The ancient iron doors of the Isolation Chamber creaked open, their echo crawling through the hollow corridors beneath the castle. The torches along the walls flickered one by one as Luther descended the spiral steps, his boots scraping against the stone floor. The deeper he went, the heavier the air grew. The chamber was meant to suppress energy, to drown any trace of magic or aura—but tonight, it was trembling.

Luther stopped before the sealed gates. Massive, ancient, carved from obsidian and bone. Runes spiraled across its surface, glowing faintly with crimson light, as if reacting to something within. He hesitated only a moment before pressing his palm against the surface. The sigils dimmed at his touch and then split open, parting to reveal the inner sanctum.

Inside lay Xavier.

His body rested on a slab of bloodsteel, the walls humming with stabilizing runes. His chest barely moved—yet each breath carried weight, the faint shimmer of light rippling beneath his skin. The chamber reeked of medicinal essence and old blood. Instruments hung from the ceiling, monitoring the almost nonexistent pulse of the human-turned-something-else.

Luther stepped closer, his expression lifeless that carried no emotions. "You should be dead," he muttered. "Your bones shattered. Organs torn apart from the inside. You should be paralyzed and then die in a few years. You took in the energy of twelve Orbs of Eternity—no being, not even the purebloods, could survive that."

He stopped at the edge of the slab, staring down at Xavier's still face. His voice dropped. "And yet…"

There was movement—barely visible at first. A faint twitch in Xavier's fingers. Then another. The wounds on his arms that had refused to close began sealing on their own. Torn muscles stitched together. Cracked ribs realigned. Even the color of his skin changed—returning, but not to what it once was. It gleamed faintly, like forged silver under pale fire.

Luther's breath hitched. He took a step back as his instincts screamed at him to kneel. His blood—the same blood that ran from the founders of the vampire lineage—recognized something older, and… dangerous.

"What in the abyss are you…" he whispered.

He extended his aura slightly, just enough to feel the energy radiating from Xavier's body—and immediately recoiled. It wasn't a vampire aura. It wasn't divine or demonic either. It was endless, and ancient, like a storm pressing down on existence itself. His heartbeat faltered under the weight of it.

The room trembled. The bloodsteel chains around the slab rattled, not because of movement—but because they were afraid.

Luther clenched his jaw, forcing himself to stay upright as his knees threatened to buckle. "Impossible… Eryndor was right."

He tried to reason it away, to suppress the feeling crawling through his veins, but the truth stood before him. Every law of nature, every foundation of their world, denied what he was witnessing. A human shouldn't live after this. A vampire couldn't heal this fast even under a hundred orbs' blessing.

And yet Xavier—whatever he had become—was defying them all.

Luther muttered to himself. "You shouldn't exist. You're a paradox wearing flesh. A living violation of creation. How did you and Eleanor encounter each other…?"

The glow under Xavier's skin pulsed again—once, twice—and the chamber shook, the blood runes across the floor flashing like a warning. Luther steadied himself, his fangs bared.

Then Xavier's eyes opened.

Not red. Not gold. Something in between. They glimmered like molten starlight, a cosmos, bright and hollow, reflecting neither rage nor reason—just presence. Luther froze, feeling a cold sweat trace down his spine. For a split second, he wasn't looking at a man. He was staring into something boundless.

"Astraea…" Xavier muttered.

The light faded, and Xavier's eyes shut again. The chamber fell still.

"Astraea?" Luther raised his brow and wondered, "Who the hell is that? And how deeply he cares about her that he is taking her name in this condition? Does that mean my daughter is just a fodder to you?"

Luther turned sharply and left, his steps hurried now, though he'd never admit it, Eryndor was right about him. As he reached the stairs, he muttered under his breath, "If this is what you are now, then gods help us when you learn to control it."

Far behind him, in the silence of the chamber, the runes along the walls flickered once more—responding to Xavier's heartbeat. Each pulse sent a soft ripple through the metal slab, as if the world itself was listening.

When Luther stepped out of the lower chamber, Eryndor was already waiting for him near the archway, his old cane resting against one of the pillars. He didn't look surprised.

"So," the old man began, "you've seen it."

Luther stopped a few paces away, still shaken by what he'd witnessed. "He's not supposed to be alive. He shouldn't even be breathing. Yet his body's… rebuilding itself. Faster than anything I've ever seen. You said the orbs would heal him, but this isn't healing. It's—"

Eryndor turned slightly, his crimson eyes catching the faint light. "Metamorphosis."

Luther frowned. "Metamorphosis? Into what?"

"That," Eryndor said quietly, "is the question even the gods couldn't answer when they tried to play creator."

Luther crossed his arms. "I saw his eyes open. For a second, I thought I was staring into something that didn't belong in this universe. It was an endless cosmos. If that was metamorphosis, then you've brought a nightmare to life."

Nightmares and gods share a birthplace, Luther. Only their purpose differs."

He began walking slowly toward the stairway, his cane tapping softly against the stone. "What you saw was not his body healing—it was adapting. Every cell, every bone, rewriting its own laws to survive. The power within him isn't vampire essence. It's far older, something that bends creation to its will. Even now, his body is choosing what to become."

Luther followed him, his tone sharp. "Then why does it still look human?"

"Because it's incomplete."

Luther stopped. "Incomplete?"

Eryndor turned back, his expression grave. "Yes. His existence feels fractured, as if part of him is missing—something that should have awakened alongside him, but didn't. Without that, he's holding himself together by instinct alone."

The silence that followed pressed on Luther's nerves. "And if that missing part returns?"

Eryndor's gaze wandered toward the ceiling, where faint tremors ran through the castle's upper halls. "Then this world will see what it means when divinity wears mortal skin."

Luther scowled. "You talk like this is some sacred event. He's a weapon that hasn't realized what it is yet. When that happens, he won't stop with the world. He'll unmake everything."

"Perhaps," Eryndor said, his tone distant. "Or perhaps he will build something better from the ruins. Do not forget—destruction is only the first language of creation."

Luther's fists clenched. "And what if this 'incomplete being' decides we're the first to be erased?"

Eryndor's lips curved into something between a smile and a grimace. "Then we'll learn the cost of playing gods with our bloodline."

He started walking again, leaving Luther standing in the dim corridor. "For now, let him rest. Whatever he becomes—vampire, human, or something greater—he must first remember why he was born."

As Eryndor disappeared up the stairs, his voice echoed faintly behind him, calm yet heavy with meaning.

"Pray, Luther… that when he wakes, he remembers mercy before power."

Luther was in deep thought. He was exhausted from the fight, and he craved a good rest. He turned around and began walking towards his chamber until he heard a faint yelling sound.

It was Reva.

"Right… I should release her and tell her that he is okay."

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