Henry went still for a mont. This was the first ti Adyr had spoken about the incident, his encounter with the Mad Scientist, since that bloody day.
Since then, Adyr had never told anyone what happened. The only thing they knew was that the Mad Scientist, with unknown motivations, had attacked and killed many personnel in the Player Headquarters and kidnapped Adyr's family, turning the entire base into a massacre site.
Now, for the first ti, Adyr was finally speaking about it, and Henry let him talk, staying quiet beside the ruined body that refused to break, lying there in torn flesh and drying blood.
"I will beco a ruler. I will beco a hero. I will beco a monster. But I will do whatever is needed to gain that power." Adyr's flesh had now started to heal faster as the light from his Grace intensified around him, wrapping him in an even brighter glow that pushed back the shadows of the room.
His empty eye socket began to grow flesh, and his crimson eye started to take shape again as it focused on Henry, its gaze sharpening with every passing second like a blade being honed.
"So Henry, stop trying to oppose . Help keep my family safe, and in return, I will give you this world and the freedom you want so much."
Henry wanted to respond, but the words felt stuck in his throat, caught between agreent and fear.
Wasn't that the goal from the start, to end the cycle and gain their freedom? Now Adyr was promising that openly, with only one thing he asked in return. The safety of his family.
But what was the actual cost all of them would have to pay to reach their dream?
Thousands of people have already died on Earth, indirectly or directly by Adyr's hands. The whole Umbraen race had been erased from the Beyond, a Human city now rising from their ashes like a cold monunt, and many small villages with the lives inside gone, never even knowing why they had to die.
Slowly but surely, Adyr was fulfilling his duty to raise the Humans, but at the cost of countless lives stacked like silent stones behind him, forming an
invisible graveyard that followed his every step.
It wasn't a completely unfamiliar procedure for Humans. Nations had always been built on blood and risen on corpses, written into history like a repeated pattern.
Behind every history of creation there was a sad story of destruction and sacrifice, buried beneath flags and triumphant speeches.
But this ti, the difference was that all this familiar procedure was being undertaken by a single person, concentrated into one man's choices.
Henry, looking into those eyes, could see the heavy burden he had to bear alone on his shoulders. As he watched him, Rhys's words echoed in his mind. 'Did you ever ask him what he actually wants? What his real goal is, where his ambition points, and what kind of future he is trying to reach?'
Though Henry still found it difficult to answer those questions, he could at least now understand the level of his ambition. His ambition was to gain power at any cost, no matter how stained the path beca.
And what Humanity needed now was that power. That alone was enough reason for Henry to bow his head and give his reply. "I understand."
He finally understood Adyr wasn't that well-behaved child anymore, the one who adored his family and played chess with him occasionally in quiet rooms.
He was soone now carrying the responsibility all those adults had forcefully placed on him, a weight that no sane man was ant to hold, pressing him forward without rest.
"That's good." Adyr sighed as the Grace intensified another notch on his body. It healed him faster now; his flesh was visibly completing itself, and even his lost body parts appeared to be regenerating, albeit slowly, as muscle and skin knitted back together.
He was regenerating his body faster at the cost of burning his stamina and making him feel worn out, hungry, and sleepy, a deep exhaustion crawling through his bones.
But he couldn't stay in that ruined state, especially in front of his Lunari guests. He had to show them he had the power to ruin himself, yet he still possessed enough power to save himself and stand upright again.
Not long after Henry's ergency call, a bunch of footsteps started to echo through the corridors, growing louder along the cold, narrow halls.
A group of dics with all kinds of devices in their hands and 2 people in black STF uniforms rushed to the place, their steps quick and coordinated.
The two people wearing STF uniforms were players specialized in a healing build, their equipnt and posture clearly different from ordinary soldiers.
In the Human ranks, including Adyr, there were 19 Players left in total, and among them, 4 were specialized in healing, the only ones who could be called true support in battle.
2 were outside on a mission with others to claim more Spark territory and turn it into more natural crystal production farms, while the other 2 had been resting inside the city and ca rushing when they got the ssage.
When they reached the scene and entered the small room, they saw the state of Adyr's body, and even they were taken aback by the damage he was in. Instinctively, their gazes turned to Zephan and his 2 Elders standing nearby. Adyr was not only the strongest Player among them, a fact no one questioned anymore, but also one of the dominant figures in the entire Outer Region, a
living pillar of their power.
Seeing that sa man in this condition left them wordless; the only explanation their minds could reach was a clash between or more Rank 4 powers, the kind of confrontation that could shatter cities.
With 2 Players and the Lunari locking eyes, a heavy silence settled over the corridor, a wordless pressure that made every mortal heart tighten, the sense that all sound had been pressed out of the hallway.
The Players were only Rank 2; there was no way they would be opponents for the 3 Rank 4 Practitioners. Yet just by standing their ground, ready for a fight and for death if it ca, they showed their determination and resolve. "Easy, girls. They are our guests." Rhys, seeing the tension, stepped in, looking very satisfied with the 2 Players' stance, a faint approval showing in his eyes. Though Selina was the commander of the Players, Rhys was soone regarded like an elder by all, with respect. Hearing his words, the 2 Players saluted him and then rushed to Adyr's side, their earlier hostility shifting into focused
urgency.
But before they started using their skills to heal Adyr, they stopped at his
words.
"No need, thank you."
The Grace on his body intensified another notch. Now his skin looked like it was shining, a thin layer of warm light wrapping his entire body like a blanket and making his wounds heal faster, the edges of torn flesh closing in front of
their eyes.
Especially on his face, the light was more focused. His lost eye was almost finished healing, and his partly vanished lips were starting to materialize quickly, reshaping his expression back into sothing human.
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