SYSTEM ASCENSION

As the door opened, the quieter the facility became.

His steps echoed as he walked through the hallway. Just ahead of him, was the light. The noise faded behind layers of steel wall and narrow stone corridors lit by pale blue crystals.

A laboratory.

Glass containers stretched across the chamber. Tubes filled with dark liquid.

Some of the containers held corpses.

Others held things that barely looked human anymore. People who already had their vitality extracted and were ready to be discarded.

His arrival caught the researchers off guard.

”Who...”

They scrambled back in terror.

”... Faceless?”

”How did he...”

He raised his hand slightly.

Weapons formed into shape from the tiny air. Swords circled around him. With a careless wave, he directed the aim and they launched forward.

The room erupted into screaming instantly.

Glass shattered. Blood painted the walls.

One scientist tried crawling away across broken crystal before a sword pierced through his back and pinned him to the floor.

Silence returned moments later.

He stepped over the corpses and moved deeper inside the laboratory.

Another door waited at the far end. Unlike the others, this one was made with black steel.

VIP LAB — AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

He stared at it silently for a moment.

It was familiar.

A kick sent the metal door tore and crashed across the floor.

Behind the door was a circular chamber.

At the center stood a massive glass tub connected to countless dead cables hanging from the ceiling above. The same tub he was trapped in before he was yanked into clearing trials.

He walked toward the container, gloved fingers brushing across the cracked surface. As soon as he touched it, his brain twitched.

The darkness.

Muffled screams.

Liquid filling his lungs.

Small hands pounding desperately against glass.

Voices above him.

”Increase the dosage.”

”The child survived again.”

”Record the reaction.”

He withdrew his hand.

Then, a weak whimper echoed from the corner of the room.

The memory shattered instantly and he turned around.

A girl sat restrained against another operating chair nearby, chains wrapped around her wrists. Tears streamed down her face as she struggled weakly against the restraints.

She looked the same age as he is.

”P-please...”

Elias stared at her silently for a few seconds, then approached.

The girl flinched badly when he crouched beside her. A blade appeared briefly in his hand.

Slice.

The restraints fell apart.

The girl blinked in disbelief before rubbing her wrists desperately.

”T-thank you... I—”

”Get out.”

The coldness in his voice froze her immediately.

She scrambled off the chair and ran toward the exit without another word.

He remained still until her footsteps disappeared completely, before he looked ahead.

Another door waited deeper inside the chamber, slightly opened. A low mechanical hum echoed from beyond it.

He walked forward slowly and pushed the door open.

The room beyond resembled the heart of the entire facility.

Pillars of machinery towered toward the ceiling while enormous tubes shone with dim light. Thick cables spread across the floor.

At the center, the power house was a woman suspended against a massive structure.

Tubes pierced into her arms, her spine, her neck. Her head tilted lifelessly forward.

Long dead, suspended in time.

Elias stopped moving. Everything became quiet again. Then he approached her only after a minute.

His hand lifted toward her face but stopped midway.

”...”

For several seconds, nothing came out.

Then finally—

”I’m back...” His fingers curled slowly into a fist. ”...mother.”

His knee buckled and he sat at her feet.

”I caused you this. Even in death, you couldn’t rest,” he blinked. ”Your son is your curse.”

The energy from the corpse continued to power the lab, like it had been doing for the past years.

This was possible because she wasn’t human. She was a strange species they analysed and tested for years, and finally reduced to a power engine.

After a minute, he created a sword and began to slice off the tubes and wires. Everything came down with sparks and sizzling. Finally, she was free.

He reached forward and carried the cold body. A chill went up his spine and he could only bite his lip so hard to ease the urge to scream at the top of his lungs.

He walked out with her on his arm, grabbing a cloth draping it over her exposed skin. As soon as she was leaving, the lab began to shut down, layers by layers. And when they had finally left, it exploded into bits.

The explosion shook the ground, but wasn’t enough to faze him. He walked and walked till he left the place. He took the mountain part that was isolated before he stopped.

Elias sat up leaned against a rock, still holding her. Then, he shut his eyes and released an energy signal.

It was something taught to every Black-eyed in the empire. Releasing the energy like a tiny line of thread, far enough to touch the cloud, and can only be detected by their kind.

He just had to wait it out. It only took five minutes.

Ten figures appeared around him, weapons raised as they inched closer.

”Who are you?!” The leader, a woman, spoke.

He raised his hand and pulled off his mask. His lip was still bleeding where he had bitten hard on.

”Step... mother.”

Arin, the second queen gasped, her weapon clattering to the ground.

”Your highness?!”

She rushed forward and fell on her knee, pulling him into a hug along with the body. ”Thank goodness!”

The rest exchanged glances and eased up.

As soon as she took note of the body, she pulled back and took a good look.

”Her highness?!”

”Take her back.” Elias spoke before she could take it further. ”I’m not going home.”

”But your highness,” she tried to protest, but Elias was already handing over the body.

She carefully took the queen of black empire’s body, and tugged the veil around her.

”I’ll successfully take her back.”

Elias forced himself up, then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the sealing stones of the deceased.

”My maids, my guards,” he began handing them over. ”The mercenaries, the officials, mother’s and Roche’s.”

”Roche’s? He went missing when—”

”I saw him,” Elias cut her off. ”I sent him off.”

She quietly took them and nodded.

”Their memories will be added to our history.”

She bowed. The rest immediately bowed with her. Then she turned away, and disappeared into the night. The rest followed suit, and Elias was left standing.

He reached out into the direction they had taken, but he only caught the wind as his hand returned.

”Wait for me, mom. I’ll mourn you, after I’m done here.”