Above the blue spell circle.

  The massive sarcophagus split in silence.

  What emerged from within clearly had a human shape.

  But

  it couldn’t be called human.

  Pale, faintly luminous skin—smooth and cold like metal.

  A muscular body stood upright, barely holding its balance as it drew breath, and its movements felt less like “living” and more like “operating.”

  At first, its eyes were empty.

  Then, slowly, a blue light pooled in them—

  and something like life began to cling to the inside.

  “···It’s awake.”

  The high priest whispered, holding his breath.

  Then he thrust out a hand toward the sarcophagus and declared, firm and loud.

  “Argas.

  I will test your strength.

  Subdue the boy before you—Rynel!”

  But.

  Argas didn’t move.

  He rolled his eyes, slowly scanning around the circle.

  His gaze didn’t go to Rynel.

  It went to the chimeras stationed nearby.

  “···He’s ignoring the command?”

  The high priest’s voice shook—one beat late.

  *Shhk.*

  In that instant, one chimera’s head flew off.

  At the same time, Argas’s body slid like a shadow.

  On a battlefield where time seemed to snap—

  two, three.

  Chimeras shattered in sequence like they’d been struck by cannon fire.

  Arms torn away, carapaces broken, entrails spraying.

  Slaughter—precise enough to be cruel.

  “···What is this. Why won’t it—”

  The high priest ground his teeth.

  “Stop! Enough!”

  Argas didn’t look back.

  Blood on him, he turned his head as if searching for the next target.

  His eyes locked on—

  a concealed structural wall at the edge of the chamber.

  One junior priest’s eyes widened.

  “···A mana relay stone? Don’t tell me—!”

  *BOOM!*

  Argas charged.

  A massive fist punched straight through the wall. The warding devices collapsed with a sound that tore at the eardrums.

  KWAANG!!

  The core relay—

  the heart of the chimera regeneration system—was smashed in an instant.

  KWAANG!!

  As if a heart had stopped, the space fell into a brief silence.

  The high priest spat, low.

  “···This isn’t just an experiment subject.”

  Then—

  one of the upper mana accumulation cores shattered.

  BZZZT—!

  The entire magical circuitry in the chamber shook, errors screaming in sequence.

  Wiiing···

  BEEEP!

  The refined flow was twisting out of alignment.

  『Mana flow error detected. Partial regeneration circuits halted.』

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  Silence.

  Argas—spattered with blood—turned his head.

  At the end of his gaze was a boy collapsed on the floor, soaked in red.

  Rynel.

  “···You’re in my way, too.”

  His voice was rough, like scraping an old steel plate.

  No emotion—only a cold verdict.

  Rynel couldn’t rise yet. He exhaled in harsh bursts.

  But his fingertips moved first.

  『Telekinesis—Float』

  Blue light spread along his hand.

  Broken sensation clicked back into place. His severed breathing reconnected, little by little.

  *Hiss···*

  A wave ran through his body, restoring balance.

  “···Good.”

  Rynel bared his teeth.

  “I can still fight.”

  He pushed himself up, slowly.

  No fear in his eyes.

  Only the resolve to keep swinging.

  Argas approached.

  Footsteps without sound.

  Each step of that massive body made the floor quiver, barely.

  Rynel extended an arm.

  In the same moment, debris scattered across the lab trembled and lifted.

  Metal shards.

  Bone fragments from broken chimeras.

  Blades snapped into jagged edges.

  All of it began to rotate around Rynel.

  Whiiing··· whiiing···

  『Telekinesis—Arrange』

  The floating wreckage started to take shape.

  Metal became swords.

  Bone became spears.

  Sharp fragments set their edges like axes.

  Different killing tools, orbiting him, forming a formation.

  “Coming.”

  Rynel exhaled, short, and cut his arm down.

  *Shhk!*

  Dozens of telekinetic weapons shot toward Argas at once.

  KWAANG! KUNG! KUNG!

  A chain of impacts tearing the air—

  sharp, exact, without hesitation.

  But.

  KUNG!

  KUNG!!

  KUNG!!!

  All of it bounced away.

  Argas didn’t even flinch. He let the blows slide off his bare body, caught one, then crushed it in his grip.

  “···Tch.”

  Rynel clenched his teeth.

  He tried to re-arrange the fragments—

  KWAANG!!

  Argas burst forward.

  In a blink, the distance vanished. A massive arm drove into Rynel’s abdomen.

  Rynel’s body folded on reflex.

  『Telekinesis—Repel』

  Fwoooom!!

  The air shook, force dispersing.

  He bled off part of the impact—still not enough.

  KRAK!

  Rynel was thrown back, slammed into the lab wall.

  His vision wobbled.

  Breath ripped out of him all at once.

  And yet—

  “···Still.”

  He swallowed blood and forced himself up.

  “Not over.”

  Shaking fingertips.

  Fragments rose again.

  『Telekinesis—Arrange』

  This time faster. Colder.

  *Shhk!*

  One fragment changed shape as it flew.

  *Puhk.*

  It punched through Argas’s shoulder.

  Blood sprayed.

  Rynel’s eyes wavered—just a little.

  “Got you. For the first time···”

  But Argas didn’t stop.

  He swatted the fragments away and charged again.

  KWAANG!!

  Rynel twisted with telekinesis, barely slipping aside.

  The floor shuddered. His chest shook.

  “···Hah··· hah···.”

  Blue still burned in his eyes.

  Then—

  a shout crashed down from above.

  “What are you doing!

  Kill him—now!”

  Rynel’s brow twitched.

  He felt it, certain—someone above was *controlling* this.

  『Telekinesis—Bind』

  Invisible lines shot through the air toward Argas.

  Restraint. Binding. Compression.

  SHHK-SHHK-SHHK!!

  Arms, legs, torso—

  lines wrapped him from all directions.

  “Ugh···!”

  Argas resisted. The lines trembled.

  KRAK!

  One strand snapped.

  But.

  Rynel was already moving to the next step.

  『Telekinesis—Throw』

  SHOOO—

  A single shard speared straight through Argas’s abdomen.

  Blood scattered.

  “Now.”

  『Telekinesis—Release』

  KWAANG!!

  A heavy shockwave.

  Argas was hurled into the wall.

  Cracks crawled across stone. Upper circuits shuddered.

  Argas rose.

  *Ssuk.*

  The abdominal wound began to close—slowly, but surely. Silver mana seeped in, stitching the boundary between flesh and metal.

  “···Regeneration.”

  Rynel breathed hard.

  『Telekinesis—Arrange』

  This time—a net.

  Floating particles in the fight, debris fragments, displaced mana—

  woven into a lattice structure.

  『Telekinesis—Bind』

  SHHK-SHHK-SHHK!!

  The net snapped shut in midair.

  Argas was caught. Mana strands pulled tight.

  『Compress—Reinforce』

  Mana loaded into each strand, tightening the choke.

  A grinding sound—like machinery forced against itself.

  KRAK!

  The line binding his left arm snapped.

  But.

  Too late.

  Rynel gathered scattered chimera fragments and compressed them into a massive lump.

  *Shhk!*

  The lump flew in a straight line—piercing Argas clean through.

  KRAK!!

  Silver mana surged backward, sparks spitting.

  Right after—

  『Telekinesis—Release』

  KWAAAANG!!

  The lab convulsed again.

  Rynel was shoved back by the recoil, slammed into the wall.

  Breath nearly cut off.

  He coughed blood and dropped to one knee.

  His whole body screamed. Vision blurred, thinning out.

  ‘···My body won’t follow.’

  Even so, he closed his eyes once—then opened them.

  There was still mana left.

  “···One more time.”

  Argas came on, slow.

  Expressionless face.

  Arms wet with blood.

  Thud. Thud.

  The ground trembled under his weight.

  Argas stopped in front of Rynel and raised an arm.

  “···Die.”

  That instant—

  *Flash.*

  A red bracelet on Rynel’s wrist erupted with a fierce light. Red spread, tinting the air.

  “···What.”

  Argas’s pupils shook. His movement halted—just for a moment.

  Above, priests shouted.

  “What’s happening?”

  “The projection’s response is spiking! Unknown signal!”

  The red bracelet pulsed—like a heart.

  Then—

  *Goom.*

  When the red aura touched Argas’s forehead, his whole body locked.

  “···This feeling is···.”

  A foreign image flooded his mind.

  A woman in a white robe.

  Hair falling to her waist.

  Clear, calm eyes.

  She reached out.

  In the next moment—

  “GRAAAAH—!!”

  Argas screamed.

  He clutched his head and staggered back.

  KWAANG!!

  The lab wall cracked.

  A junior priest shrieked.

  “The subject’s mind is collapsing!”

  【Wave instability】

  【Neural connection collapse detected】

  The high priest clenched his teeth.

  “···That wasn’t in the projections.”

  Rynel stared down at the red bracelet.

  A crimson-gloss surface.

  Strange heat feeding into his wrist.

  ‘···Did this protect me?’

  Rynel looked up.

  Argas was still reeling, unable to regain himself.

  Then—

  blue flared in Rynel’s eyes.

  “···Now’s the chance.”

  Argas roared and detonated mana.

  KRAK!!

  The floor split and the chamber shook.

  But the center was breaking.

  The abdominal wound hadn’t fully sealed.

  Silver mana was backflowing.

  Rynel steadied his breath and raised a hand.

  『Telekinesis—Compress』

  He pulled every fragment in the air together.

  Stone. Metal. Bone.

  A single heavy mass.

  “Now!”

  *Shhk!!*

  He threw it—

  straight into the wound.

  KWAANG!!

  A direct hit.

  BZZZT!!

  Internal circuits sparked and went berserk. Mana tangled, and the regeneration system began to collapse.

  “Kgh—AAAAAH!!”

  Argas trembled, staggering back.

  The red bracelet still glowed.

  KWAANG!!

  Argas swayed. From his abdomen, blood and silver mana poured out together.

  The projection stone lurched. Above, alarms sounded.

  【Mana reaction surging】

  【Regeneration circuit—critical damage】

  【Energy backflow warning】

  A junior priest shouted.

  “The subject’s mana is uncontrollable!”

  The high priest’s brow twitched.

  “···The lab itself is becoming unstable.”

  Rynel stood atop the debris, staring again at the red bracelet.

  A faint heat remained.

  ‘···If I don’t finish it now, I never will.’

  KRAK!!

  Argas lifted his head again.

  His eyes weren’t clear.

  No trace of reason.

  He panted like a beast, mouth open.

  His arms rose—

  KWAAAANG!!

  Both hands slammed the floor.

  The entire lab shook.

  Walls split, and blue light burst from the floor in multiple spots.

  【Mana circulation collapse】

  【Full circuit—overheating】

  【Gate instability detected】

  A junior priest screamed.

  “If space opens, we’ll be dragged in too!”

  Rynel ground his teeth.

  “···If this keeps going, it won’t end.”

  He raised his hand again.

  Mana particles gathered in the air.

  『Telekinesis—Focus』

  Countless fragments and energy residue swirled around him like a vortex.

  At the center, Rynel exhaled.

  “···I’ll end it in one blow.”

  Argas launched himself.

  No hesitation now.

  KWAAAANG!!

  He tore through the air, mana blooming from his body like a bomb at the brink.

  Rynel wove the fragments together.

  A net-like mana structure shot toward Argas.

  KRAK!

  Fragments struck. Mana splashed.

  But Argas didn’t stop.

  He smashed the attack aside and kept coming.

  A brief silence.

  Debris drifted down slowly.

  The mana tremor eased, leaving only breathing.

  From above, the high priest seized that gap and shouted.

  “What are you doing!

  Attack! Release your true power—now!!”

  Only then did Argas turn his head.

  Eyes bloodshot red.

  Metal creaking in every exhale.

  No reason. No obedience.

  “···Your orders mean nothing.”

  A low growl spilled out.

  Then—

  KRAK!!

  He kicked off the floor and shot upward.

  With berserk mana, Argas cut a straight line through the chamber—charging for the upper level.

  “What—!? Stop, sto—!”

  A scream.

  Along with a maddened shriek from Argas, that massive body tore into the wall.

  KWAAAAANG!!

  Ceiling, wall, circuit plates—shattered into pieces.

  Two priests were thrown away. The projection stone cracked, and its light died.