Allen’s body was a wreckage of tremors. He lacked the strength to even curl his fingers into a fist or take a single step. Calibur, watching the scene unfold from a safe distance, maintained his cynical smirk—until his left bracer began to pulse with a frantic, rhythmic red light.

  "New orders?" Calibur pressed a sequence on the device.

  "Allen has exceeded my expectations once again," a voice replied. It was cold, detached, and utterly devoid of empathy. "When he slew Seira, I dismissed it as a statistical anomaly. But surviving this long against Marc—a Category 6—makes me reconsider the Emotional Elemental Weapon Project. Tell me, what have you done with the Onyx?"

  The sadistic joy Calibur had felt moments ago evaporated. The question hit him like a physical blow; he had tossed the stone away as if it were common trash.

  "The Onyx? Well... about that... you said we couldn't extract more data from it, so I thought I’d use it as a... motivational tool."

  "I remember what I said, Calibur. But now I want you to hand it to Allen. Unless, of course, you’ve disposed of it. Tell me truthfully: where is it?"

  A cold bead of sweat rolled down Calibur's temple. His pupils dilated in terror. "Of course I still have it, my Lord. I’ll deliver it to Allen immediately."

  "Good. You’re a loyal dog, Calibur. Don’t be slow... I’d hate for there to be grave consequences."

  The link severed, and the red light died. Calibur let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

  "I’m dead. If he finds out I threw it away..." His hands began to shake. He scanned the ruins of the city, but finding a single gem in this wasteland was a statistical impossibility. He wasn't like Elisse; he didn't have the range. "There's only one way out."

  Resigned, Calibur unbuckled the bracer. He didn't feel the microscopic needle that deployed from the casing, injecting a vile black fluid directly into his vein. He tossed the device to the ground and leveled his palm at it. A globule of caustic purple liquid erupted from his hand, melting the bracer into a steaming puddle of slag. Without looking back, he vanished into the dense forest surrounding the city.

  In his high-tech sanctuary, the man in the black suit smiled at his monitor.

  "Treason, then."

  The screen flickered. One feed showed Allen struggling to stay upright; the other tracked Calibur’s heat signature as he fled through the brush.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "Lektor," the man said, his voice smooth as silk. "Designate Calibur as the primary test subject for Phase 3 of Project Perfection."

  One of the armored figures behind the sofa nodded and exited the room in silence. The man turned his attention back to the main screen.

  Allen stared at the Gigax Aries through a haze of crimson. He was swaying, his knees buckling with every second that passed. He was oblivious to the fact that he was being watched by Aegis’s inner circle. At this moment, his world had narrowed down to one goal: kill Marc so he could finally collapse.

  With his vision nearly gone, Allen saw a mountain of black fur rushing toward him. The Aries struck with a singular, massive sweep of its head, sending Allen hurtling backward. The impact reopened every wound on his body.

  He forced himself up, coughing thick gobs of blood. His eyes were losing their light, the spark of life fading—until a sound resonated through the clearing.

  Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

  The stones—those embedded in the hammer lost in the rubble and the ones still in his pockets—began to pulse with the rhythm of a heartbeat. As the sound intensified, a surge of raw elemental energy flooded Allen’s nervous system. Color returned to his face. The deep gashes across his chest began to knit together, fueled by the stones' desperate resonance.

  When the Gigax Aries brought its massive front hoof down to crush him, Allen didn't just dodge—he used the resulting shockwave to launch himself. He moved with a speed he shouldn't have possessed, buried his fist into the monster’s solar plexus, and sent the Category 6 beast skyrocketing into the clouds.

  Mid-air, Allen raised his left hand toward the heavens. His golden hammer materialized in his right. Above them, the sky darkened as a massive shadow blotted out the sun.

  The Aries’ snout contorted. The mocking smile was gone, replaced by pure, primal terror. An enormous meteorite was plummeting toward the city, its surface glowing white-hot.

  "Minor Star Meteor."

  The Gigax Aries let out a final, desperate roar, hardening its entire body into a diamond-like metallic shell. But as the meteor approached, it began to shrink, compressing its mass until it was the size of a five-story building. The density was now astronomical.

  When the condensed meteor struck Marc, the resulting explosion turned the sky white. A wall of fire swallowed the district, incinerating everything—including Allen and the monster—in a roar of pure kinetic energy.

  In the command center, the man in the black suit hurled his glass at the wall-sized television. The screen shattered into a web of dead pixels.

  "Elisse," he hissed. "Order the immediate completion of Project Kimera."

  A woman bowed and hurried out. The man turned to his remaining elite guards, his face a mask of cold fury.

  "Why are you still standing here? Haven't you seen? Allen just slaughtered two of your 'siblings.' Go. Surpass your limits, or die trying."

  They scrambled out after Elisse, leaving the man alone with the broken monitor.

  "It’s an anomaly... Allen shouldn't be able to hit Level 1.5 without the Onyx. It's impossible for the evolutionary gene to have triggered a growth spurt of this magnitude."

  A scientist in a white lab coat appeared at the door, knocking tentatively. "Lord Aegis... Project Kimera has reached its final stage. We only need to verify the obedience protocols."

  The man in the suit—Aegis, the President of the Heroic Federation—turned toward the scientist. A dark, predatory light flickered in his blue eyes.

  "Good. Let's see if the 'Kimera' knows how to heel before God."