Chapter 363: Switch

The forty-eight hours passed like a countdown with no sound.

Kyle spent most of it in the training bay under Sector 3, beating the hell out of a reinforced dummy until the plating dented. Not because he needed the practice. Because sitting still meant thinking, and thinking meant seeing his parents behind that glass again.

[You’re burning out your shoulders.] Snow said in his head. [Again.]

Kyle didn’t stop. "Let me burn. I’ve been slacking a lot and at this rate it’ll take forever before I can save them."

Listening to him, snow didn’t need to read his pulse to feel his heart spike saying those words. It was like the weight of an entire building dropped.

[I don’t have human emotions to understand what you’re currently going through. But as your system guide, I’m allowed to interfere if your life is in danger and guide your path beyond godlike power.]

Not responding immediately, there was a clear expression of shock in his eyes. "You’re not talking about original being powers. Right?"

[I am. Tell me you didn’t think your evolution would stop at godhood?]

’Well kinda.. I mean there’s an increase in my power scale, but I’m still not confident in facing king tier beasts. Not to mention demigod, and others.’

He honestly replied, earning a fed up sigh from snow.

[You won’t be useful on Kraken if you tear your rotator cuff before we even drop.]

He finally dropped the weighted sparring arm and wiped sweat from his brow. The dummy’s chest caved in with a hiss of venting air.

"Fine." he muttered. "What’s the status?"

[Aegis-V suits are calibrated. Mana stones loaded to 98%. Koyuki’s already in the hangar, checking her thrusters for the fifth time. She doesn’t trust anyone else to touch them.]

Kyle smirked despite himself. "Paranoid."

[Efficient.] Snow corrected. [She knows if those fail, she dies in under four minutes. That’ll do that to a person.]

Kyle grabbed a towel, slung it over his shoulder, and headed for the decontamination showers. The mission was in six hours.

---

Hangar Bay Alpha. T-minus 6 hours

The drop ship sat low and wide, matte black with reinforced plating. No markings. No sigils. If it went down on Kraken, the kingdom didn’t want anyone knowing where it came from.

The strike team was already assembling.

Koyuki was leaning against the landing gear, arms crossed, her suit half-sealed. The teal lines along her joints were dim, conserving charge. She looked up as Kyle approached, eyes scanning him once.

"You look like hell." She initiated with a light smile.

"So do you." Kyle responded instantly.

She almost smiled back. "Good. Means we’re both serious."

Takumi was arguing with Mei over the navigation console, both of them gesturing at a rotating hologram of Kraken’s surface.

"I’m telling you, the eastern rift is unstable! If we drop there, we’ll be dealing with atmospheric shear and ground collapse!" Takumi said, voice tight.

"And I’m telling you the western cavern entrance is collapsed!" Mei shot back. "We don’t have time to drill! We take the rift, use your thruster packs to stabilize descent, and move fast!"

"Both of you, shut up!" Ryoma Tachibana said calmly, stepping between them. Tall, composed, command posture without trying. "We drop at the northern fissure. It’s the closest stable entry to the Luminara caverns. Reze confirmed it an hour ago."

Takumi and Mei both shut up.

Daiki Aoyama, the medic, was checking his med kit for the third time. Hayato Saito was cleaning his rifle with methodical precision. Sakura Nakahara was loading crates of Krakite sampling tools and containment units.

Kyle walked past them all and stopped in front of Koyuki.

"You good with this?" He asked, a bit skeptical about teaming with them. Certainly in denial of trust, but still... Kraken according to the vision he’d seen was vast.

Not like hell vast but generally big, just like a planet was meant to be. So the option of soloing kraken was ruled out, not to mention transportation and several other factors.

’This doesn’t feel right.’ He thought, sensing a looming prediction awaited them. Far from the vision he saw.

"With what?" Koyuki voice snapped him from his trance. A frown written on her face, raising a brow.

"Working with me. After what happened in the maintenance level."

Koyuki’s expression didn’t change. "I don’t hold grudges in the field. Grudges get people killed. You’re strong, you follow orders when it matters, and you don’t run. That’s enough for me."

Kyle nodded. "Same."

Troy arrived five minutes later with Ona and Wheeler behind him. The entire hangar went quiet.

"Strike team." Troy said, voice carrying without shouting. "You know the objective. Krakite alloy, Void Silica, Luminara plant. In that order. Kraken doesn’t care if you’re a general or a demon. It kills everyone equally if you’re careless."

He looked at Kyle.

"Your priority is extraction and survival. Don’t get heroic. Don’t get greedy. Get the plant, get out. If you try to run with it, Koyuki has orders to stop you."

Koyuki didn’t even flinch.

Kyle just stared back. "Understood."

Troy nodded once. "Mission launches in six hours. Get suited up. Dismissed."

---

T-minus 1 hour. Suit-Up Bay

The Aegis-V suit was heavier than it looked.

The inner layer was a flexible, pressure-sealed bodysuit. Over that, segmented plating made from Krakite harvested from earlier, failed expeditions. The helmet sealed with a hiss, and the HUD flickered to life.

[SUIT STATUS: NOMINAL]

[MANA CORE: 98%]

[DARK ENERGY SHIELDING: ACTIVE]

[ATMOSPHERIC FILTER: STANDBY]

Snow’s voice came through the comms, clean and sharp. [Vitals stable. Neural link synced. You try anything stupid, I’m overriding your motor functions and dragging you back to the ship.]

"Noted." Kyle said.

Koyuki’s voice came through next, dry. "Heard that. I’m not dragging you. I’m shooting you in the leg and dragging you."

An awkward silence followed afterwards, making the situation more tense.

[She make a great addition to the-]

’Don’t.’ Kyle grumbled, having enough on his plate.

The bay doors opened.

---

Drop Sequence. T-minus 0

The ship shuddered as it broke atmosphere.

Kraken filled the viewport. Red and angry, storms like bruises across its surface. The heart shape was more obvious from orbit. Beautiful and wrong.

"Entry burn in thirty seconds." Mei’s voice came through, calm despite the turbulence. "Atmospheric shear expected at 12,000 meters. Thrusters on standby."

Kyle gripped the crash harness. His suit’s shielding hummed to life, a low vibration against his skin.

Koyuki was across from him, checking her thruster controls one last time.

"You ready?" She asked.

Kyle exhaled. "No. But we’re going anyway."

She smirked. "Good answer."

[ENTRY BURN INITIATED]

The ship shook violently. Alarms blared. Outside, the red sky turned to fire.

"Atmospheric shear!" Takumi shouted, with a lewd smile. Earning an awkward glare from Mei, his copilot.

"Brace!"

The ship lurched sideways. Kyle’s teeth rattled. Somewhere, metal screamed.

[Shielding holding at 92%.] Snow reported. [Mana drain spiking. Don’t panic.]

"I’m not panicking." Kyle muttered. "I’m pissed."

Koyuki laughed. "Still talking to yourself, good. Keep that energy."

[LANDING IN 10 SECONDS]

The system voice echoed through the comms, as the ground came up fast. Jagged, obsidian rock and geysers of sulfur gas.

[IMPACT]

The ship hit hard, skidding across the surface before grinding to a stop. Dust and corrosive gas flooded the external sensors.

[LANDING SUCCESSFUL. ATMOSPHERIC FILTERS ENGAGED.]

"Everyone alive?" Ryoma asked.

A chorus of "affirmative" came through the comms.

Kyle unstrapped himself and stood. His legs felt heavy, but the suit compensated.

Koyuki was already moving to the rear hatch.

"Time starts now." She said. "We have seventy-two hours before the suits fail. Let’s not waste it."

The hatch opened with a hiss.

Red air. The smell of sulfur and ozone. The ground beneath their feet vibrated faintly, like the planet itself had a heartbeat.

[Welcome to Kraken.] Snow playfully giggled.

---

Cavern Entry. Hour 4

The northern fissure was wider than expected. A jagged tear in the planet’s crust, venting black steam.

"Thermal readings are off the charts." Mei said, scanning with her wrist-mounted device. "Dark energy concentration is 300% above baseline. Suits are holding, but don’t touch the walls."

Takumi was already setting up anchors for the descent line. "If we slip here, we’re not getting up."

Kyle tested the line with his weight. It held.

Koyuki dropped first, thrusters flaring silently to control her descent. Kyle followed, moving slower, using the line to steady himself.

The cavern opened up below them. Vast. Bioluminescent fungi cast a faint blue glow across the walls. And deeper down, a red light pulsed.

[Luminara.]Snow said. [That’s it. Three kilometers down.]

Kyle’s heart rate spiked.

"Falcon." he whispered.

Koyuki landed beside him, scanning the cavern. "Stay focused. We’re not alone down here."

She was right.

Movement in the shadows. Low, guttural growling.

The first of Kraken’s mutated fauna emerged.

A creature roughly the size of a bear, but with elongated limbs and chitinous plating. Its eyes were milky white. No pupils. It moved like it could smell them through the suits.

[Stage two mutation.] Snow said. [Aggressive. Fast. Don’t let it touch you.]

Koyuki didn’t wait. Her thrusters flared, and she was on it in a second, blade drawn.

Kyle followed.

The fight was brutal and short.

The creature was fast, but not fast enough. Koyuki’s thrusters let her dodge and strike with surgical precision. Kyle tanked a hit that would’ve shattered bone, and drove his fist through its skull.

It dropped with a wet crunch.

[Two more contacts.] Snow warned. [They’re closing fast.]

"Move." Koyuki growled authoritatively. "We don’t have time for a fight club down here."

They ran.

---

Luminara Cavern. Hour 18

The air here was different. Thicker. Heavier. The red light was everywhere now, pulsing from a massive cavern filled with glass-like clover flowers.

Luminara.

They grew in clusters, each flower no bigger than a hand, glowing with an inner light that seemed to push back against the darkness.

Kyle stepped forward, but Koyuki grabbed his arm.

"Don’t touch it yet." She smacked his arm back. "Dark energy concentration is off the charts. One wrong move and your suit fries."

Takumi was already setting up a containment unit. "We need to harvest it carefully. The resonance is unstable. If we damage the root system, it dies."

Kyle watched as Takumi worked, hands steady despite the tension.

[Vitals stable.] Snow said. [But your heart rate’s up. Calm down. We’re almost there.]

Kyle didn’t answer. He couldn’t take his eyes off the flowers because of two things.

One was Falcon was going to live, as well as his parents. While the other was the constant thought that plugged his mind, the moment they arrived here.

’Yua~’ Even if it was just a vision, he couldn’t afford not to try his luck.

"Contact!" Hayato shouted.

More mutated fauna. This time, a swarm. Small, fast, insect-like, with scythe-like limbs.

"Defensive perimeter!" Ryoma ordered.

The team formed up. Koyuki and Kyle took point.

The swarm hit like a wave.

Koyuki moved like a blur, thrusters flaring, blade cutting through chitin and bone. Kyle didn’t dodge. He stood his ground, taking hits that would’ve killed a normal man, and broke them with his bare hands.

[Mana core at 67%.] Snow warned. [Don’t overextend.]

"I’m fine, but this is frustrating." Kyle said, crushing another creature under his boot.

He wasn’t fine. His shoulder was bleeding inside the suit. The plating had cracked from a hit earlier. But he couldn’t stop. Not now.

"Harvest complete!" Takumi shouted.

Kyle looked up. Takumi held a containment unit, inside it, three Luminara flowers, glowing softly.

Koyuki grabbed Kyle’s arm and pulled him back. "We’re done here. Move!"

They ran.

The swarm didn’t follow. Something about the Luminara’s resonance kept them at bay.

---

Extraction. Hour 68

The ship was in sight.

The team was battered, bruised, but alive.

Koyuki’s suit was at 12% charge. Kyle’s was at 9%.

[Mana core critical,’ Snow said. ’We need to move now.]

They made it to the ship with ten minutes to spare.

The hatch closed behind them with a hiss.

[Atmospheric scrub complete. Safe to unseal.]

Kyle collapsed against the wall as the helmet came off. His face was pale, sweat and blood mixing on his skin.

Koyuki sank to the floor beside him, breathing hard.

"We did it." She said, slightly nudging his shoulders.

Kyle nodded. He couldn’t speak.

Takumi handed the containment unit to Ona, who had been waiting at the dock.

"Mission success." She said quietly.

Troy’s voice came through the comms. "Return to base. Now."

"What?? But we haven’t gotten the krakite alloy and void silica." Mei replied confused, at the king’s sudden change in tone.

"Just do it, now!" Troy responded with a command.

---

Royal Citadel. Hour 72

Kyle stood in the infirmary, watching as the Luminara flowers were prepared for Falcon.

Reze worked with precision, extracting the resonance and infusing it into a serum.

"It’ll take time." She gestured to the monitor reading her vitals. "But she’ll live."

Kyle didn’t respond. He just nodded.

Outside, the kingdom was still locked down. But for the first time in two weeks, there was hope.

Koyuki leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

"You good?" She asked, and for a second Kyle could’ve sworn there was sincerity in her words.

Kyle looked at her. "Yeah."

She nodded. "Good. Because we’re not done yet. The kingdom’s still broken. And King Troy’s not the only one with plans for Kraken."

His expression immediately took a turn. "What do you mean?"

Koyuki just smiled.

"You’ll see."

-------------

Outside, the red heart of Kraken pulsed in the distance, waiting. On the northern edge of the planet, a figure in a black suit could be seen standing on the edge of a cliff.

"What just happened." Kyle muttered observing his surroundings.

He was still in kraken, andwas clearly aware the ship had left without him some few hours ago.

[ No. According to my hypothesis, when you accidentally came in contact with one of those insectoids creatures you swapped places.] Snow explained in his head.

"Swapped as in teleported?" He asked just to be sure.

[Not teleported in the plain sense, but yeah. You switched places with the beast previous location. And if the stories are true and I’m correct, that creature is able to assume your identity.] She finished, a scream echoed from behind them.