The sky was no longer silent.
It trembled.
Ashveil's ruins vibrated as a low hum spread across the fractured streets. The air thickened, turning viscous, heavy—like existence itself was preparing for war.
Auren stood atop a collapsed skyscraper, eyes fixed on the horizon.
They were coming.
Not one.
Not ten.
Hundreds.
Black crystalline forms marched in perfect formation, their movements synchronized like a single consciousness operating countless bodies.
The Abyssal Dominion had responded.
[Warning: Abyssal Dominion Scout Regiment Approaching]
[Estimated Combat Power: Exceeds Current Mortal Frame Rank]
[Survival Probability: 17.4%]
Auren exhaled slowly.
"Good," he whispered.
His veins pulsed faintly with residual Singularity energy. The minor evolution from the previous battle hadn't faded—it had integrated.
His senses sharpened again.
He could see energy signatures within each scout.
Weak points.
Law anchors.
Core nodes.
And then—
He felt something new.
A hollow space within his consciousness.
Empty.
Waiting.
The first wave attacked.
Reality folded as dozens of scouts leapt simultaneously, their claws tearing through gravitational threads. Buildings shattered before they even landed.
Auren didn't retreat.
He moved.
His body blurred through three strikes, countered five, shattered two cores—but for every one destroyed, three more replaced it.
The ground cracked beneath him.
One scout managed to slash across his shoulder.
Pain.
Real pain.
His blood hit the ruined pavement—
And the world froze.
[Bloodline Resonance Detected]
[Hidden Trait Awakening…]
[Summoner Protocol Unlocked]
Auren staggered as symbols ignited beneath his feet—intricate geometric patterns formed from pure light, stretching outward across broken streets.
"What is this…?"
The scouts hesitated.
Even they sensed it.
The hollow space inside Auren's mind ignited.
A gate.
Not physical.
Not spiritual.
Something deeper.
A Call.
Without understanding how, Auren reached inward.
He didn't summon with words.
He summoned with will.
And something answered.
The sky cracked again—but this time, only locally.
A vertical fracture opened behind him, glowing silver-blue.
From within stepped a figure made of living energy—humanoid in shape, its body composed of shifting constellations and flickering runes.
Its eyes were calm.
Ancient.
[Summoned Entity: Etherborn Vanguard]
[Amplification Roll: ×4,920]
[Duration: 180 seconds]
Auren's heart pounded.
The Etherborn raised a hand.
The nearest Abyssal scout disintegrated instantly.
No explosion.
No clash.
It simply… ceased.
The battlefield changed.
The Abyssal scouts screeched, their formation tightening. Their coordination shifted from aggression to containment.
They had identified Auren as a strategic anomaly.
More units arrived.
Larger ones.
Armored elites with gravitational distortion fields.
The system pulsed again.
[Combat Growth Accumulated]
[Return Amplification: ×8,104]
[Warning: Body Strain Rising]
Energy flooded Auren's muscles. His bones creaked as density increased. His perception expanded—he could now see probability lines branching into thousands of potential futures.
But the strain was real.
If he pushed too hard, he might collapse.
The Etherborn moved like flowing light, slicing through scouts with surgical precision. Yet even it was being pressured.
The Abyssal Dominion adapted fast.
One elite unit slammed its claw into the Etherborn's torso, distorting its energy structure.
The summon flickered.
[Summoned Entity Stability: 41%]
Auren's jaw tightened.
"Then I'll fight with you."
He stepped forward, tapping deeper into Singularity.
This time, it wasn't minor.
It roared.
His pupils split vertically, glowing faint silver. His heartbeat synchronized with the battlefield itself.
He no longer reacted.
He dictated.
He stepped into an elite unit's guard and drove his fist into its core. But instead of shattering it—
He absorbed the energy.
A shockwave rippled outward.
[Singularity Micro-Evolution]
[Trait Gained: Abyssal Resistance 12%]
Auren laughed.
Not mad.
Not arrogant.
Alive.
"For every attack you make," he said softly, "I grow."
The Abyssal formation faltered.
And somewhere far above, a massive presence shifted.
Watching.
Calculating.
The Etherborn dissipated in a burst of light as its duration ended.
But it had bought time.
The scout regiment was decimated.
Ashveil lay in deeper ruin—but Auren still stood.
Barely.
He dropped to one knee, breathing heavily.
His body trembled—not from fear, but from the immense amplification stacking inside him.
[Mortal Frame Rank 1 → Threshold Breach]
[Advancement Available: Spirit Ignition]
[Warning: Advancement Now May Cause Instability]
[Recommended: Combat Trial Completion]
Auren lifted his head slowly.
Across the shattered skyline—
A new figure descended.
Twice the size of the elites.
Wings formed of black crystal and compressed gravity.
A crown of void fire above its skull.
It wasn't a scout.
It was command.
[Abyssal Dominion – Sub-Commander Identified]
[Power Estimate: Spirit Ignition Rank 3 Equivalent]
Auren wiped blood from his mouth.
Perfect.
He rose.
"If I must ignite my spirit," he murmured, "I'll do it in battle."
The Sub-Commander landed.
The ground imploded beneath its feet.
The sky darkened.
Ashveil became a war zone.
And for the first time—
The Abyssal Dominion felt something unfamiliar.
Concern.