Chapter 164: Echoes Of Essences

Another explosion rocked the facility, closer this time. Cyrus’s expression darkened. "The facility is collapsing. We need to—"

"We can’t just leave," Kane said, his enhanced hearing picking up the distressed cries of captive spirits throughout the complex.

"There are so many of them still trapped."

Mochi stepped forward, his usual playful demeanor replaced by grim determination. "The fox is right. We can’t leave them to die."

Ginsei nodded curtly. "I suggest we split up to cover more ground."

"Alright, both of you focus on the containment levels," Cyrus commanded. "Release everyone you can. Kane and I will search the research levels."

They moved swiftly through the collapsing corridors. Mochi and Ginsei disappeared down a side passage toward the containment wards, while Kane and Cyrus headed deeper into the research section.

Kane’s enhanced senses guided them through the maze of laboratories and storage rooms.

His fox ears twitched at every sound—the hiss of escaping gas, the groan of stressed metal, and the distant cries of freed spirits.

"Did you send them together on purpose?" Kane said as they moved through a smoke-filled corridor, his golden eyes gleaming with understanding.

A smirk tugged at Cyrus’s lips despite the chaos around them. Kane knew him too well.

"I suspected you wanted the same thing," Cyrus admitted. "Tell me, what’s on your mind?"

Kane’s golden eyes blazed as they moved through the smoking corridor, his nine tails flickering with residual silver fire.

"Cyrus, Elias injected me with essence from the Screaming Shard," he said, his voice carrying a new depth of power.

"The one you traded for the chalice."

Cyrus paused mid-stride, crimson energy crackling around his hands as he processed Kane’s words.

"That’s impossible. I secured the real shard in Vault Seven immediately after the trade."

Kane’s fox ears flattened against his skull.

"Then you need to know something. Did Madam Xiu’s shard seem genuine when you examined it?"

"It didn’t seem like a fake," Cyrus replied slowly. "I can tell if an ancient artifact of this caliber was a counterfeit."

Kane’s enhanced senses picked up the uncertainty creeping into Cyrus’s voice. "But?"

"But if Elias had access to shard essence..." Cyrus’s expression darkened as understanding dawned.

"Then either Madam Xiu provided him with a duplicate, or there is more to this scheme than meets the eye."

Suddenly, the facility shuddered around them, chunks of concrete raining from the damaged ceiling.

Kane’s tails swept protectively around both of them, deflecting the debris with casual ease.

"Right, but if Elias has been experimenting with the Screaming shard," Kane continued, "then he might have the Mercy Fragment too."

Cyrus’s eyes flashed with draconic fury.

"And your next question is whether he took them with him when he fled, or if they’re still somewhere in this collapsing maze?"

Another explosion echoed through the facility, and Kane’s ears swiveled toward the sound.

"You think it’s possible?"

Cyrus’s jaw tightened as he considered the possibilities.

"Given Elias’s nature, he would have taken any valuable items with him. He’s too paranoid to leave critical assets behind."

Kane’s enhanced hearing caught the distant sound of metal groaning under stress. "But is it worth searching?"

"Yes, but we don’t have much time." Cyrus gestured toward the ceiling, where new cracks spiderwebbed across the concrete.

Kane’s nine tails bristled with nervous energy.

"Then we move fast."

Kane closed his eyes, his fox ears twitching as he extended his enhanced senses throughout the crumbling facility.

The synthetic enhancements from the Screaming Shard had amplified his natural abilities beyond anything he’d experienced before.

"There," he whispered, golden eyes snapping open. "Something’s resonating with the shard essence in my system."

His nine tails swayed as he navigated through the corridors, following an energy signature that felt ancient and powerful.

Cyrus stayed close behind, crimson energy crackling around his hands as he deflected falling debris away from Kane.

They descended another level, where the architecture changed dramatically. Instead of sterile laboratory walls, they found themselves facing ornate stone archways and reinforced vault doors.

"This is different," Kane murmured, approaching a massive steel door covered in glowing runes.

"The enchantments here are older and more complex."

Kane placed his hands against the vault door, silver fire blazing from his nine tails. The runes flared in response, but his raw power overwhelmed the ancient wards.

Metal shrieked as the reinforced door buckled under his enhanced strength.

"Whatever’s in there," Kane said, tearing the door open with supernatural force, "Elias considered it worth protecting."

Kane stepped through the twisted vault door, he surveyed the chamber, and what he found made his enhanced senses recoil.

Rows of empty containment pods lined the walls, each one labeled with clinical text. His fox ears flattened as he read the placards:

Whispering Shard Subject Pool, Screaming Shard Enhancement Protocol, Silent Shard Suppression Studies, Singing Shard Regeneration Trials.

"Cyrus," Kane called softly, his voice carrying a new gravity. "You need to see this."

Each pod was equipped with injection systems, neural monitors, and restraint mechanisms that made the laboratory upstairs look primitive by comparison.

Kane’s enhanced hearing caught the faint hum of dormant machinery, waiting for subjects that would never come.

Cyrus appeared beside him, crimson energy flickering as he examined the sophisticated equipment.

"But the pods are empty," Cyrus observed. "Either he never got the chance to begin these experiments..."

Kane’s nine tails bristled with realization. "Or every subject he tried died in the process.

Kane darted between the empty pods, his enhanced senses searching for any trace of the shards.

His fox ears twitched at every sound—the groan of stressed metal, the hiss of damaged ventilation systems.

"Nothing," Kane muttered, checking another containment unit. "The shards aren’t here."

But his golden eyes caught a glint of pale green light in a corner workstation. A small vial, no larger than his thumb, contained a luminescent substance that made his enhanced senses sing with recognition.

"Wait," Kane breathed, carefully lifting the vial. The liquid inside pulsed with the same healing resonance he’d felt from the Mercy Fragment’s description.

"This is singing shard essence. It has to be."

Cyrus moved toward another section of the lab, then froze completely.

Kane turned to find Cyrus staring into a large incubator, his face pale with shock.