The entrance of the great demon Arabatogon couldn't have made the disaster any worse. Aldomite's body lay critically injured and unconscious after Professor Desmond's fatal blow, but deep within his core, Zechtron was violently active, the sentient essence maintaining a life-force around the fractured organ.
The moment Arabatogon stepped across the threshold, Zechtron flared. The Core Essence felt the raw, familiar signature of his ancient killer, and his will—pure, unbounded hatred—surged, demanding immediate vengeance. Yet, in the midst of the chaos, Zechtron sensed the frightened, helpless children surrounding him. He paused, realizing something fundamental had changed within his consciousness. Without Aldomite's human spirit to anchor him, Zechtron could not fight, let alone command his full strength.
Arabatogon, seeing the small, broken boy held gently by a terrified familiar, let out a booming laugh that shook the inn's rafters. "I knew we would meet again, Core Essence," he mocked, his voice a cold rasp. "But I didn't expect the vessel to be in such poor condition."
Principal Hector and Professor Desmond descended the stairs, their smiles faltering as they saw the Demon General. They exchanged uneasy glances, clearly stunned by the presence of a figure of Arabatogon's terrifying rank. The surviving students, already panicking from the betrayal, looked to their authority figures, desperate for safety, blindly running toward the two traitors.
Lipton and Calvin desperately tried to stop them, shouting, "Don't go near them! They stabbed Aldomite!" But many students, clinging to the last shreds of sanity, dismissed the claims as fear-induced nonsense.
Then, the final, horrifying confirmation arrived: Hector and Desmond stopped at the foot of the stairs and bowed low before the Demon General. In that instant, several of the top-ranking, disciplined students finally sided with Lipton and his friends, recognizing the catastrophic, irreversible treachery.
During the confusion, Arabatogon acted with predatory swiftness. A black shadow blurred across the room, and he effortlessly snatched Aldomite's unconscious body from the frantic, trembling familiar that held him. Calvin gasped, instantly moving to attack, but one chilling glance from Arabatogon froze him mid-stride. His familiar, sensing the overwhelming power, rushed to his side and locked around his arm, whispering, "Protecting you is all I care about." Calvin fought the familiar's protective magic, desperately wanting it to help Aldomite, but he was held captive by his friend's terrified loyalty.
Gripping Aldomite's body, Arabatogon looked at the Principal. "The resurrection of my Master, Galaxoius, has been successfully completed," the demon declared, silencing the entire room.
Hector, ignoring the world-ending news, only saw his ticket to his family's salvation. "I demand the boy's core!" Hector declared, stepping forward. "It is the final component I need to heal my son completely."
Arabatogon threw back his head and roared with laughter. "You wish to feed a God to your son?"
Hector was genuinely shocked. "This boy is human! He is not a God!"
Zechtron, listening silently within Aldomite's shattered core, felt a flash of ironic anger. Even now, after enduring so much, his existence was reduced to a bargaining chip between a selfish father and a murderous demon.
Arabatogon sneered down at Hector, the revelation sinking into the remaining cadets. "This vessel is necessary for the completion of my majestic return," the demon hissed, gesturing to Aldomite. "Do not interfere with that for your selfish desire!"
Stunned by the confirmation that Aldomite was far more than a boy, Hector had no choice but to back down. He turned his attention to the remaining students. "This number of incredible students will be enough," he stated, his voice now cold and calculating.
Some students immediately bolted, adrenaline overcoming shock. Others stood paralyzed, unable to process the betrayal and the terrifying revelation of Aldomite's divine nature.
Calvin and Lipton remained rooted, their initial fear overridden by the shame of losing their friend after all the oaths they had sworn.
Felix immediately snapped them out of their paralysis. "Stop!" he yelled, grabbing Lipton's arm. "We might be able to save him later, but we have to save ourselves!" He reasoned quickly, his eyes hard and practical. "The demon won't finish Aldomite off. They need him for the resurrection. We get out of here, out of Almada, and report this. We get stronger knights and we stop the resurrection."
The cold logic was irrefutable. Lipton and Calvin nodded, turning to lead the remaining cadets toward the back exit.
Arabatogon, having achieved his primary objective, gave a curt signal. He levitated Aldomite's unconscious form and turned toward the tunnel. The remaining demons rushed into the inn to hold the line. Hector and Desmond immediately began Attacking the students who hadn't fled, their blades meeting the desperate counter-attacks of the few cadets able to fight back.
The last thing Lipton saw as he fled the inn was the massive, crystalline form of Arabatogon vanishing into the darkness, carrying away his best friend and the terrifying secret of Zechtron.
Elise, operating in a haze of pure adrenaline and shock after witnessing the chaos at the inn, was pulled along by the terrified momentum of the cadets who had seen Hector and Desmond bow. She knew Aldomite was critically wounded, but her mind had mercifully blocked the image of his capture. They fled blindly through the ancient, confusing service tunnels beneath Almada, their path dictated by pure chance, until they stumbled down into the cold, stone passages of the Secret Vault—the very place Aldomite had faced his betrayal.
The sight that met them was chilling: two figures stood silently, their forms gaunt and tragically altered. They were Elara and Lysander, Hector's wife and son. The students froze, prepared for the final, bloody phase of the ambush.
But Elara, her eyes hollowed by ancient grief, made no move to strike. She placed a protective, skeletal hand on her son's shoulder. "You are safe here, children," she whispered, her voice dry and brittle. "The demons will not look here yet. We will help you hide."
The stunned cadets could only confirm their survival with shaky breaths. They were grateful, but deeply suspicious.
Elara read the doubt in their wide eyes. "You must be curious about us, why we look like this," she said, proceeding to recount the horror of the magically engineered disease and the agonizing choice Hector made to save them—a choice that cursed them both. When they confirmed their relation to the Principal, one of the students, trembling, managed to ask: "Your husband is our enemy. He is murdering our friends. Why are you helping us?"
A profound, exhausted sadness settled over Elara. "I never agreed with his decision to use the children," she confessed, her guilt heavy enough to fill the cavern. "He forced Lysander and me to devour every core he brought back, assuring us it was necessary for the cure. But the cost... the slaughter... I cannot justify it any longer."
After the searched from the demons calmed down, She showed them a final, hidden passage, a secondary exit that promised a clean way out of Almada, far from the main demonic lines. Hope, raw and intoxicating, surged through the small group. They thanked the afflicted mother and son, turning and running as fast as they could toward salvation.
As they ran, Elise was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of guilt. I ran away. I left Aldomite behind to die. She swore that if they failed to escape, she would carry the crushing regret for the rest of her days.
They reached the final junction: the wide, clear passage leading to freedom, and a narrow, shadowed side path that Elara had specifically warned them against: "Just continue walking," she'd instructed.
But as the others urged her forward, Elise stopped, pressing her hands against her temples. "Wait," she whispered, her eyes fixed on the darkness. "Something is calling me. I hear my name." The sound was not in her ears, but a faint, insistent resonance deep in her bones. The truth was Zechtron, the Core Essence, recognizing her powerful healing magic and attempting to draw her near.
Ignoring the frantic, whispered protests of her friends, who made their tearful escape without her, Elise plunged into the shadowed path. She reached the end to find a vast, echoing subterranean cavern. At its center, upon a crude, sacrificial altar, was Aldomite's pale, almost lifeless body, entirely alone.
Arabatogon had departed to retrieve the Dark Lord's coffin, leaving only a massive, heavily armored Dark Beast—a brutal sentinel—to guard the precious vessel.
Elise rushed forward, collapsing beside him, heedless of the chilling stillness of the cavern. Seeing the fatal stab wound and the cold pallor of his skin, she immediately poured her raw healing magic into him. Her energy flowed easily, connecting her to his core—a connection that allowed her to feel Zechtron's desperate, faint plea. Though she wasn't present for the full reveal of his identity, she knew only that her friend was dying. "I shouldn't have left you," she choked out, her tears falling onto his chest as she sustained the flow of energy.
Under the continuous influx of Elise's pure magic, Aldomite began breathing slowly, deeply. Within him, the fusion accelerated. Aldomite's raw essence and the ancient presence of Zechtron began to unconsciously fuse into a single, cohesive entity—a violent, chaotic merging locked and amplified by the severe wound, pushing toward an inevitable breakthrough.
The massive Dark Beast arrived, its shadow swallowing the cavern whole. The air dropped suddenly, tasting of ozone and death. Elise was stunned by its terrifying size; its hide was like granite, its eyes burning like coals. The creature moved with brutal simplicity; one casual, back-handed swipe sent Elise flying into the rock wall. The agonizing crack of her snapping legbone was sickeningly loud.
She screamed, not just from the pain, but from the fear that the beast would finish the unconscious Aldomite. Zechtron surged, trying to force a rise, but the necessary fusion had locked his power in flux, leaving Aldomite's body limp.
Elise, adrenaline overriding the pain, recognized the true danger. It's here to kill him. She fought through the shock, standing on her useless leg. A searing heat erupted from her hands as she poured magic into the fracture, healing the bone with desperate intensity. But even as the bone knitted, she knew her human magic stood no chance against the towering sentinel.
Then, the final, explosive moment arrived. The combined force of her pure healing magic, her dedicated presence, and the sheer desperation of her will provided the last necessary element for the fusion to complete.
Aldomite's eyes snapped open.
He moved with an impossible, blurred speed, placing himself directly between Elise and the beast as the demon launched its killing blow. The attack connected, but this time, Aldomite did not suffer a scratch. The blow rebounded, leaving the surface of his skin undisturbed.
Elise gazed in awe at his transformation. "Is that... is that really you, Aldomite?" she asked, staring at his transcended form—a figure of sublime, powerful beauty that seemed to radiate light. His eyes, formerly deep blue, now glowed with pure, rippling gold. His hair had erupted, cascading down his back in long, shimmering strands of supernatural white.
He looked at her, and his lips curved into a gentle, knowing smile. "Yes, it's me, Elise," he answered. She distinctly heard two voices—one the familiar warmth of Aldomite, the other ancient and resonant—perfectly calm and fused into one.
She smiled through her collapse. "Thank goodness you are alright," she whispered, finally letting go.
Aldomite's hand glowed with a complex, golden weave of energy—a high-level healing spell that instantly stabilized her. He gently lifted her and placed her in a secluded, safe niche behind the altar. He turned, his figure floating slightly above the stone floor. His energy burst forth, a rioting wave of Gold color that flooded the cavern, pushing back the shadows.
He looked at the Dark Beast, the pure malice of his new essence radiating outward.
"Now," Aldomite stated, his voice ringing with the composite authority of a boy and a God. "Time for a Divine Wrath."
The orphan boy had finally Ascended—transformed into a single, greater being, beyond human capability, now ready to wield the power of Zechtron's Core in the name of his own heart.
Chapter 10: GOD AND DEATH