After the night's intensity, I found myself in the lab again—shirtless, barefoot, hands clasped behind my back.
Laid across the operating table was the alien lifeform—the **Gagarion**.
Its body was a terrifying beauty of coiled muscle and natural armor, translucent tissue stretched tight over a network of glowing nerves.
Even in stasis, it exuded pressure—so dense it warped the energy field of the room, bending light like gravity. The only thing holding its monstrous presence at bay was the **okiron glass**, reinforced to suspend the creature in a total energy lock.
One crack in that seal, and this lab would become a feeding pit.
I stood there, silent. Its eyelids fluttered—still dreaming of whatever hell it came from.
"Inerous." My voice was cold.
**\[I am present.]**
"Extract its brain and heart. I want the complete cerebral cluster and pulse-core harvested. Store them in Gamorite tubes and suspend all metabolic activity. Every cell counts."
**\[Beginning surgical subroutines. Preparing instruments.]**
Mechanical arms unfolded from above with precision too perfect to be human. Each limb ended in surgical lasers and micro-channel extractors, calibrated to isolate neurons from aura strands. The room hummed higher in frequency as the procedure engaged.
"When the heart and brain are secured," I added, stepping back, "peel off its dermal sheath. Extract every skin cell, and preserve its ocular system and spine for graft research."
**\[Confirmed. Estimated completion: 22 minutes.]**
I turned without another glance, coat whispering at my heels as I left the room behind—its quiet dissection beginning as I walked away.
But just as I neared the door, movement caught my eye.
Dian.
She was barefoot in the corridor, hair wild, robe half-open and clinging to her damp skin. Lightning coiled around her hand—unstable, violet, black-laced—burning with uncontrolled force. Her eyes darted, unseeing. She was running, frantic, the spell already formed, her power unhinged.
---
**Earlier.**
Dian stirred in bed, sheets clinging to her skin. Her body was sore in ways she'd never experienced before—deep, warm aches blooming in her thighs and hips, her lips still tingling from his kiss.
Her hand reached for him by instinct.
Cold linen.
She blinked, confusion threading into her breath. "...Where is he?"
The room was dim. Soft wall-lights painted slow waves of gold across her bare skin.
She sat up, heart racing—not from fear, but from something deeper. A void that hadn't been there last night. Her core still hummed with heat. Her body remembered what her mind was only now catching up to.
Crossing her legs, she closed her eyes. Hands folded over her heart.
*Focus.*
One inhale. One exhale.
And her spirit sank inward.
---
She stood before her **dual core**.
Two spheres floated in the void: one golden and alive with lightning, brilliant arcs dancing across its surface; the other dark and fluid, like a black star, pulsing with eerie calm.
She blinked.
"…Unity?"
Before, these cores were in constant conflict—like most humans who possessed multiple affinities. Lightning and darkness weren't supposed to coexist. The laws of nature resisted it. But now… they weren't fighting.
They circled each other in orbit.
Cooperative.
Whole.
"This doesn't happen…" Her voice trembled. "I didn't train for this."
She stretched her hand out.
Back in her physical body, her fingers sparked. Lightning answered her call—forming instantly into a sharp, electric spear.
Her eyes widened. "It's real…"
She summoned her second affinity—**Darkness**.
Black tendrils seeped through her skin like smoke. They coiled around the lightning spear, testing its edges.
*Merge.*
The spear trembled in her hand. For a moment, she felt it falter, as if it would collapse in on itself—reject the fusion.
But it didn't.
It accepted the dark.
The lightning turned black. Fanged arcs crackled from its tip, the air vibrating around it like a live storm about to scream.
Her hand shook.
"I've merged them," she whispered. "Dual affinity… full resonance…"
Her heart dropped as her mind snapped to one thought.
"Dax."
She turned to the bed again. Still empty. Still cold.
Robe forgotten on the chair, she grabbed it and threw it around her shoulders, ran barefoot through the hallway—spear burning in her hand, power licking her skin with every breath.
Her thighs ached from the night before, her lips still swollen. She didn't care.
She needed to find him.
---
She rounded the corner.
And there he was.
Dax.
Standing calm, bare-chested, watching her with unreadable eyes. Her breath caught—robe falling from one shoulder, lightning spear sparking dangerously at her side.
His gaze flicked to the weapon. His lips curved into a slow smile.
"That is dangerous."
Without a word, he turned and led her to the testing chamber.
The room thrummed with arcane pressure, the floor engraved with containment glyphs.
"You can release the energy here."
She didn't hesitate. Her fingers opened.
**BOOM!**
The spear exploded forward, too fast to track. The impact came before the sound. The walls split, fractures racing outward in spiderwebs of cracked stone. Only after the destruction came the thunderclap—deafening and violent.
Smoke billowed across the glyphs.
I took a breath. "Faster than sound. I see."
Her power was *insane*.
"Wow, Dax—this is unreal!" She leapt into my arms. I caught her easily.
"I've gained it," she whispered in disbelief. "What we call elemental unity."
I smiled.
"Yes… you did it."
I kissed her forehead gently.
But my expression turned.
"Dian… do you remember what we discussed about the Fallen God?"
She looked up, her breath catching. "Yes…"
"I've made the calculations. There's only one outcome left. All paths converge. Either we die—or we challenge a god."
Shock etched across her face.
"I… I didn't know it was *that* serious…"
I stepped closer, voice soft.
"My darling… are you willing to lose your humanity for this?"
She hesitated. Silence flooded between us. For the first time, she looked at me not just as a man, but as something she hadn't yet understood.
*He's hiding me from a shattered god. He moves between realms. How did I not see it sooner?*
*Is Dax even human?*
But my voice was steady.
"Trust me."
Stillness. My voice washed over her like tidewater.
Her eyes softened. Her heart clenched.
"You will surpass humanity," I said. "One day, you'll know how the stars feel when they fall into love."
She stepped closer, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I trust you, Dax."
I saw the flicker of hesitation. The fear.
But she meant it.
"…But I need to know what I'm stepping into. Who are you really?"
I didn't blink.
"Ask not what the truth shall be. The truest self you'll find in me… is every wound I will bear for you, and every storm I carry through."
I let the silence hold the weight.
She exhaled. Her hand rose, fingers pressing lightly to my chest.
"…Then I won't ask anymore."
She didn't look away.
"I don't need to understand all of you. Not right now. I felt it when you held me. When you didn't run from my fear."
Her voice tightened.
"You could've lied. Said something pretty. But you didn't. You stood there. You carried it."
She took one step closer, voice steady now.
"So I'll carry it too."
A pause.
"But promise me one thing."
Her hand clenched my coat.
"When that storm finally comes… don't walk into it alone."
I was silent. Her words pierced deeper than she could know.
I pulled her into my arms and held her.
---
**\[Master. Everything is ready.]**
Inerous's voice shattered the quiet.
"It's ready."
She followed me to the procedure room, her robe still tied but slipping slightly as we walked. I gestured to the table.
"Lie down."
She obeyed.
A bot rolled toward her, gentle and efficient. Its chrome arms extended and began scanning her body from head to toe. A screen flickered to life, diagnostic data blooming across it.
It paused.
Then left.
A moment later, it returned—carrying a sealed canister.
Inside: a single glowing fruit.
The **Fruit of Rebirth.** Born from the Tree of Rebirth, refined through Origin.
"Take a bite."
She lifted it slowly. Bit.
Her eyes widened. "It's… delicious."
The glow started at her chest. Spread to her limbs. Her skin shimmered, light flushing out injuries, stress, and the toxic build-up of spiritual conflict. Even the faded bruises from the night before faded to nothing.
Another bot approached with a sleek injector. A soft mist sprayed over her face.
She exhaled once—and drifted under.
I washed my hands at the basin. Dried them in silence.
Then pulled on my surgical gloves.
Tight.
Exact.
Ready.