Inside the prison basement, Alex knelt in front of Tina and Remus' cage, watching Tina cling to his boot as she begged for her brother's life.

In his mind, he spoke a single word. 'System.'

[ Host, ] the familiar voice replied. [ Their will to live has increased exponentially. ]

A translucent panel appeared in Alex's vision.

[

Subject: Remus

Will-to-live index: 12% → 83%

Subject: Tina

Will-to-live index: 9% → 91%

]

[ Their current mental resilience has spiked. With proper training, their potential is high—possibly enough to surpass transcendent rankers. We can begin now. ]

Alex's eyes narrowed slightly. 'Good. Then let's start.'

He reached into his storage ring and drew out two cores.

One burned with a deep, molten crimson glow—like liquid fire trapped inside a crystal.

The other shimmered with a dark, shifting blue-black mist, as if a piece of the night sky had been compressed inside it and drowned in shadows.

"Let's see," Alex thought, "if S-rank cores can be transplanted or not."

[ Then let's try it. ]

Information flashed across his vision.

[

Beast Core: Kaelthryx

Title: "The Flame That Devours Flame"

Race: Cinder-Null Behemoth

Affinity: Fire

Rank: S (evolvable)

Beast Core: Nhal'Zeroth

Title: "The Hunger That Ate the Sky"

Race: Abysskin-Leviathan

Affinity: Shadow

Rank: S (evolvable)

]

Alex stood.

"Astral Domain," he whispered.

The basement, the cages, the blood-stained floor—all of it dissolved in an instant.

---

The world shifted again.

Alex now stood in his Astral Domain—an endless expanse of starlit space, reshaped once more into a huge, dimly glowing chamber. This time, Tina and Remus were there with him, their bodies lying side by side on the ground, the filth and iron bars of the real basement gone.

They still looked frail, skin mottled with dark patches, breathing shallow.

With a flick of his fingers, Alex exerted his will over the domain.

Their torn clothes straightened slightly, their bodies laid out flat, arms by their sides as if on an operating table made of starlight.

"Let's begin."

He stepped between them.

From his body, an abyssal darkness suddenly flowed out—a thick, inky black mist that wasn't just shadow, but pure, condensed death energy. It spread across the ground and rose around them like a tide, engulfing Tina and Remus completely.

Their bodies lifted slightly from the floor, floating in the air, suspended by invisible threads.

Alex moved his hands.

His right hand thrust forward—and pierced into Remus's chest.

His left hand did the same to Tina.

There was no blood—at least, not in the normal sense. The Astral Domain translated the action into streams of black and white light, but the pain their bodies felt was very real.

Into Remus's chest, Alex pushed the molten-crimson core—Kaelthryx.

Into Tina's chest, he embedded the shadow-blue core—Nhal'Zeroth.

The moment the cores entered their bodies, both twins started shaking violently.

Their muscles convulsed uncontrollably.

Their backs arched, mouths opening in silent screams as if their voices had been stolen. Veins bulged beneath their skin as the foreign mana surged through them. Blood seeped out from old wounds and new cracks, running down their arms and necks.

Their skin split in places, then tried to knit back together, then split again.

Alex's eyes hardened.

He summoned another force.

Warm, golden-green light—life energy—flowed from his hands and wrapped around their bodies like a second skin. It seeped into torn muscles, cracked bones, ruptured vessels, reinforcing everything, preventing their fragile forms from simply collapsing under the pressure of the S-rank cores.

The death energy devoured the remnants of corruption and the cult's experiments still gnawing at their insides.

The life energy rebuilt, strengthened, adapted.

Slowly, the violent shaking began to lessen.

The uncontrolled spasms turned into shivers.

Their breathing steadied—ragged, then slowly deeper.

A change began.

Tina's green hair darkened strand by strand, like ink spreading across paper. Within moments, her entire head of hair had turned a deep, midnight black that seemed to swallow the starlight around it.

Remus's green hair, in contrast, began to glow—shifting into a bright, burning orange, like strands of flame frozen in motion.

Their skin, once mottled and blackened, returned to a healthier tone—still pale, but no longer rotting. Old scars remained faintly visible, but the infected patches vanished.

[ Host, ] the system finally reported. [ Their bodies have accepted the cores. Integration successful. Your mana signature has been fully imprinted as the controlling layer. ]

Tina and Remus, exhausted, fell back onto the ground as the darkness receded.

They lay there unconscious, chests rising and falling in slow, steady rhythm as there condition stablished slowly and steadily.

Alex wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand. Even in the Astral Domain, the strain had been heavy.

"That makes two," he muttered. "Two who'll be… very useful."

He flicked his fingers again.

The Astral Domain pulsed, responding to his will.

More figures appeared in the vast chamber—other humans brought from the cult's labs through his domain.

Men and women, older and younger, all in similar broken states: bodies damaged, eyes empty, bearing the marks of experiments and curses as if they all went threw something even worse than hell itself.

In front of each one, a version of Alex materialized.

Dozens.

Then hundreds.

They looked identical—same silver hair, same blue eyes, same calm expression—but each one moved independently, synchronized through the Domain's control.

Every "Alex" raised a hand.

Cores of different ranks and affinities floated beside them—some lesser than what Tina and Remus had been given, but still powerful enough to turn these victims into something more.

The process repeated.

Death energy to erase the lingering corruption and foreign control.

Life energy to stabilize the vessels.

Mana signature to imprint loyalty and interface.

In the real world, this would have taken days, weeks, maybe months.

Inside the Astral Domain, where his will shaped reality, it happened in a fraction of the time—though the mental burden weighed heavily on him with every passing second.

People screamed, convulsed, then went still.

One by one, the cores settled.

One by one, the new weapons were forged.

---

Outside, in the physical basement beneath the building, Alicia and Erwin waited where Alex had vanished.

To anyone else, only a heartbeat had passed.

To Alex, it had felt much longer.

A ripple distorted the air.

Alex's body materialized in front of them again—back in the real world, back in his own skin. He looked exhausted, faint traces of sweat on his forehead, his breath a bit heavier than usual.

A moment later, bodies started appearing around him—Remus, Tina, and then many others, all lying on the cold floor of the basement. Unconscious, but alive. Their auras were different now—denser, sharper, like dormant blades.

"Take good care of them," Alex said, voice low but steady. "They're going to be a lot of use to us. I've… designed them to be born weapons."

Alicia's expression hardened immediately. "What have you done, Alex?"

Alex met her gaze. "Let's just say this: I had no choice. I had to do it."

Before Alicia could press further, her etherPad buzzed violently in her pocket.

She pulled it out and answered.

Within seconds, the color drained from her face.

She looked up at Alex, eyes wide. "Alex. It's an emergency."

Alex's blue eyes sharpened. "What is it?"

"It's chaos," Alicia said. "The leader of the cult—he's attacked the palace we have to reach the palace immeidately."

Erwin stepped forward instantly. "Your Highness," he said, voice firm, "give me permission to move."

Alex, however, didn't look at Erwin first.

He looked at Alicia and held her gaze.

"I know," he said quietly.

Alicia stared at him. "Then what are you waiting for? Let's go. If we don't move,

many innocents will die. What are you—"

She stopped mid-sentence.

Realisation flashed in her eyes.

"You… knew this would happen," she whispered.

Alex said nothing.

He simply exhaled slowly. "Their target is Elaria," he said. "Let them take her."

Alicia sighed as she said." The elven king is gonna go insane when the news reaches him so whatever you are planning hope it goes right. ?!"

Alex said meeting her eyes. "Tell Alden and the others not to interfere," Alex continued, ignoring the outburst. "Draven is already tracking every move they make. Zara is supporting him from the shadows."

He turned to Erwin. "Go. Surround the main headquarters of the guild 'Radiant Blades.' No one leaves, no one enters without my order."

"It will be done," Erwin said without hesitation.

He vanished into the shadows.

Alicia asked in a low voice. "Why them…"

Her voice trailed off as the final pieces clicked into place in her mind.

Her eyes widened. "It's him… isn't it?"

"The Swordmaster," she said slowly. "Marcus Reed. He's the cult leader."

Alex looked back at her.

A faint, humorless smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Took you long enough to figure it out,"

-----

A/N:

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