Chapter 159: Dragon Down

The facility’s alarms shrieked louder, their pitch climbing to a mind-splitting crescendo that reverberated through the smoke-filled corridors.

Ginsei’s serpentine senses picked up movement in the surrounding corridors—heavy footsteps, claws scraping against metal, and the unmistakable musk of enhanced wolf spirits converging on their position.

"More wolves coming," he hissed, ice crystals forming around his fingertips. "At least a dozen. Maybe more."

Mochi’s usual manic grin had vanished entirely.

Both his tails puffed out to twice their normal size, black and white fur standing on end as primal fear overtook his chaotic bravado.

"We can’t fight another wave of those things, not with Scaley Daddy like this."

Cyrus writhed on the laboratory floor, crimson energy crackling unpredictably around his convulsing form.

Every breath came out as a pained growl, his connection to Kane flooding him with waves of agony that made his dragon instincts scream for vengeance.

Ginsei’s jaw tightened, every instinct demanding they stand and fight.

But survival trumped honor.

"Grab the dragon," Ginsei ordered, abandoning his usual calculated demeanor. "We move. Now."

Mochi reached for Cyrus first, then jerked his hand back with a sharp hiss.

"He’s burning up! Like, literally burning."

Crimson veins pulsed beneath Cyrus’s skin. The air around him shimmered with heat waves, and the metal floor beneath him had already begun to warp.

Ginsei’s serpent mist coiled around his arms like protective gauntlets.

"My mist should buffer the worst of it."

But even through the protective vapor, Cyrus’s skin felt like touching molten steel.

Ginsei gritted his teeth, ice crystals forming along his forearms to counteract the dragon’s heat.

Mochi frantically tore charms from his vest, slapping them across Cyrus’s chest and shoulders like makeshift bandages.

"Protection from fire, heat dampening, aura suppression—"

Each talisman flared briefly before settling into a dull glow.

Together, they hauled Cyrus down a narrow side corridor, his unconscious form leaving a trail of scorched footprints.

Behind them, the enhanced wolves’ howls grew closer, echoing through the facility like hunting calls.

Cyrus’s agonized roar echoed through the corridor as his body seized violently, every muscle locked in spasms that made his spine arch off the floor.

Blood erupted from his mouth in a crimson torrent, mixing with billows of black smoke that reeked of sulfur and charred metal.

The stench of iron and dragonfire filled the narrow hallway, making Mochi gag and stumble backward.

"This doesn’t look good!" Mochi shouted over the facility’s shrieking alarms.

Ginsei’s serpentine eyes widened as Bureau training clicked into place—the synchronized convulsions, the shared pain responses.

"They’re bonded," he breathed, ice crystals forming around his fingertips as realization struck.

"Soul-bonded. I should have seen it before—the protective behavior, the constant proximity, the way their auras intertwined."

Another violent spasm wracked Cyrus’s frame, flames erupting uncontrollably from his hands and mouth.

The metal walls around them began to buckle from the heat, paint peeling in long strips.

Ginsei grabbed Mochi’s shoulder, serpent strength nearly lifting the cat spirit off his feet.

"The bond is overloading his system. If Kane dies—if whatever they’re doing to him pushes him too far—"

Cyrus vomited another stream of blood and smoke, his dragon aura flaring so wildly that the overhead lights exploded in showers of sparks.

"Cyrus might burn out with him."

The enhanced wolves’ howls grew louder as their massive forms materialized through the smoke, blue veins pulsing like neon beneath their fur.

"We got wolves!" Mochi fumbled through his vest pockets, pulling out a spherical charm crackling with dark energy.

He hurled the smoke bomb down the corridor. Thick black vapor erupted on impact, but the wolves’ enhanced senses cut through the concealment like searchlights.

"That won’t hold them!"

Mochi’s second throw was more deliberate—an ultrasonic grenade that stuck to the ceiling.

The resonance device hummed for three seconds before unleashing a sonic pulse that shattered support beams and brought tons of concrete crashing down.

The wolves’ snarls turned to yelps as debris blocked the corridor, though claws already scraped against stone as they began digging through.

"This way!" Ginsei spotted a partially collapsed doorway. They dragged Cyrus through the opening.

Emergency lighting flickered weakly overhead, casting shadows across abandoned operating tables and rusted medical equipment.

The eerie silence pressed down on them like a weight, broken only by the distant sound of claws scraping against concrete.

"If he dies, we die too," Ginsei hissed, serpentine eyes darting toward the blocked corridor.

"We can’t stay here."

"Shut up!" Mochi snapped, his usual playful demeanor cracking like shattered glass. "He’s not dying on my watch. That fox would haunt me nine times over if I let it happen."

"You think I want this? But we’re oath-bound to him now. Those fiery chains don’t disappear just because—"

Cyrus groaned, a sound torn from somewhere deep in his chest. His eyelids fluttered, crimson irises unfocused and glazed with pain.

"Kane..." The name escaped his lips, barely audible above the facility’s dying alarms.

"Kane, I’m... coming..."

His head rolled to the side, consciousness slipping away completely.

Mochi’s composure shattered entirely. The cat spirit dropped to his knees, grabbing Cyrus’s shoulders with trembling hands.

"No, no, no! Wake up, Scaley Daddy!" Mochi shook him frantically, his voice climbing to a desperate pitch. "You can’t check out now! Kane needs you!"

Cyrus remained motionless, his breathing shallow and erratic.

Concrete dust rained from the ceiling as massive claws tore through the debris barricade.

Ginsei’s eyes met Mochi’s, both spirits recognizing the inevitable—they had minutes, maybe less.

"If the dragon falls, this whole rescue fails," Ginsei said, his voice carrying grim determination. "We need a new plan fast."

The scraping sounds intensified. A wolf’s muzzle broke through the rubble, blue veins pulsing beneath enhanced muscle as it squeezed toward them.

Mochi’s hands trembled as he rummaged through his vest’s inner pockets, past empty charm loops and spent talismans.

His fingers closed around something wrapped in black silk—something he’d sworn never to use.

The forbidden tool felt cold against his palm, radiating an aura so dark it made his fur stand on end.

"It’s either this..." Mochi’s voice cracked as he unwrapped the object, its surface crawling with symbols that hurt to look at directly.

The first wolf pushed through the barrier, lips pulled back in a snarl that revealed fangs crackling with electrical energy.

"Or we all die."