Ancient stone collapsed around them in enormous waves as the sanctuary finally began giving in beneath the pressure of the awakened existence. Massive cracks tore across the walls and ceiling while shattered pillars crashed downward one after another, disappearing into the abyss below together with chunks of ancient ruins that had survived untouched for centuries.
The entire underground sanctuary had beco a dying world.
Luca tightened his grip around Lilliane’s wrist as the ground beneath them split apart violently, pulling both of them sideways while corrupted mana erupted upward from below like black flas.
"Careful!" he shouted.
Lilliane nearly lost her footing entirely before Sylthara appeared beside them instantly, silver mana wrapping around her body as she slashed her hand outward. A crescent of silver light carved through falling debris overhead, shattering enormous chunks of collapsing stone before they could crush the group.
"Move toward the exit!" Sylthara called out, her voice sharper than usual while strands of silver hair whipped wildly around her face.
Nearby, Adrian had beco the center stabilizing the entire battlefield.
Gravitational force distorted violently around the fourth-year senior as floating rocks, broken pillars, and debris spiraled around him like orbiting moons. Every movent of his hands altered the weight of the collapsing sanctuary itself, slowing falling rubble long enough for the younger students to escape being buried alive.
Lightning roared around his body.
"John!" Adrian barked while thrusting one hand upward.
An invisible gravitational force imdiately seized a collapsing pillar monts before it crushed two senior mbers beneath it, hurling the massive structure aside with enough force to shatter another wall entirely.
John finally snapped out of his terror.
"R-right!"
The vice president slamd both hands together as wind mana exploded outward, creating a powerful current that pushed the remaining club mbers toward safer ground.
Still—
Even while chaos consud the sanctuary—
The chained being continued walking forward slowly through the destruction.
Unhard.
Unaffected.
The collapsing ruins bent around its presence unnaturally, corrupted mana parting before it like servants bowing before their ruler. Broken sealing chains dragged behind its feet with heavy tallic sounds while those crimson eyes remained locked solely onto Luca.
Not Adrian.
Not the others.
Only him.
And the longer Luca looked into those eyes—
The stronger the cold feeling inside his chest beca.
As though sothing buried deep within him was reacting to the creature’s existence.
The being tilted its head slightly again.
"You sll..." it whispered softly beneath the collapsing thunder of the sanctuary. "...familiar."
Luca’s breath hitched.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he demanded sharply, though even he could hear the tension within his own voice.
The creature smiled wider.
Then—
The corrupted mana around it exploded.
BOOOOOOM—!
A wave of black pressure erupted outward violently enough to pulverize nearby stone instantly. Several mbers of the Hero Research Club were thrown backward despite Adrian’s gravitational field stabilizing the area, while Luca crossed both sabers in front of him instinctively as the shockwave slamd into his body.
His feet carved trenches across the fractured floor.
Pain shot through his arms.
This thing...
It was monstrously powerful.
Not fully awakened.
Not complete.
Yet still powerful enough that Luca could barely imagine what the original existence sealed during the Hero Era must have looked like.
Suddenly—
A scream echoed from the side.
Luca’s eyes snapped toward the source instantly.
One of the younger senior mbers had stumbled too close to the spreading corruption. Black smoke had wrapped around his leg completely now, crawling upward across his body like living parasites while the student scread in agony.
"M-my mana—!"
Without hesitation, Sylthara moved.
Silver mana burst around her body as she dashed forward with astonishing speed before slamming her palm directly against the corrupted area. Ancient silver inscriptions lit across her arm while dark smoke violently hissed against the purifying mana erupting from her hand.
"Hold him down!" she shouted.
Eric imdiately lunged forward alongside John, both grabbing the struggling senior while Sylthara forcibly purified the invading corruption inch by inch.
Luca saw it clearly then.
Sylthara was trembling.
Not from fear.
From strain.
Even her mana was struggling against the density of the corruption flooding the sanctuary now.
Then—
The chained figure laughed softly.
"You resist well," it murmured while observing Sylthara. "The blood of the old races still remains pure."
Sylthara’s golden eyes widened sharply.
The creature’s gaze shifted briefly across everyone present.
Then returned to Luca again.
"But you..."
Its voice softened strangely.
"...you should not have returned."
Luca froze.
Returned?
His mind jolted violently.
Before he could even process the words—
The entire abyss beneath the sanctuary began shaking.
And from the darkness below—
Sothing enormous started rising.
The entire sanctuary trembled as sothing colossal began rising slowly from the abyss beneath them, the darkness below churning violently like an endless ocean of corrupted mana awakened after centuries of imprisonnt. Ancient stone cracked further under the pressure while enormous pieces of the ruins collapsed continuously into the black depths below, vanishing without sound before anyone could even see where the bottom truly was.
Luca’s expression hardened instantly.
That pressure—
It was far beyond the chained figure itself.
Even the creature standing before them had turned slightly toward the abyss now, its crimson eyes narrowing faintly as though acknowledging the approach of sothing greater.
The corrupted mana throughout the sanctuary began spiraling faster.
Wildly.
Almost excitedly.
Then—
An enormous black shape moved beneath the darkness below.
Lilliane’s breath caught painfully in her throat as she stared downward, her green eyes trembling while her fingers tightened around her staff hard enough to turn pale.
"T-there’s... sothing else down there..."
No one answered her.
Because everyone could feel it now.
The abyss beneath the sanctuary was not empty.
Sothing massive was climbing upward through the corruption.
Adrian stepped forward imdiately, gravity mana distorting violently around his body as floating debris and shattered stone began orbiting him faster and faster beneath overwhelming pressure.
"We should retreat now," he ordered sharply, his voice carrying absolute authority. "This expedition is over."
But even as he spoke—
The chained figure smiled again.
"You are late," it whispered softly.
The words sent another chill through Luca’s body.
Then suddenly—
The creature disappeared.
Luca’s instincts exploded.
"MOVE!"
Space around him twisted instantly.
Ti mana surged violently through his body as the world around him slowed for a fraction of a second, allowing him to barely react before the chained figure appeared directly in front of Adrian.
BOOOOOOOOM—!
The impact shattered the floor.
Adrian’s gravitational barrier collapsed inward violently as the chained being’s blackened fist collided against it with monstrous force, the sheer pressure alone flattening nearby stone into dust.
Adrian’s eyes widened.
Fast.
Far too fast.
Gravity exploded outward from his body instinctively as invisible force slamd downward around the creature hard enough to crater the sanctuary floor beneath them.
Yet—
The chained being rely tilted its head slightly.
Unaffected.
Then it swung again.
Adrian distorted the gravity around himself instantly, forcibly pulling his body sideways as the attack narrowly missed his chest and obliterated an entire section of the sanctuary wall instead.
The shockwave alone sent several club mbers flying backward.
"Senior Adrian!" John shouted.
Luca moved imdiately.
Space distorted beneath his feet as he vanished from his original position, appearing beside Adrian in a burst of warped air before both black and white sabers flashed simultaneously toward the creature’s neck.
Moonlit mana and spatial distortion intertwined around the blades.
The attack was perfect.
Fast enough to split steel effortlessly.
Yet the mont Luca’s sabers touched the creature’s skin—
The chained figure caught them barehanded.
Luca’s eyes widened violently.
The blackened hands gripped both blades effortlessly while crimson eyes stared directly into his own from only inches away.
"...Found you," the creature whispered.
An overwhelming chill crawled through Luca’s entire body.
Then gravity exploded beside him.
Adrian slamd his palm downward as crushing force descended upon the creature from above, powerful enough to collapse the surrounding floor completely.
At the sa mont—
A silver shadow flashed through the darkness.
Sylthara appeared behind the chained figure like a phantom erging from night itself, her movents silent and terrifyingly precise as black shadow mana wrapped around her twin daggers.
Unlike ordinary darkness—
Her shadows devoured light itself.
The daggers pierced directly toward the creature’s spine from its blind spot.
SHHHKKK—!
For the first ti—
Black blood spilled.
The chained figure paused.
Sylthara’s silver eyes narrowed sharply.
"It can be injured."
But the next mont—
The creature’s head twisted around unnaturally.
Completely.
Until its crimson gaze locked directly onto her.
Luca’s instincts scread again.
"SYLTHARA!"
The creature moved.
Not fast.
Instant.
One mont it stood before Adrian.
The next—
Its hand had already wrapped around Sylthara’s throat.
The dark elf’s eyes widened violently as her body was lifted effortlessly from the ground, shadow mana erupting wildly around her while black corruption imdiately began crawling across her arm from the point of contact.
Lilliane scread her na.
Luca’s space mana exploded.
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