The heavy slab of the Warehouse gate retracted with a groan of protesting tal. Unlike the Armory, which had been a frozen snapshot of a massacre, the Warehouse looked like the aftermath of a frantic riot. Shelves were overturned, and massive storage crates lay smashed, their contents scattered as if an invading force had pillaged the room in a desperate hurry.
Despite the chaos, the floor glittered. Enormous mana crystals, larger and purer than anything the modern world had seen, lay discarded like common gravel.
"The purity of these stones..." Anne whispered, her eyes widening as she picked up a fragnt that pulsed with a deep, violet light. "Even the High Assembly doesn’t possess clusters this refined. They just... left them here?"
"They were in a rush, or they simply didn’t care about wealth," Ethan remarked, his eyes scanning the room. He looked at Anne. "Do you wish to inspect the remaining sealed crates?"
Anne shook her head, her gaze shifting toward the dark corners of the hall. "No. Take everything and let’s get out of here. After the tension at the assembly, staying in a hole two kiloters underground is a death trap. I want sunlight."
Ethan nodded. "Jason! Load every crate, every crystal, and every scrap of Cold Steel. I want this room stripped to the bedrock. We move out the mont the last truck is full."
The hall erupted into a frenzy of motion. Royal soldiers and logistics teams sward the Warehouse, hauling crates and loading the heavy transports with chanical efficiency.
While the n worked, Ethan walked back out into the central hall, standing beneath the shimring Fire Snakes of the primary matrix.
"Crul, what did you find? The layout of this place doesn’t feel like a simple prison anymore."
[ Analysis complete, Host. My diagnostic of the energy flow confirms this structure is a ’Two-Headed Dragon and Eight Trigrams Barrier.’ Based on the spatial damage, the Nightmare Claw was not an intruder from the outside. It was born beneath this very hall. ]
"Born here?"
[ Nightmare Claws are asexual anomalies. When one dies, or sotis during its life, it produces a Void Orb—a structural egg. This egg absorbs environntal energy over eons to incubate. However, this matrix, the Eight Trigrams, is designed to absorb all surrounding mana to power its own seals. It starved the egg, delaying the birth for thousands of years. ]
"Then what happened to the warriors in the Armory?"
[ Probability suggests the first Nightmare Claw hatched during the Cataclysm. Weakened but hungry, it sensed the energy signatures above. It breached the foundations, entered the base, and slaughtered the garrison. The survivors couldn’t kill it—they likely didn’t have a warrior of the Spirit Soul rank available. Instead, they lured it into the restrictive matrix and sealed it away. ]
"Is it still in there, Crul?"
[ The Eight Trigrams Barrier has enough latent power to incinerate a mature Nightmare Claw, let alone a hatchling. But the barrier is damaged; it is currently in a self-repair cycle and cannot exert its true lethal force. If the Worm Queen is alive, there is a 74% chance that the Nightmare Claw has escaped, although there is also a 26% chance that it is hiding or in a dormant state.. ]
Ethan tightened his grip on his sword hilt. "And the orb I absorbed?"
[ You have been incredibly fortunate—or perhaps cursed. That ’Void Orb’ was the next generation. It had finally gathered enough energy to begin the incubation process. By absorbing it, you didn’t just take its power; you acquired a biological trait of the Nightmare Claw species. ]
"A trait? What kind of trait?" Ethan asked, looking at the black ring on his finger.
[Indeed. You have acquired the Void Body—the unique hallmark of a Nightmare Claw. This is a power even the forr Lord Athyst once coveted but could never obtain. To inherit these traits, one must be at a low cultivation stage, specifically not exceeding Body Refinent, and even then, the mortality rate is 99.999%. You are the only recorded case, aside from the original discoverer, to survive the integration.]
"Why is the survival rate so low?" Ethan asked.
[Because the Void is a curse as much as a gift. However, thanks to your Athyst Eyes, you have successfully contained the Void’s corruption. Your Athyst lineage has essentially swallowed the Void Body, evolving it so you gain the benefits without the madness.]
Ethan’s eyes flickered. "What kind of benefits?"
[Two primary abilities will now define your path: Void Step and Void Devourer. Void Step allows you to enter the void for a brief mont, moving through a different dinsion to reappear elsewhere. It is the signature of the Nightmare Claw—the reason they are so lethal and impossible to track. Then, there is the Void Devourer.]
"Which does what?"
[It is the ability every high-level cultivator craves. You can consu almost anything—biological or spiritual—and convert it into raw energy for your own cultivation. Your body has beco an endless furnace.]
"And the risk you ntioned?" Ethan pressed. "If this is so powerful, why isn’t everyone hunting for these eggs?"
[The man who first discovered this beca the most powerful being of his era, but his mind was eroded by the Void. He beca a mindless killing machine that only knew how to murder and consu. It took the combined strength of every major power of that age to exterminate him. But you, Host... your Athyst lineage acts as a shield. You will keep your sanity while wielding the powers of a Void Body.]
Ethan clenched his fist, feeling the strange, hollow weight of the power coiling within him.
"Boss! Last truck is loaded!" Jason’s voice echoed through the hall. "We’re ready for extraction!"
"Then let’s go imdiately," Ethan said, turning away from the old, broken matrix. "We have a new world to build, and I have many things I need... to consu."
[Wait, Master, there’s one more thing, though it’s very risky. We could try it.]
Crul’s voice tempted Ethan, who upon hearing the idea could only say, "Let’s do it."
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