First the screens of the machines flickered and went dark. Then the same rust spread over them, eating into screws, frames, and exposed metal edges.

Everything made of metal seemed to start decaying all at once.

Adyr felt it on his own body too. A faint itch spread across his skin, like the air itself had turned abrasive.

Still, escaping didn't cross his mind. It wasn't at a level that could truly harm him. So he stayed to witness what was happening.

In the end, the red aura swallowed the entire room, turning everything inside a deep reddish hue, as though the walls themselves had been dyed.

Thankfully, it seemed trapped within the room's walls, unable to spill outside. It only made the reinforced door rust rapidly, though it looked like it would remain intact for now.

Then Adyr noticed another change happening on Rhys's body.

He caught another ripple, but this one wasn't part of the red aura. It looked different, as if it belonged to another kind of power.

Around Rhys's abdominal area, a strange movement took shape. A small whirlpool began to form, pushing the surrounding red aura aside as it grew into a concentrated mass of energy, tightening into a clear rotating pattern.

"Is a dimension appearing there?"

It wasn't the first time he had seen something like that.

Thanks to the properties of Sszhar's eyes he had obtained after his evolution, he already knew what a hidden dimension looked like. Now the same thing was forming in the middle of Rhys's abdomen, right where the swirling energy gathered densest.

It wasn't hard for him to guess what it meant. The dimension that took shape was a Sanctuary.

Adyr realized then that he was witnessing someone awakening right in front of his eyes. Not as a rumor or report. In real time.

From his perspective, the invisible energy whirlpool finished and stabilized in only a few seconds. Then it disappeared into Rhys's body, collapsing inward as though it had found its place.

Adyr walked closer and looked more carefully, trying to see the Sanctuary with his eyes. He couldn't. Still, he could feel it, sensing an unfamiliar dimension existed there, like a presence hidden behind a thin veil.

"I wonder if I can upgrade these eyes and see better," he murmured with clear interest, his attention sharpening despite his exhaustion.

Currently, what he could see were only the entrances to the dimensions. The Sanctuaries of Practitioners within their bodies were apparently invisible to him.

But if he could find a way to upgrade his vision, there was a possibility that one day he could see how large their Sanctuary was. Maybe even see what was inside.

While he was thinking about his future evolutions, a new set of changes began to take place.

This time, they weren't happening to Rhys. Strangely, they were happening to Adyr.

"What?" Adyr felt his shoulders twitch and turned around.

At that moment, he saw the bony structures of his wings forcing their way outward from both shoulders, pushing through as though his back no longer belonged to him.

Their bony tips scraped against the laboratory walls as they spread and stretched, spasming. Then they were rapidly covered in feathers, one white and one black, the plumage filling in from base to edge in a rush.

It was completely outside of Adyr's control. When he tried to fold them back, the muscles refused to obey. Something he couldn't yet understand seemed to have taken hold of his body.

He summoned a sword from his Sanctuary and slashed at his wing without a second thought, trying to cut it off.

It was his body, his wings, but he had no tolerance for betrayal from anything.

Unfortunately, the sword wasn't enough to sever the wing. It only shaved off a few white feathers before biting into bone and stopping dead, the jolt shooting up his arm.

He tried again, this time coating the blade with Malice to make it sharper.

But another problem surfaced at once.

As he reached for Malice, black smoke poured out from the wrong place.

His black wing began releasing thick black smoke, as though it had seized control of the bloodline talent. The darkness spilled out in heavy streams instead of obeying his will.

Then his white wing answered, joining the growing rebellion. Warm white light poured out with it, bathing the other side of the room in radiance bright enough to cast sharp shadows across the floor.

Adyr had lost control of both his bloodline talents and his wings, forced to make a quick decision.

He started to use his suicide combo to blow the wings apart completely, but there was no time.

Grace and Malice painted both sides of the room white and black. Then the two opposing forces seemed to reach a joint decision. For the first time, they moved together, rushing straight toward Rhys's body, pulled by something Adyr couldn't see.

The suction hit him instantly. All his stamina drained away. His hand trembled as strength left his grip. The sword clanged to the floor. His knees gave out, and he collapsed.

Strength vanished from his body. He couldn't even gather enough power to use his Spark skills. Everything inside him turned sluggish in an instant.

Still, he managed to raise his head and see what was happening, breathing shallowly through the weakness.

Malice and Grace continued pouring forcefully from his wings, washing over Rhys's body without pause. They looked like they had teamed up, clearing away the red aura from him, stripping it back layer by layer.

The clash of colors made it seem like a great war was taking place, one visible only to the eyes of gods. Black and white surged against deep red in violent waves.

With each passing second, Adyr felt his stamina drain further. Then he felt his life force being pulled from his body, as though the drain had reached deeper than exhaustion.

Wrinkles formed on his face. His red hair lost its luster. His body aged rapidly, the change happening fast enough to feel unreal.

There was nothing he could do to stop it. Kneeling on the floor, he could only watch the outcome.

He wasn't sure which side he should hope would win. His own bloodline talents were the ones killing him.

In the end, all strength left his body. His aged eyes slowly closed, unable to stay open any longer. He fell face-first to the floor, losing consciousness before he could witness the outcome.

After he went still, the colors continued clashing relentlessly. White and black suppressed the dark red. Then, with one final surge, they scattered it completely, breaking the red presence apart.

They didn't pause to celebrate. They didn't care about their unconscious owner. They rushed on, flooding Rhys's body inside and out, filling his entire form, sinking into him as though claiming every part.

They then began to change him from the inside out. His mind, his soul, his flesh—everything was filled with the Genesis energy of the bloodline talents, rewriting his very code of existence from the beginning.

And then, his awakening began once more. This time, it wasn't the Blood Path that answered. But something entirely new.

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