Zay's aura erupted in violent waves, spiraling around him like a violet storm. He forced himself upright, trembling as his blood-soaked hand clutched the Angelic Core—still dim, still cold. Each breath was a battle, shallow and sharp, his lungs burning with effort.
Then came the blinding white light.
Blinding, divine, and merciless.
It poured from the core, surged through his fingers, and speared skyward into the endless dark above. It didn't feel holy. It felt invasive—like something trying to overwrite his existence.
The light expanded outward, swallowing the ruined chamber in a slow, creeping brilliance. And in its glow, his aura began to unravel.
"No..."
His voice cracked as he grit his teeth, a low growl escaping his throat. The Angelic Core wasn't entering him—it was consuming him. His Aura Core flared in resistance. The Monster Core, deep in his chest, pulsed violently, instinctively rejecting the intrusion.
He was breaking from the inside.
"F-FUCK!"
He roared, spitting the word through clenched teeth as he bit down on his bottom lip, splitting it open. Blood welled and ran down his chin. His eyes flared with violet light, wild and desperate.
His body convulsed, his muscles locked, veins bulged, and his skin shivered beneath the pressure of clashing energies. The Angelic Core burned against his soul—not with fire, but with a searing purity that felt like judgment.
The core in his hand suddenly flickered.
The glowing white turned gray, quickly darkening into a black with grey light surrounding it in a thin layer.
Cracks splintered across the surface of the Angelic Core like spiderwebs in glass, and from within—an unholy light spilled out. Cold. Elegant. Terrifying.
Zay's aura spiraled inward, dragged into the core as if feeding it. His heart thundered. His mind screamed. But deep within the pain... something else took root.
The Angelic Core faded as it entered his body, settling with his other two Cores as he collapsed backward onto his back. Sweat drenched his entire frame as he breathed heavily before passing out on the blue stone flooring of the chamber.
Several hours had passed, and Zay's nose twitched as he felt something. His eyes opened and looked up. He saw Nubilum standing next to him. Nubilum looked down at Zay before glancing around the empty chamber. Its misty eyes returned to Zay before it turned and walked away, fading into the darkness of the chamber as Zay slowly stood up. His energy had somehow returned—completely.
'How... how long was I out for?' was the first question he thought before he heard the familiar sound from the Resonance Lens as it appeared.
[Resonance Lens: ??? Detected]
The Angelic Core you successfully absorbed has lost too much of its Divinity. Due to the Angelic Core losing its Divinity—and the Arbiter's body not being one that could sustain a proper Angelic Core—the Angelic Core has been corrupted by the forces of your [Monster Core] and has been forcefully mutated into a Fallen Core.
Benefits:
Trait: Angel's Spearmanship
Grants the ability to wield any spear at the level of the Angel of Winter.
[Level 2 of the Seal of the Demoness rewards]
Passives:
Subtle Charm has increased in effectiveness.
Resonance Echo:
Persuade
Stat Modifiers:
Strength:
The Arbiter's physical body gains a slight increase in strength and endurance.
Agility:
The Arbiter's agility and reflexes are heightened further, granting them an edge in dodging, evading, and reacting to opponents' movements.
—
Zay read through all of this, his facial expression remaining unchanged as he scanned the information. He reached out with his hand, still trembling, before clicking on the Resonance Echo, curious about what it did, as he hadn't heard of this Echo before.
[Persuade]
When activated, the Arbiter can influence the thoughts and actions of a single target they choose. While the effect is very weak, it has a chance to nudge the target toward a decision that aligns with the Arbiter's will.
This Echo requires no Aura but demands full focus to activate. The longer the Arbiter maintains the influence, the more it drains their aura, and the weaker the effect becomes if overused in rapid succession.
"Not bad... though, I'm not sure how I would ever use this. It doesn't say exactly how it's supposed to be used. 'It has a chance to nudge'—so, does that mean this Echo is just a dice-roll type of ability? It might work, or it might not? I don't think... this is very worth it. But it is nice to have it.. I think?" Zay whispered to himself as he read through it, shaking his head in disappointment.
He raised his right hand to his mouth and touched his bottom lip. Feeling the split in the skin, he pulled his hand away with a sigh. "That'll... take a while to heal."
'I need to start getting things done. First, I have to get the hell out of this Sequence. After that, I'll head to the continent of Gyro. There's someone I'm looking for, Rei Alvor. The smartest guy I've ever met. He's strong too... but his strength comes with a deep price.' he thought as he looked around the empty chamber, attempting to find a door, or something.
'He became Gyro's lead detective at just seventeen and earned the highest rank, called 'Scythe.' It represents the top-ranking detective in all of Gyro. Once I reach him, then I can finally set real plans in motion. He's got connections, he knows people who know people. And with his help... I'll start a club again. Just like I always have. "Mystic." That was always the name... and it marked the first major turning point.'
As the thought settled, Zay let out a slow sigh, already bracing for the possibility that Rei might reject him—or worse, arrest him again, like he had in several past lives when Zay had sounded too insane to trust.
"Sequence Four and every Sequence beyond… that's when everything changes. I should use this time while I have it to go over all of my Echos, passives, and try to read my Resonance Name description again, too."
"Arbiter: Resonance Lens"
[Name]: Zay Yuso
[Resonance Name]:Forsaken by Dawn
[Current Location]: Temple of A Dead Angel
[Age]: 21
[Time]: 5:03 a.m.
Cores:
Aura Core: 100% | Initiate
Monster Core: 100% | Primordial(Sealed) | Ravager
Fallen Core(Unique): Unstable | ???
Seals and Contracts:
Seal of Midnight | Level 2
Seal of the Eternal Hunt | Level 2
Seal of the Radiant Sovereign | Level 2
Seal of the Demoness | Level 2
Contract: Goddess of Dreams and Eternal Slumbering | Level 2
"Well, I already know the abilities of both Eternal Hunt and Radiant Sovereign… though Radiant Sovereign has been sealed for quite a while. I still can't use it. So… let's go over what Level 2 does for the Seal of the Demoness."
Zay lifted his hand and clicked on it, expanding the details of the Seal of the Demoness.
A new screen appeared in front of him. At the top was a symbol—two sleek fangs crossing over one another. The background of the translucent screen shimmered with light purple and twisting streaks of crimson. The text, written in sharp white script, was clear and easy for Zay to read. The layout had also changed, and the name of the Seal had been slightly altered, now framed by two dark purple hearts.
[🖤Seal of the Demoness🖤]
╭──Passives──╮
• Subtle Charm
• Night Vision
╭──Resonance Echoes──╮
• Shadow Hide
• Persuade
"Hm... so at Level 2, the Resonance Lens slightly changed the way the information for this Seal is displayed? Interesting. It looks fine, though. Let's... go over the Passives first." Zay reached his hand out and clicked on Subtle Charm first, curious about the Level 2 version of it. The screen shifted, and the description appeared.
[Subtle Charm]
• The radius has been increased to seven feet.
• Over time, the charm begins to build influence, causing individuals to gradually trust the Arbiter more without realizing. This influence can also make people act more cooperatively, as long as they have no existing reason to distrust the Arbiter.
• Once a target's charm influence reaches 100%, the Arbiter may issue one command, and the target will follow it unconditionally. After the command is said, the influence resets to 0%
• The influence bar automatically resets to 0% if the target remains outside the seven-foot radius for longer than five seconds.
• This passive does not consume Aura.
Zay read over the description and nodded as he was pleased with it, for what it was.
"Not bad at all for a passive. That one command is amazing... seven feet of radius—I assume it's in every direction, not just a single one. But how long does it take to fill the bar? That's what'll determine whether it's truly good or not. Still, either way, it's impressive since it doesn't even require Aura."
The screen faded away as he finished reviewing the Seal of the Demoness. He began walking forward through the chamber, lost in thought—reflecting on everything that had happened to him. At the thought, his expression grew colder, especially as he considered how useless that Angelic Core had turned out to be.
'It only grants the ability... to wield a spear? I could learn to wield a spear in a few weeks... and I don't even use a spear. So what's the point of that?' he thought, eyes narrowing as he noticed a thin layer of aura coating the walls of the chamber.