Rain fell over the capital in a steady drizzle that softened the glow of lanterns and emptied most of the streets. Kylrus preferred nights like this. The city slowed down when it rained. People became predictable. Conversations became quieter. Observations became easier. He had spent more and more time in the southern districts recently, maintaining his altered appearance and moving among ordinary citizens without revealing who he truly was. While the palace focused on politics and conspiracies, he had begun building something else entirely. Tonight was no different.
Marin stood across from him beneath the awning of a repair shop, her hands stained with oil and mana-conductive grease from a long day of work. She was intelligent, practical, and curious in ways most nobles rarely were. Kylrus had intentionally returned several times to test her thinking. Unlike many scholars, she questioned assumptions rather than accepting them.
"You're saying mana can be redirected without increasing output?"
"Yes."
She frowned.
"That doesn't make sense. Every knight I've ever met says more power solves everything."
"Most knights confuse power with efficiency."
A faint smirk appeared on her face.
"You don't."
Kylrus didn't answer. The conversation ended there because something else demanded his attention. A scream echoed through the rain-soaked street, cutting through the silence sharply enough that both of them turned immediately.
Two figures emerged from the darkness at the far end of the road. Even at a distance, Kylrus knew they were different from the previous subjects. Their bodies were still warped, but the distortions appeared more refined. Their movements lacked the awkward instability of earlier experiments. Whoever was creating them had improved the process.
"Go."
Marin didn't waste time arguing. She turned and ran.
The creatures ignored her entirely.
Their attention remained fixed on Kylrus.
That alone told him everything he needed to know.
The first creature accelerated forward with unnatural speed while the second moved to intercept possible escape routes. Their coordination immediately distinguished them from earlier subjects. These were not simply stronger monsters. They had been designed for combat.
Kylrus moved first.
His blade flashed through the rain and cut across the lead creature's thigh joint with surgical precision. The strike should have crippled it instantly. Instead, the creature merely staggered before regaining balance far faster than expected. The second creature attacked simultaneously, forcing Kylrus to block rather than capitalize on the opening.
Then he felt it.
A ripple moved through the surrounding air.
Not from the creatures.
From above.
Kylrus didn't need to look.
He already knew.
The suppression field activated.
The fracture within his core constricted violently as mana circulation throughout his body became unstable. Unlike the docks, the effect was immediate and overwhelming. His available output dropped by nearly half within seconds. Pain surged through his chest like molten metal being forced through broken channels.
For half a second, his balance shifted.
That was all the creatures needed.
The first slammed into him with tremendous force and launched him through the wall of a nearby storefront. Wood shattered around him as shelves and furniture collapsed beneath the impact. Pain exploded across his ribs, but Kylrus forced himself upright immediately.
Slower.
Not much slower.
But slower.
That mattered.
Through his senses he could still detect Marin hiding behind crates farther down the street. She hadn't escaped the area entirely. The creatures advanced relentlessly. One attacked high while the second targeted his lower body, their movements coordinated enough to prevent conventional counters.
Kylrus adapted instantly.
He abandoned aggressive engagements and shifted entirely toward precision crippling. Joints. Mana nodes. Structural weaknesses. Under normal circumstances he could have ended the fight in seconds.
Under suppression, everything became harder.
His reaction window narrowed.
His timing slipped.
His mana reinforcement weakened.
The second creature caught his wrist during an exchange and squeezed hard enough to force his fingers open. For the first time since arriving in this world, Kylrus lost his grip on his weapon.
The blade struck the ground.
For a brief moment, he stood disarmed.
The first creature raised its arm as unstable mana condensed into a concentrated burst. Kylrus saw the attack forming and understood immediately that ordinary responses would not be enough.
So he made a choice.
Not a safe choice.
Not a rational one.
A necessary one.
He forced mana directly through the fracture.
Pain exploded through his body.
The suppression field resisted.
He overrode it anyway.
Golden light erupted around him as his mana surged violently for less than a second. The incoming burst struck him almost point-blank, but Kylrus redirected the force downward rather than outward. The resulting impact shattered the stone street beneath them and hurled both creatures backward.
Before they could recover, he retrieved his sword.
The first died instantly.
The second charged blindly.
Its spine separated cleanly beneath a single strike.
Silence returned to the street.
Only the rain remained.
The suppression field flickered weakly before disappearing entirely.
Kylrus dropped to one knee.
The fracture pulsed wildly inside his chest.
Blood filled his mouth.
That had been reckless.
Necessary.
But reckless.
"Kylrus!"
Cassian arrived moments later, landing heavily on the broken street. His eyes immediately took in the destroyed buildings, the dead creatures, and Kylrus kneeling among the wreckage.
"They pushed you."
"Yes."
Cassian looked toward the corpses.
"They're stronger."
"Yes."
Then he noticed something else.
"You lost your weapon."
Kylrus met his gaze.
"Yes."
That answer unsettled Cassian more than any visible injury could have.
Kylrus rose slowly and turned toward Marin's last location. The moment his eyes found her, he stopped moving.
She lay motionless behind the collapsed crates.
One of the creatures' shockwaves had struck the stack during the battle. The impact had crushed part of the structure inward before anyone noticed.
Neither Kylrus nor Cassian spoke.
Kylrus walked toward her and knelt beside the body. He placed a hand against her chest and guided stabilizing mana into her system. The attempt lasted only seconds before he understood.
Too late.
Her mana channels had ruptured internally.
There was nothing to repair.
Nothing to stabilize.
Nothing to save.
He had told her to run.
He had engaged the creatures nearby.
He had underestimated their coordination.
Cassian's voice was quiet.
"We got here fast."
Kylrus remained still for several moments before answering.
"Not fast enough."
Rain washed blood into the gutters as neither brother moved.
Far away, inside a distant tower, Lyra and Caelum watched everything through a crystal projection. The recording preserved every detail of the battle, including the precise moment Kylrus forced mana through the fracture.
"He overrode suppression."
"For 0.8 seconds."
Lyra smiled faintly.
"And paid for it."
She studied Kylrus standing beside the fallen girl.
"Now he understands."
Caelum adjusted the suppression device thoughtfully.
"Increase intensity?"
"Yes."
Her answer came immediately.
Back in the palace infirmary, Kylrus sat quietly while healers finished treating his injuries. His ribs were wrapped tightly and deep bruising covered his wrist. The fracture within his core flickered unevenly, its instability more visible than ever before.
Selene stood nearby, studying him carefully.
"You exceeded safe limits."
"Yes."
"You lost someone."
"Yes."
She watched him for a long moment.
"You're not reacting."
Kylrus looked at her calmly.
"What reaction would satisfy you?"
Selene didn't answer.
Instead, she waited.
After several seconds, Kylrus continued.
"They are refining pressure."
Selene's eyes sharpened.
"And what are you doing?"
The answer came without hesitation.
"I will stop reacting."
He turned toward the rain-covered city beyond the window. The pattern was obvious now. They wanted emotional responses. They wanted suppression to matter. They wanted him isolated in the field where they could control variables and force mistakes.
"They want me alone."
His voice had become noticeably colder.
"They won't get that again."
Cassian stood silently in the doorway throughout the conversation. Tonight had changed something inside him. For the first time, he had seen Kylrus disarmed. He had seen him injured. He had seen him fail to save someone despite doing everything possible.
The feeling that replaced his insecurity was not relief.
It was resolve.
Much later that night, Kylrus returned to the Royal Grand Library of the Valerios Empire. The black-spined book rested where he had left it, hidden among forgotten records and incomplete histories. He opened it once more and stared at the same fragment that had haunted his thoughts since discovering it.
Transcendent.
The word seemed heavier now.
Kylrus closed the book slowly.
"They think they're breaking me."
His reflection stared back at him from the dark library window.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"They're building something worse."