Time froze in the courtyard of the temple. The creature of purple light - the "scalpel" - finally materialized, undulating like a translucent jellyfish made of concentrated nothingness. It did not emit any sound, but its mere presence sucked heat, light, vital energy from around it. The grass dried up and turned to dust in its path.
"The experiment continues. Direct observation of the reaction of the Phoenix to the loss of its nucleus. "The voice of the Eye resounded, clinical and relentless.
Do-hyun felt a primal cry go up his throat, but he choked it. Panic was not an option. The Tree sent him a wave of pure distress, an acute pain anticipated, like a root that was about to be cut.
"Do-hyun!" shouted Soo-ah, disengaged from decaying golems. She aimed at the scalpel with her spear, but a simple purple pulse of the entity threw the weapon with her hands.
Min-ho fired a volley of darts. They disintegrated one meter away from the creature, absorbed by its annihilating energy field.
It was useless. They couldn't fight that.
The scalpel completely ignored humans. It rose into the air, crossing the fault open by the Eye. Its destination was clear: Mount Bukhan. He was going to pierce the mountain and the tree in his heart.
[ALERT: EXISTENTIAL THREAT for the tree of balance.]
[Physical defense incapaciency.]
[ALTERNATIVE REQUIRED: CONCEPTUAL/SYMBIOTIC DEFENCE.]
The words of the System burst into Do-hyun's mind. Conceptual defense. The tree was not just a plant. It was a concept of balance, of connection. The scalpel was a concept of cutting, of dissection.
"The net..." murmured Do-hyun, his gaze passing from the scalpel that disappeared into the sky to the quivering fault where the Eye floated, and then to the disturbed purple well at his feet. The filaments, now tinged with silver, pulsed erratically.
The Fruit of Links had done its job. He had connected the surveillance net to a whole bunch of things... including the Tree itself.
A crazy, desperate idea was born.
"Soo-ah! Min-ho! Help me!" he shouted, rushing to the edge of the well.
"What are you doing?" exclaimed Soo-ah as he joined him.
You can't stop the scalpel. But we can distract him. We can give him something else to cut!"
He plunged his hands into the energy maelstrom of the well. The pain was immediate and excruciating, like immersing your hands in mixed acid and ice. He gritted his teeth and channeled all his energy, not to fight, but to amplify.
[Use of synchronization with the tree: 80%.]
[OBJECTIVE: Overload the PARASITE SILVER links.]
[CANALIZATION OF ENERGY IDENTITY "PHENIX" IN THE NETWORK.]
He was not trying to damage the net. He sought to inject a signature so strong, so brilliant, that it would become an impossible-to-ignore decoy for a tool designed to slice stable energy sources.
"Do the same!" he gasped. "Give him your energy! Your signature! Everything!"
Soo-ah may not fully understand, but she trusted. She put her hands close to Do-hyun's, closing her eyes. His silver aura of Bloodline user bursts forth, mingling with the golden torrent of Do-hyun.
Min-ho, after a second of hesitation, put a hand on Do-hyun's shoulder. He had no spectacular aura, but his iron will, his discipline, his soldier essence were an energy in itself. Precise, structured energy.
The mix was chaotic. Gold, silver, and a steely blue glow. It poured into the well, using the parasitic channels created by the fruit, and flooded the destabilized purple net.
The effect was immediate. The net, already in the midst of reconfiguration, raced. Hundreds of silver and gold filaments lit up throughout the city, creating a phantom network shining over the purple network. And at the center of this phantom network, at the point of convergence of all these injected energies, a decoy was formed.
An approximate, but blindingly intense, energetic copy of the Phoenix Tree signature. It was not anchored in the mountains. It floated, diffuse, everywhere and nowhere, fed by the net itself.
In the fault, the Eye pulsated.
"Anomaly. MULTIPLICATION OF THE TIBLE SIGNAL. "His voice lost some of its perfect coldness, tinged with a tiny frustration. "The SCALPEL MUST RECALIBRATION HIS TARGET."
Miles away, above Mount Bukhan, the cosmic scalpel hesitated. His simple directive - cutting the balance source - was blurred. In front of him, the signature of the Tree was there, strong and pure, anchored in the mountains. But through the net, another signature, almost identical in essence but dispersed and artificially amplified, also claimed to be the source.
The tool turned on itself, undecided. Then, following his precision programming, he opted for the most "noisy" target, the most evident in his immediate field of perception: the massive energetic decoy pulsating through the network.
He plunged, not towards the mountain, but towards downtown Seoul, towards the brightest node of the lure.
The ground shook. Not in Bukhan, but near the Han River. A flash of silent purple light tore the sky above an abandoned industrial district, followed by an implosion of energy that sucked up the clouds and shook the windows within a kilometer.
The scalpel had struck. He had cut the lure.
In the temple, the counter-reaction was violent. The well exploded into a scattered burst of energy. Do-hyun, Soo-ah and Min-ho were thrown back, landing heavily on the cold stones.
Blood energy: 5/100
[SYNCHRONIZATION WITH THE TREE: 65% - DEMINATION due to shock.]
[STATUS: TOTAL DEPURATION, ENERGY BURNING IN HANDS.]
Do-hyun lay on his back, panting, looking at the fault in the sky. The Eye was still floating there, but it was throbbing irregularly. The purple net around them had collapsed, the filaments dissolving into a dissipating mist. The direct attack had been hijacked, but at the cost of a devastating discharge into the network of the Eye itself.
"Excessive interference. SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM INTOGRITY: COMPROMISE. "The voice was weaker, distant." The data is corrupted. Temporary withdrawal required for reassessment."
The crack in reality began to close. The Eye, that icy entity of curiosity, turned away.
The Phoenix and its tree have demonstrated an unexpected adaptive capacity. This will be noted. We will meet again when the parameters are redefined."
Then he disappeared. The fault closed with a silent clap that vibrated the air one last time.
The silence subsided, heavy with dust and ozone burned.
Do-hyun tried to get up, but his trembling arms refused to carry him. Soo-ah dragged himself up to him, his face covered in soot and blood.
"The Tree..." he managed to whisper.
She closed her eyes for a moment, focused. As a Bloodline user, his sensibility was different. "He's... alive. Shaken. But alive. The strike did not hit the mountain."
An immense, almost painful relief flooded Do-hyun. He dropped his head back on the cold ground.
Min-ho rose with difficulty, leaning against a pillar. "The landfill... it hit the Mapo industrial zone. The material damage will be considerable. But there was no one there at that hour."
It was a small consolation. They had just deflected a cosmic attack on their own city. The Eye was gone, but it had left scars.
And he would come back.
The return to the base, this time, was done with the help of Ji-eun who came to pick them up in a discreet vehicle. They were too exhausted, too injured to move around alone.
The following days were devoted to convalescence and cleaning. The media reported a "mysterious gas explosion" in Mapo. The authorities were investigating. The Purple Dawn Clan, deprived of the guiding will of the Eye, was descended into chaos and factional wars. Gorath had disappeared, probably consumed by the connection when the net collapsed.
The tree had survived. But the ordeal had changed him. Do-hyun, in his first meditation since the attack, felt the difference. The Tree was no longer just a symbol of peace and balance. He now bore the memory of the threat, of the need to defend himself. Its growth had taken a new direction: its roots were sinking deeper, seeking absolute stability, and a new capacity was emerging.
[Tree growth: 30%]
[NEW DETECTED CAPACITY: DEFENSIVE SHIP.]
Effect: The tree can now "record" a threatening energetic signature and project a deterrent echo of its own presence to deflect future attacks. Duration and scope limited.
The Tree was learning. He was adapting.
Sitting in the HQ, looking at his bandaged hands, Do-hyun realized that the battle had changed the very nature of their quest. They were no longer just gardeners. They were the architects of a living fortress, the guardians of a hope that also had to learn to fight for survival.
The Eye had failed today. But he had looked. He had learned.
And the next experiment would be better designed.