metal, bone, blood-soaked debris rose into the air.
“Pierce.”
SHHK—SHHK—SHHK—!!
A storm of shards ripped through the chimeras.
And right after—
the crystal display spiked out of control.
[92%]
[95%]
At the same time, blood ran from Rynel’s nose.
Not a thin line—
it stopped for a beat, then flowed again.
His vision blurred.
‘···Is this my limit···’
Even on one knee, he didn’t let go.
◇
Observation room.
[97%]
The high priest’s smile widened.
“Now, the last step.”
The sarcophagus’s center began to *open*—slowly.
A long scraping sound stretched like metal grinding. The shielding barrier split thinly, leaking energy that pressed down on the space.
Inside···
Something wrapped in a red barrier twisted as if drawing breath.
A finger moved.
A shoulder trembled.
And on the barrier’s surface, a single line of *blue fracture* appeared.
“It’s moving.”
“Yes. The seal is opening.”
Numbers rose.
[98%]
[99%]
In the combat chamber, Rynel reached out one last time.
Blue, about to go out, flickered again.
“···Not··· over.”
The projection stone trembled.
That tremor transferred into the mana core—into the sarcophagus.
*Thump.*
A second beat.
[100%]
KRAK—!!
The seal structure split at its center.
A glossy blue fissure spread, and an alien wave leaked through the gap.
Then the thing inside··· slowly opened its eyes.
A third beat.
*Thump.*
This one rang true.
The shielding barrier shattered, and the observation circuitry shook all at once. The junior priest stumbled back on instinct.
“At last··· completion.”
The high priest’s voice was deep, low.
Inside the sarcophagus, *it* began to move.
First the shoulders, trembling—
then refined mana braced its shape like a skeleton.
It resembled a human, but it wasn’t human.
Its skin carried a cold, smooth metallic sheen, and blue light seeped from places it shouldn’t.
The junior priest breathed, barely audible.
“It really··· woke.”
The high priest nodded.
“Witness the birth of a perfect lifeform.”
And in that instant—
a strange resonance reached Rynel’s ears.
Sound, sensation, awareness—he couldn’t tell which.
‘···What is this.’
Someone was *looking* at him.
That gaze didn’t try to understand.
It didn’t read emotion.
It only weighed one thing—
whether he could be ruled.
Rynel, drenched in blood, braced a hand on the floor.
His chest tightened. His breath caught.
Not pain···
A feeling of exposure—of his existence being laid bare.
‘···It’s coming in···?’
Cold, precise mana seeped through his senses, pressing into somewhere inside his mind—like fingertips testing a hidden latch.
“···Kgh···!”
Rynel’s gaze shook.
But it didn’t go out.
◇
Observation room.
The high priest laughed softly.
“Resonance has begun.”
The junior priest blurted, startled.
“Resonance···?”
The high priest pointed at the waveform on the crystal display.
Two waves were overlapping as if chasing each other—
separating, snapping back together, separating again—
as if being forced to become the same.
“The boy’s mana and that being’s heart share a wave. The condition is met.”
“Then··· right now, the two of them—”
“They’ve recognized each other. Not through emotion. Through existence itself.”
◇
Combat chamber.
Rynel lifted his head.
Above.
It was looking down at him without a word.
A gaze thinner than a blade—transparent, yet cutting.
Rynel’s breath trembled.
This wasn’t just an enemy.
He clenched his teeth and muttered.
“···This is a different fight now.”
The space began to shake again.
Not collapse···
Something *opening.*
Rynel felt the tremor and closed his fist one last time.
“Something beyond the line··· just woke up.”
And in that moment—
a new order stepped into this place.
