Chapter 196: Holding On

Chapter 196: Chapter 196: Holding On

Getting to the Heart normally would already be difficult.

With the corruption inside it, stabilizing it would be even harder.

Still, Damon didn’t stop.

"We’re almost there, it should get easy from here."

Caelia looked at him.

"Are you sure?"

"No."

She stared at him blankly. But Damon smiled in return.

"But we have to do it anyway."

Caelia shook her head.

"You really don’t know how to make things easy."

"Easy isn’t really my specialty." Damon replied as they moved again.

A powerful wind current suddenly slammed into them.

Shiro alert raised an Ice Wall quickly. While Caelia added another layer.

As they continued moving forward slowly.

Step by step.

The Zone Heart grew larger in front of them.

And Damon could already feel its condition through the surrounding Aether.

It was unstable.

Weak.

But still alive.

That was enough.

Damon looked at the Heart.

"I know what I need to do."

He would have to refine the elemental Aether.

Remove the impurities.

Then return the purified energy to the Zone Heart.

Little by little.

He couldn’t force it.

If he pushed too much energy into the Heart while it was unstable, he might make things worse.

It would be slower than Frostveil.

Much slower.

But Damon had already made his decision.

"We’re going to fix this."

The storm roared around them.

Damon stepped closer.

This time, he wasn’t looking for the fastest way.

He was looking for the right one. If the Zone Heart could be restored, Tempest Hollow would finally have a chance to recover.

And Damon intended to make sure it did as he stepped closer to the Zone Heart.

The storm around the group became even more violent.

Lightning twisted through the air while strong currents of wind swept across the chamber, forcing everyone to stay alert.

This wasn’t the kind of place where they could simply stand around and watch Damon work.

They had to protect themselves.

More importantly, they had to protect Damon if something went wrong.

Damon looked at them.

"Once I start, I’ll probably won’t be able to pay much attention to anything else."

Caelia nodded.

"Then don’t. We’ll handle it."

Freya gave a confident growl.

Sylphie spread her wings beside him.

Shiro lowered his body, ready to react.

Snow moved closer to Caelia.

Damon glanced around at them.

They were all already prepared.

He trusted them.

That was enough.

"Alright. Let’s do this."

Damon reached toward the Zone Heart.

The moment his hand came close, lightning exploded from the sphere.

ZAP!

Damon pulled his arm back just in time.

The lightning passed so close that the hair on his arm stood up.

Had he been even a little slower, it would have taken his arm with it.

The force still caught him.

Damon was knocked backward and landed on an ice platform Shiro had created.

He steadied himself.

"Yeah... that hurts."

Caelia frowned.

"Are you alright?"

"I’m fine."

Damon looked at the Heart again.

His lightning resistance had taken most of the damage, but that wasn’t something he could rely on forever.

He needed a better approach.

Instead of touching it directly, he gathered his own Aether.

Wind and lightning flowed through his White Core, then into his Spirit Origin.

The Spirit Origin refined both elements before sending them back to him in a much cleaner form.

Damon raised his hand.

"Let’s try this."

He released the purified wind and lightning toward the Zone Heart.

The moment the energy reached it, the violent movement inside the sphere slowed.

Just a little.

But it was enough to notice.

The Heart absorbed the purified Aether greedily.

Damon’s eyes narrowed.

"So it can still recognize the proper energy."

That was good.

Very good.

But there was a problem.

His own supply wouldn’t be enough.

Damon took a breath and began drawing in the surrounding elemental Aether.

Immediately, violent wind rushed into his body.

Lightning followed.

His Aether Veins trembled under the pressure.

Damon gritted his teeth.

This wasn’t like the calm elemental Aether he normally cultivated with.

It was unstable and mixed with the corruption affecting the Zone Heart.

But he didn’t try to force it away.

Instead, he guided it toward his White Core.

The White Core began rotating rapidly.

The incoming Aether was pulled inside.

Then the Spirit Origin took over.

The violent energy entered the Second Core and was quickly separated.

The impurities were stripped away.

The unstable lightning became calmer.

The wind lost its violent edge.

What came out was much closer to the pure elemental Aether Damon was used to handling.

He immediately sent it back toward the Zone Heart.

The Heart absorbed it.

Another small part of the storm calmed.

Damon let out a quiet breath.

"That works."

So he continued.

Behind him, the others had already started moving.

A bolt of lightning suddenly shot toward Damon.

"Watch out!"

Caelia raised her hand.

An Ice Wall appeared between them.

Boom!

Lightning crashed into the wall and shattered it.

Before the fragments could even fall, a violent gust swept through the chamber.

Snow rushed forward and slammed his paws into the air.

Ice spread across the current and slowed it enough for Caelia to move.

At the same time, Freya released a burst of silver lightning.

The two currents collided.

The explosion pushed them both backward.

Freya dug her claws into the ice and growled.

"Easy."

Caelia steadied herself.

"We’re fine."

But Damon barely noticed.

His attention was already back on the Zone Heart.

He continued drawing in the unstable Aether.

The process was difficult.

Every time he pulled in too much, the lightning inside his body became more violent.

Every time he slowed down, the Zone Heart became unstable again.

So Damon adjusted.

A little faster.

Then slower.

Then faster again.

He was learning how the Heart reacted.

And the more he understood it, the easier it became.

Another wave of wind struck, but Sylphie flew directly into it.

Her six wings spread wide as she pushed against the current, redirecting it away from Damon.

*Keep going*.

Damon smiled faintly.

"I am."