Chapter 20: The Unseen Nexus
The core chamber of the Dagon Outpost was a vast, waterlogged cavern dominated by a single, pulsing artifact resting on a crude altar of bone: a mass of primordial coral infused with ancient hydrostatic energy—the key to the Poseidon Nexus.
As Aiden and Rin entered, the cavern's single occupant—the bloated, humanoid Duke Dagon—rose from the water, his form grotesque and dripping with black bile. He was surrounded by smaller cultists, all armed and ready.
"Lucifer's little spies," Dagon sneered, his voice a disgusting, wet hiss. "You won't leave with the Heart of the Abyss. That coral belongs to the Outer God Ahriman!"
Dagon lunged, his massive, clawed hands aimed at the primordial coral. If he touched it, the relic would be corrupted, and Nyx's influence would fully flood the Tower.
"Rin! Protect the coral!" Aiden screamed, realizing the full scope of the threat.
Rin darted forward, his blade drawn, unleashing a massive, focused Rending Gale at the incoming cultists, vaporizing them instantly.
Aiden, meanwhile, knew Dagon's speed was too great. There was only one option left to secure the artifact and ensure the entire Vanguard survived the consequences of the successful theft.
He had to use a full Chronos Field—the ultimate expression of his power, a skill that could lock the entire cavern in a frozen moment of time, but which demanded the absolute, terminal sacrifice of his mana core.
"Chronos's Reckoning: Absolute Temporal Stasis!"
Aiden fired the skill, and the world went a deep, suffocating gray. Time stopped. Dagon was frozen mid-lunge, his grotesque face a mask of rage.
But the cost was immediate and devastating. Aiden collapsed, screaming silently as his mana core imploded, his energy vaporizing to sustain the Stasis Field.
The invisible fate tether between them snapped taut, screaming in Rin's spiritual core. The Goddess's compromise had reached its climax.
[WARNING: HUNTER 'AIDEN' MANA CORE INTEGRITY: 0%. FATAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT. FATE TETHER COMPROMISED.]
Rin felt the terrifying vacuum of Aiden's failing life. He knew what he had to do. He had to become Aiden's lifeline, not just his shield.
Rin rushed to Aiden's collapsed body, placing his hands firmly on the Arbiter's chest, directly over his depleted core. He poured his own immense, wind-elemental mana—the life force of the Rending Gale—into Aiden's ruined core.
"No, you don't, Arbiter!" Rin roared, his voice unheard in the frozen time. "You are my life! You are my hatred! You will not die and leave me with this empty vengeance!"
The Rending Gale mana—raw, pure, kinetic energy—rushed into the Chronos field, merging with the Arbiter's unstable power. Rin's entire body glowed with wind energy, fueling the time magic.
The two unique powers merged at the nexus of the fate tether. The Absolute Temporal Stasis field that Aiden had created didn't collapse; instead, it grew exponentially, stabilizing with Rin's wind energy. It was a perfect, terrible synergy: Rin's power anchored Aiden's precision.
In that moment of absolute union, Rin didn't just feel Aiden's pain; he felt the truth of his soul—the unending, possessive love, the agony of the betrayal choice, and the strategic purity of his entire existence.
A vision seared through Rin's mind: the full picture of the Fatal Constraint placed by the Outer Gods. Rin finally understood: Aiden hadn't chosen cruelty; he had chosen the only path to save Rin's soul, a path that required his self-destruction and Rin's hatred as collateral.
He loves me, Rin realized with a profound, agonizing certainty. He sacrificed everything just to ensure I could hate him.
Rin grabbed the primordial coral from the altar, the artifact secured.
[MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. DAGON OUTPOST SECURED.]
The combined mana surge was so immense, so powerful, that it registered across the entire Tower. The Temporal Stasis field collapsed, and time resumed.
Dagon, freed from the temporal prison, screamed in rage. But it was too late.
A massive, shadowy entity—the very image of corrupted chaos—manifested in the deep-purple sky of the Ashen City, drawn by the unnatural power spike. It was Ahriman, the Outer God of Destruction, and he had found his new focus.
"The Nexus is Activated!" Ahriman's voice boomed, shattering the silence. "The Blade and the Arbiter are One!"
Dagon and the remaining Devils, terrified by the arrival of the true, destructive chaos, vanished into the shadows.
Rin, utterly drained, fell backward, catching Aiden's limp, unconscious body. He held the Arbiter against his chest, the primordial coral clutched in his hand.
The hatred was gone. It had been atomized by the truth. Only a devastating, pure love remained, intertwined with a terrifying destiny.
"We are not done, my Arbiter," Rin whispered to the unconscious man. "We are not done with your secrets, or with our war."
He rose, carrying Aiden and the artifact, ready to return to the surface.
The ascension to Floor 4 would not be a victory; it would be the start of a new, shared conflict against the ultimate enemy who now knew their names.