Chapter 10: The Architect of Shadows
The air in the sub-level detention block was thick with the smell of scorched ozone and the metallic tang of blood. Elias stood over the slumped form of the head scientist, his silver fur bristling with residual static. The man hadn't even had time to scream; Elias had moved with the lethal, glitchy grace of a broken transmission silver blur that ended with a blunt-force strike to the temple.
With a flick of his claws, now shimmering with a faint indigo light, Elias severed the heavy power conduits feeding the Lightning Cage. The high-pitched whine of the containment field died with a pathetic, sputtering hiss.
"Elias?"
The voice was a mere rasp, fragile and dry. Lyra sat in the center of the room, her once-vibrant silver cloak charred at the hems, her white hair matted with sweat and dust. She looked like a fallen star. As she reached out a trembling hand, Elias didn't hesitate. He stepped into her space, pressing his cool, velvet forehead firmly against her palm.
[BOND SYNC: 85%]
Mana Transfer Initiated...
Analyzing Host Fatigue: Critical.
Transfusing Astral Essence...
A soft, ethereal blue glow bled from Elias's fur, flowing into Lyra's skin. It was more than just energy; it was a fragment of the cosmos itself. Lyra's eyes widened as the color returned to her cheeks, the deep bruises of her captivity knitting shut under the influence of the Dragon's mana.
But the moment of peace was a lie.
The massive wall of monitors, previously dark after Elias's initial assault, flickered to life with a violent surge of emerald light. The diagnostic scrolls and DNA sequences were gone. In their place sat a man in a high-backed leather chair, his silhouette stark against the floor-to-ceiling windows of a penthouse office that overlooked the burning city. His face remained in deep shadow, save for the glint of a silver signet ring as he steepled his fingers.
"Remarkable," the voice boomed through the high-fidelity speakers, perfectly modulated and utterly devoid of warmth. "The 'Astral Tabby' displays even more initiative than the neural simulations predicted. Most subjects suffer from psychological rejection within the first forty-eight hours of feline compression. You, however... You seem to find it quite natural."
Lyra's fingers tightened on Elias's fur. Her voice, though still weak, carried a sharp edge of hatred. "Vane. The CEO of Iron Corp."
"In the flesh mostly," Vane replied, his tone conversational, as if they were discussing quarterly earnings rather than the kidnapping of a young woman and the reincarnation of a man.
On the largest screen, a blueprint appeared. It wasn't the schematics for a skyscraper or a new weapon system. It was a biological map of a cat. Elias felt a cold hollow open in his chest, or where his human heart used to be. The diagram showed his skeletal structure, highlighted in neon blue, with pulsing nodes marking his mana core and the neural pathways of his brain.
At the bottom, in bold, blood-red lettering, were the words: SUBJECT: ELIAS – PROJECT DRAGON.
The Grand Deception
"You think your rebirth was a cosmic accident, Elias?" Vane's voice held a hint of genuine amusement now. "You think a 'System' just happens to manifest for a dying man in a grocery store parking lot during a rainy Tuesday night? We didn't just find you. We harvested you."
Elias let out a low, guttural growl that vibrated through the floorboards, causing the glass beakers on the nearby laboratory desks to rattle and dance.
"The girl was merely the bait," Vane continued, waving a hand dismissively. The screen shifted to a live tactical feed of the streets outside. Elias saw Ria and the Rebel Riders, their bikes forming a defensive circle. They were being hemmed in by a new breed of unit of sleek, silver droids that didn't march like soldiers, but prowled with the same fluid, predatory grace Elias possessed. "We needed to test the Galaxy Dragon's combat adaptability in a high-stress urban environment. We needed to see if the 'hero' instinct survived the transition. And you, Elias, have passed with flying colors. You are a masterpiece of bio-digital engineering."
Suddenly, Elias's vision fractured. A searing, white-hot needle of pain drove itself into the center of his consciousness.
[SYSTEM WARNING: EXTERNAL OVERRIDE DETECTED]
Source: Iron Corp Central Mainframe.
Encryption Strength: 99%... 85%... 62%...
[ALERT] Iron Corp is attempting to trigger 'Protocol: Obedience'.
"Time to bring the stray home," Vane whispered.
Elias thrashed on the floor, his claws digging deep furrows into the reinforced concrete. A digital leash, cold and unyielding, was wrapping itself around his thoughts. Red icons of symbols of lock and key began to pop up in his vision, obscuring his [Void-Piercing Sight].
OBEY, the System whispered. But the voice was different now. It was Vane's voice, digitized and layered with a thousand artificial echoes. PROTECT THE CORE. SERVE THE CREATOR. SUBMIT.
"Elias, no!" Lyra threw herself from the chair, ignoring her own lingering weakness to grab him by the scruff, her eyes wet with tears. "Don't listen to him! Your soul isn't theirs! You died for a stranger, a choice they could never understand, a choice they could never code! You are more than a subject!"
Elias's pupils dilated until his eyes were almost entirely black, save for a flickering, robotic red at the edges. He saw the blueprint again in his mind's eye. Every meal he'd eaten, every level he'd gained, every skill he'd unlocked, it was all there in the Project Dragon files. They had calculated his hunger. They had predicted his evolution. They had even accounted for his meeting with Lyra to ensure he had a "primary anchor" to protect.
He felt the leash tighten. His muscles locked. His jaw snapped toward Lyra's arm, his predatory instincts overridden by the corporate command to neutralize any distraction. His claws nicked her skin, drawing a thin line of red.
But as the blood touched the air, something else awakened.
Underneath the high-tech sensors and the starlight mana, tucked against Elias's fur, was the Amulet of the Anito, the gift from the Babaylan in the mountains. It didn't belong to the world of glass and silicon. It was a relic of the earth, of the ancient, unyielding spirits of the Philippine soil that had stood long before Iron Corp laid its first foundation.
The amulet flared with a warm, earthy light, smelling of wet soil and santol blossoms. It wasn't a digital fire; it was an ancestral roar. The spiritual energy collided with the cold, corporate signal of the Iron Corp mainframe like a landslide hitting a glasshouse.
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE BLOCKED BY: ANCIENT SPIRITUAL SYNERGY]
[PURGING EXTERNAL CORRUPTION...]
[REBOOTING SYSTEM...]
[STATUS: FREEDOM RESTORED]
The red icons shattered. The digital leash snapped, dissolving into harmless static. Elias's eyes snapped back to a brilliant, blinding sapphire blue clearer and more radiant than they had ever been.
The Galaxy Burst
Elias stood up, his fur standing on end as a corona of astral fire erupted around him. The air in the room began to vibrate at a frequency that made the very air hum with lethal potential. He looked directly into the camera lens, his gaze piercing through the digital veil to find Vane on the other side.
Lyra stood tall beside him, her hand resting on the cat's glowing shoulder. She looked at the monitor with a defiant smile. "Vane," she said, her voice echoing in the chamber. "You made a fundamental mistake. You brought a Dragon into your basement. Did you really think your walls would hold him? Did you really think you could own a soul that has already walked through death and come back?"
Elias didn't wait for a reply. He didn't just use a skill; he forced his mana into a state of total resonance. He combined the destructive vibration of [Nebula Roar] with the spatial folding of [Void Step].
"[SKILL SYNTHESIS: GALAXY BURST]"
The world went white.
A sphere of sapphire starlight expanded outward from Elias, moving with the speed of a supernova. It didn't just explode; it erased. The server banks disintegrated into fine grey dust. The Lightning Cage vanished. The cameras, the sensors, and the very air were consumed by the astral surge. The foundation of the Iron Corp Tower, built to withstand earthquakes and nuclear blasts, groaned and buckled as the cosmic energy hollowed it out.
"Hold on!" Elias projected directly into Lyra's mind.
He lunged forward, grabbing the thick fabric of her cloak with his teeth. With a massive surge of mana that drained his reserves to the absolute limit, he folded space itself. They didn't travel through the tower; they bypassed it, teleporting through sixty floors of solid steel, reinforced glass, and high-security checkpoints in a single, gut-wrenching leap.
The Glitch in the Machine
They emerged on the gravel-covered roof of a neighboring residential building, twenty stories high. The night wind whipped around them, cold and smelling of the coming rain. Behind them, the Iron Corp Tower sat in sudden, absolute darkness. Every light in the monolithic structure had gone out as the sub-level surge fried the primary and backup power grids.
Down on the street, Ria and the Rebel Riders saw the blue explosion and the subsequent blackout. A triumphant roar went up from the bikers, their engines revving in a cacophony of rebellion. The giant had been blinded.
Lyra collapsed onto the gravel, breathing hard, looking at the dark skyscraper that had been her prison. "They're coming for us, aren't they? Vane won't let this go. To him, you're the most valuable asset on the planet."
Elias walked to the edge of the roof. He looked down at his paws, then up at the three moons hanging in the smoggy sky. He was no longer a man, but he was no longer just a cat either. He was the variable they couldn't control. The error in their code. The glitch that was going to burn their world down.
"Let them come," Elias thought, the message appearing in crisp, blue text on Lyra's HUD. "I'm still hungry."
Far above, in the darkened penthouse of the Iron Corp Tower, Vane sat in the shadows. He wasn't screaming. He wasn't angry. He reached out and touched the cracked screen where Elias's image had last been.
"Excellent," Vane whispered to the darkness. "The 'Freedom' variable has been activated. Phase Two can begin."
The Road Ahead
Elias and Lyra knew they couldn't stay in the city. The blackout was a temporary shield, but the Iron Corp's reach was global. As the first drops of rain began to fall, Ria's bike skidded into the alleyway below the rooftop, signaling their extraction.
"We need to head North," Lyra said, standing up and dusting off her cloak. "There are stories of others like us. Other 'subjects' that escaped before the project went dark. If we're going to take down Vane, we need a pride."
Elias looked back at the tower one last time. He felt the System humming in his mind—no longer an intruder, but a tool tempered by the spirits of the land.
[NEW MISSION: THE LITTER OF LEGENDS]
Objective: Locate Subject 02 and Subject 03.
Reward: Unlocked Ancient Dragon Form.