Chapter 68: The Asymmetrical War

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: The Asymmetrical War

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." — H.P. Lovecraft

•••

Malakor’s transformation was complete.

Hard layers of bone covered his body, while strange openings along his neck allowed him to breathe. His hands constantly changed shape, shifting between sharp tools and powerful fists.

He rolled his shoulders.

CRACK! CRACK!

For the first time, the professor was no longer smiling.

"Nyx. Take him apart piece by piece," Joel ordered.

Nyx was already moving.

SHHK!

One of the breathing grafts on Malakor’s shoulder was sliced off and disappeared into the shadows above.

Malakor immediately struck at her, but she had already vanished.

His fingers suddenly stretched into long, sharp needles. He pulled a thread of red light from the remains of the destroyed golems and began stitching the air.

"Nothing in this room stays dead without my permission."

The scattered remains of the golems began moving.

Severed arms reattached themselves to broken bodies.

The Choir’s three heads joined together on a single neck, releasing another terrible scream.

More pieces of flesh and bone gathered around it, forming a massive body.

Within moments, the creature stood again.

And this time, it was even bigger than before.

"First barrage," Vulcan announced.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

A barrage of superheated metal projectiles shot across the floor, leaving bright white trails behind them.

The attacks struck the Choir, tearing its newly rebuilt body apart.

KRUMP! KRUMP! KRUMP!

Burning pieces of flesh scattered across three meters of scorched floor.

Thalassa’s pressure sphere absorbed the noise of the explosions, turning the sounds into large bubbles that floated toward the ceiling and burst.

Glub.

[Ding!]

[Experience awarded: diminished. Reanimated remains hold little value. The dead do not pay twice.]

Malakor began stitching faster. Another wave of creatures rose from the crater while smoke from Vulcan’s attack still filled the air.

Joel calmly walked forward, destroying anything that survived the barrage.

A severed arm with a bone cleaver dragged itself toward the tanks using its elbow.

Joel stepped on the elbow and pulled out its master rune.

The arm immediately stopped moving.

He slipped the rune into his pocket.

Evidence.

The second wave lasted four seconds.

The third lasted three.

The fourth collapsed before Malakor could even finish stitching it together.

Thalassa’s crushing pressure, equal to four thousand meters of deep water, pressed against every part of its body, causing the unfinished creature to fall apart.

Just as Malakor’s own research had shown, stitched flesh always had its limits.

Vulcan didn’t even need to attack again.

He stood among the fading smoke, his armor still glowing as the remaining pieces of flesh stopped moving.

This was no longer a proper battle.It was a complete slaughter.

Malakor straightened his body.

Suddenly, his jaw split open along several new joints, widening far beyond what a human mouth could manage.

Inside his throat, several purple glands began swelling.

TSSSSSSS!

Black acid sprayed across the stone floor, spreading with a loud hiss.

It was the same graft-fluid Joel had collected in the stolen vial, now being used as a weapon in large amounts.

The acid melted the brass bands around the nearest tanks before rushing toward Joel.

Thalassa raised two fingers.

A wall of water immediately rose in front of him.

TSSS!

The acid struck the barrier and began breaking apart into harmless gray streams.

Within seconds, it had lost its dangerous properties and flowed down the shield.

The wall of water remained completely still.

Thalassa had neutralized the entire attack without any difficulty.

[Ding!]

[Hostile spell neutralized: corrosive spray, Tier 3. Shield integrity: unblemished.]

"The acid has been weakened until it’s completely harmless," Thalassa said calmly. "Try again, Professor. The tide is still thirsty."

•••

Malakor stared at the wall of water. Then he looked at the smoke where his army had been destroyed repeatedly.

Nyx was still moving through the shadows, cutting pieces from his shoulder. Vulcan stood nearby, his massive body glowing as he waited for another chance to attack.

Malakor’s hands began trembling.

Joel noticed immediately.

It was the first time the professor had shown real fear.

His army had been destroyed, his acid had become harmless, and his powerful creations couldn’t withstand Thalassa’s crushing pressure.

"Three bound servants," Malakor muttered. "All above boss grade, and all obeying a first-year student as though he’s their master."

His voice grew quieter.

"That’s impossible. Neither blood nor money can create such a contract. I’ve studied every summoning contract in this academy, and nothing explains your abilities."

"Maybe you should check the lost property office," Joel replied calmly.

Malakor ignored the joke.

"Gray mist," he whispered. "A sound like the sea pulling away. Survivors of the Genesis Tear gaining multiple Classes within a single body..."

His eyes widened as he looked at Joel.

"I spent nine years experimenting on countless subjects, trying to recreate that power."

His trembling grew worse.

"And now, the very thing I’ve been searching for has walked into my laboratory wearing a battered coat."

He stared at Joel in disbelief.

"You’re the real thing."

His voice shook.

"You’re an anomaly."

"Yes," Joel replied. "And you’re just a fake."

Malakor’s hands suddenly stopped shaking.

Somehow, that was even more frightening.

"Then this fake has nothing left to prove," Malakor said. "But I still have one last thing to use."

He stepped back toward the incubation cradles and took a syringe made of black glass.

Inside it, a glowing red core slowly rotated like a tiny sun.

A label written in his neat handwriting read:

Subject Zero. Do not use.

But Malakor ignored the warning.

K-CHK!

He plunged the syringe into the side of his neck and pushed down the plunger.

For a moment, the entire laboratory fell silent.

[Ding!]

[Warning: volatile Rift-Core integration detected. Signature: experimental. Stability: failing.]

KRRR-AK.

The transformation happened instantly.

Bone plates burst outward across Malakor’s body. The breathing grafts along his neck tore open and reformed into something larger.

His body grew rapidly until his shoulders pressed against the ultraviolet lamps, forcing them aside.

More arms unfolded from his sides.

Then even more arms grew from those.

Each new hand had a different shape: a cleaver, a hook, a needle, or a crushing fist.

His face split apart into three separate jaws.

All three mouths moved at once, speaking in the same calm, tired voice.

That was the most horrifying part.

Even like this, he still sounded kind.

[Ding!]

[Hostile reclassified: Malakor, Rift-Chimera, unstable.]

[Threat assessment: exceeds measurable grade.]

Joel had always enjoyed having the advantage in a fight.

But now, he was the one at a disadvantage.

The chimera crossed the floor in a single stride.

Its massive fist came crashing down.

Joel raised his arms to block the attack.

His defenses held, but the force was too powerful to absorb completely. His arm bent under the impact, and the remaining force slammed into his body.

CRASH!

He was thrown backward, smashing through two workbenches and shattering them into pieces.

Joel finally struck the far wall.

A sharp pain spread through his chest as something inside him cracked.

Krik.

[Ding!]

[Passive trait evolved: under sustained overload, Aegis Frame has hardened into Kinetic Bastion.]

[Effect: absorption rate doubled. Overflow force is now amortized across the frame rather than delivered to a single point.]

The remaining force had been spread across his body, and his bones were taking the damage instead.

Joel spat blood onto the floor.

It wasn’t ideal, but he could still fight.

Before his broken ribs could begin healing, the chimera grabbed him.

Eight massive arms wrapped around his body, trapping him in a crushing grip.

KRRK! KRRK!

His ribs began breaking under the pressure.

One.

Two.

Then a third.

[Ding!]

[Survival Accumulation: 100 percent. Lethal event logged: crush trauma, internal hemorrhage. Fate Point awarded. Balance: 15.]

Every blow Joel received gave him more stored energy.

For nine years, students had suffered under Malakor’s experiments. But Joel was the first to turn that suffering into an advantage.

He released all the force stored from the crushing grip in one powerful uppercut.

KRAK!

The attack shattered Malakor’s arm from the elbow to the shoulder.

But instead of showing pain, Malakor calmly examined the damage.

His broken bones immediately began moving, reshaping the ruined arm into a massive hook.

It seemed his regeneration worked on himself as well as his creations.

Suddenly, Malakor raised the hook alongside another massive fist and brought both down toward Joel.

With no room to dodge, Joel raised both palms to block.

WHUMP!

The impact shattered the floor beneath him.

Joel dropped to one knee as cracks spread across the stone tiles from his boots.

Blood filled his mouth.

He spat it out, watching as Thalassa’s pressure sphere turned it into a stream of small bubbles.

Glk.

[Ding!]

[Survival Accumulation: 100 percent. Lethal event logged: blunt-force trauma, bilateral fractures. Fate Point awarded. Balance: 16.]

His old records called it farming. Joel had always hated that word. It made taking damage sound like something simple, when there was nothing simple about being beaten through a marble floor by a monster with too many arms.

From beneath the sealed hatch, a faint voice continued repeating the same number.

"...nine... nine... nine..."

Suddenly, the chimera drove its massive knee into Joel’s side.

THUD!

A sharp pain shot through his liver.

Meanwhile, Nyx moved along the chimera’s blind side, cutting through its joints one after another.

The creature struggled to stop her, but all eight of its arms were occupied.

Despite having so many arms, it couldn’t spare even one to deal with Nyx.

And Joel wasn’t about to waste that advantage.

[Ding!]

[Survival Accumulation: 100 percent. Lethal event logged: organ trauma, deep hemorrhage. Fate Point awarded. Balance: 17.]

Three deadly attacks in less than two minutes.

Joel’s broken ribs were already healing.

KSSH! KSSH!

His Bastion absorbed as much damage as possible and spread the rest over time, giving his body a chance to recover.

Joel slowly rose from the crater, his legs regaining their strength.

Malakor towered over him, now twelve meters tall, with three jaws moving as he spoke.

"I’ll crush that special body of yours," he said gently, "and dump what’s left into the reservoir with the next shipment."

"About that," Joel replied, smiling through the blood on his lips.

He planted his feet firmly against the edge of the crater, his stored energy already at full capacity.

"You’ve already fallen three points behind. Keep attacking, Professor. At this rate, I’ll graduate before you manage to kill me."

The chimera charged again, spreading all eight arms wide as it prepared another devastating attack.

Joel stepped forward to meet it.

This time, the professor wasn’t the only one teaching a lesson.