Severance

Chapter 35 — Severance

The creature's crimson aura exploded outward.

Trees were ripped from the ground.

The ancient shrine groaned under the pressure, while cracks spread across its foundation.

Aether remained where he stood.

His sword hummed in his hand.

[Origin Severance: 7%]

[Function currently limited by synchronization.]

[Unknown Origin Blade Synchronization: 5%]

Aether exhaled slowly.

“Let's see what you can really do.”

The creature moved.

It disappeared from sight.

Aether's instincts screamed.

He turned his sword sideways.

CLANG!

A massive claw struck the blade.

The impact launched Aether backward.

His feet carved two deep lines through the earth before he stopped.

Lyra immediately fired a bolt of lightning.

“Behind you!”

Aether ducked.

The creature's second arm passed over his head.

He twisted and slashed upward.

The Origin Blade cut through the creature's armor.

This time, the wound didn't immediately close.

Aether noticed.

“So that's your weakness.”

The creature looked down at the wound.

Its expression darkened.

“Severance.”

Aether smiled.

“You know the name.”

“I remember the weapon.”

The creature raised all four arms.

“You should not possess it.”

“Yet here we are.”

The creature attacked again.

Aether met it head-on.

Spear.

Blade.

Hammer.

Chain.

Four weapons attacked from different directions.

Aether dodged the spear, blocked the curved blade, stepped around the hammer, then caught the chain with his free hand.

The chain wrapped around his arm.

The creature pulled.

Aether used the momentum.

He stepped forward instead of resisting and drove his sword into the creature's chest.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

CRACK!

The blade pierced deeper.

The creature roared.

Crimson energy erupted from the wound.

Aether was thrown away.

Lyra caught him with a lightning-enhanced movement before he hit the ground.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

Aether pushed himself upright.

A faint line of blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

He wiped it away.

The creature's wound was slowly closing again.

[Origin Severance effect detected.]

[Target regeneration partially interrupted.]

[Current effect: 7%.]

Aether's eyes sharpened.

The ability wasn't overwhelming yet.

But it could interfere with the creature's recovery.

That was enough.

“Lyra.”

She looked at him.

“I'll create an opening.”

Lightning gathered around her body.

“You finish it?”

“Not yet.”

Aether pointed toward the creature.

“I want to understand it first.”

Lyra gave him a strange look.

“You really want to analyze that thing while fighting it?”

“That's how I grow.”

The creature charged.

Lyra smiled.

“Then don't fall behind.”

She vanished.

Thunder exploded across the battlefield.

“Thunderheart Domain!”

Lightning spread across the ground.

For several seconds, the creature's movements slowed.

Not much.

But enough.

Aether moved.

His Origin Energy surged through the blade.

[Origin Conduction.]

[Adaptive Resonance: 11%.]

He struck the creature's shoulder.

Slash.

Its armor cracked.

He struck its abdomen.

Another crack.

Then its knee.

The creature staggered.

Aether didn't attack randomly.

He was mapping it.

Every strike revealed something.

Its armor was strongest around the chest.

Its regeneration came from the crimson energy between its scales.

The four weapons were connected to its Origin flow.

And—

there was something beneath its chest.

A second energy source.

Aether's expression changed.

“There.”

The creature suddenly swung its hammer.

Aether barely dodged.

BOOM!

The ground exploded.

He rolled away.

The creature looked at him.

“You see it.”

Aether stopped.

“What?”

“The seal inside me.”

Aether's eyes narrowed.

“You're sealed?”

The creature laughed.

“Not sealed.”

It placed one hand over its chest.

“Chained.”

The broken chain hanging from its arm suddenly glowed.

Aether understood.

The chain wasn't a weapon.

It was part of the seal.

The creature wasn't fully awakened.

The shrine hadn't released its complete power.

“What happens if the chain breaks?”

The ancient wolf answered before the creature could.

“Then this Origin Zone will not survive.”

Aether looked at the creature again.

“So you're not trying to escape.”

The creature smiled.

“You finally understand.”

It turned toward the shrine.

“I'm trying to wake.”

Aether's gaze shifted to the shrine.

[Bloodline Shrine Awakening: 81% → 86%.]

The Crimson Fang Wolf suddenly cried out.

Her body erupted with crimson energy.

The three evolution symbols appeared again.

The first began fading.

The second became unstable.

The third—

shone brighter than both.

[Bloodline Evolution Trial.]

[Phase Two: Protection.]

[Progress: 46% → 61%.]

[Unknown Path Compatibility: 58% → 71%.]

The ancient wolf stared at the third path.

“It has chosen.”

Aether glanced at the wolf.

“Chosen what?”

“A direction.”

The Crimson Fang Wolf's body began changing.

Her crimson fur darkened.

Thin silver lines appeared across her forehead.

Her claws lengthened.

But the transformation stopped.

The energy collapsed back into her body.

[Bloodline Evolution incomplete.]

[Reason: Cultivation insufficient.]

The wolf remained standing.

She hadn't evolved yet.

But something had changed.

Her bloodline had made its choice.

The third path.

The ancient wolf spoke quietly.

“The path beyond power and protection.”

Aether looked toward the Crimson Fang Wolf.

“What is it?”

The ancient wolf shook its head.

“Even I do not know.”

The creature beneath the shrine suddenly laughed.

“Of course you don't.”

Its eyes turned toward the wolf.

“That path was erased.”

Aether immediately looked at it.

“Erased by whom?”

The creature didn't answer.

Instead, it raised its four weapons.

The crimson energy around it became unstable.

The shrine began shaking violently.

[Warning.]

[Bloodline Shrine Awakening: 86%.]

[Critical threshold approaching.]

Aether's expression hardened.

“How much longer?”

The ancient wolf answered.

“Fourteen percent.”

“And then?”

“The shrine completes its awakening.”

Aether looked at the creature.

“And that thing?”

“It will regain more of its sealed power.”

Aether's grip tightened.

That couldn't happen.

Not yet.

He needed answers.

He needed the shrine.

And he needed the sword's secrets.

But the situation was becoming too dangerous to simply observe.

The creature charged again.

Aether stepped forward.

This time, he didn't dodge.

He swung the Origin Blade.

The two attacks collided.

BOOM!

A shockwave tore through the forest.

Aether's feet sank into the earth.

The creature's claws stopped against his blade.

For the first time, they were evenly matched.

The sword's silver glow intensified.

[Adaptive Resonance: 11% → 17%.]

[Origin Severance: 7% → 9%.]

Aether's eyes widened.

The weapon was learning.

And so was he.

He pushed forward.

The creature pushed back.

Then Aether smiled.

“You're still holding back.”

The creature's expression changed.

Aether continued.

“So am I.”

His Origin Energy erupted.

The Unknown Origin Blade released a silver-black flash.

The creature was blasted backward.

It crashed into the shrine.

The ancient structure shook.

Aether raised his sword.

“Now show me what's beneath that seal.”

The creature slowly stood.

Its four weapons fell to the ground.

One by one.

Its crimson armor began cracking.

Something far more terrifying was beginning to emerge.

And the Bloodline Shrine reached—

90%.