This book won't be contracted and will be published in Amazon after the completion of volume 1. Regular release 5/week will be done in webnovel. Advanced chapters (10 chaps) will be in my Patreon. Those who are interested and want to support me can join using the link below.
??"www.patreon.com/Writer_Kyn"??
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"What would happen if we discard the issue?" Ryan asked. He already knew the question was desperate, but he still hoped, irrationally, that the answer might contain something survivable.
Anya did not look at him right away. Her gaze remained on the wall, where faint distortions clung to the reinforced surface like invisible scars.
"The wall will be breached," she said calmly. "And the monsters inside will begin a massacre."
Her tone did not change, but her posture did. Her shoulders were tense, her fingers curling slightly, as if her body reacted faster than her voice allowed. Ryan noticed it immediately. She could lie with words if she wanted, but her body was telling the truth.
Ryan swallowed. He did not want that future to exist. He did not want to imagine what would happen if the Holding Wing failed, if creatures meant to be contained spilled into populated zones without warning.
"Can we remove the damaged part of the wall ourselves?" Ryan asked. His voice was tight, but he forced the words out evenly. "If we isolate the section, kill whatever is inside, and replace it, wouldn't that solve the problem?"
Anya shook her head before he finished.
"No," she said. "The wall is constructed as a single integrated piece. It cannot be segmented or replaced in parts. Any attempt to remove a portion will destabilize the entire structure."
Ryan clenched his jaw. The answers kept closing doors instead of opening them.
"However," Anya continued, her eyes narrowing slightly, "there is another possibility."
Ryan looked at her immediately.
"If we break the damaged area ourselves first," she said, "and kill the monster responsible for the residue before it finishes degrading the structure, we can prevent a full breach."
Ryan's chest tightened. "Then why aren't we doing that?"
"We do not have enough time," Anya replied. "The energy residue is already interacting with the wall. By now, it should be spreading through the structure. Every second we delay increases the chance of an uncontrolled collapse."
Ryan frowned. Something about her explanation bothered him. It felt too smooth, too certain.
"Are you sure?" he asked. He did not hide the edge in his voice. "Why does this feel like your answer is escalating the situation instead of solving it? And how are you so confident about the residue's behavior?"
Anya turned to face him fully.
"We have encountered a monster with a similar ability before," she said. "It could leave unstable energy traces inside buildings and detonate them after a delay. This residue shares enough similarities that I am confident in the outcome."
Confidence did not comfort Ryan this time. It only made the consequences clearer.
"Then what are we going to do?" he asked. His voice cracked despite his effort to control it.
Anya took a slow breath, as if committing to something she had already decided.
"There is one solution," she said. "One where not a single monster escapes the Holding Wing."
Ryan's pulse quickened. "What is it?"
"You will use your ability," Anya said. "You will decay the energy residue embedded in the wall."
Ryan stared at her.
"What?" The word came out empty, stripped of any immediate response.
For a moment, he thought he had misunderstood her. Then the meaning settled in, heavy and suffocating.
"You want me to do what?" he asked. "I can't even decay biological matter properly. I failed with something as simple as a piece of chicken. And now you want me to handle unstable energy embedded in a containment wall?"
He took a step back without realizing it.
"That responsibility is insane," Ryan continued. "If I fail, the wall breaks. If the wall breaks, people die. I don't even know if I can decay something as abstract as energy."
Anya listened without interrupting.
"Normally," she said once he finished, "at your level of mastery, this would be impossible. Energy structures are unstable, constantly shifting in frequency and composition. You would not even be able to analyze them."
Ryan's heart sank further.
"But," Anya continued, "this situation is different. These energy traces have lost their source. They are no longer active constructs. They are closer to dormant explosives than living phenomena. Until detonation, they are structurally harmless."
She met his eyes.
"You can decay them."
Ryan shook his head. "You're making assumptions."
"I am making calculations," Anya replied. "And I am factoring in failure."
"What happens if I fail?" Ryan asked.
"We evacuate immediately," Anya said. "And we engage the monsters inside in a full-scale combat scenario."
That was not reassurance. That was an ultimatum shaped like a contingency.
Ryan looked at the wall again. He could feel it now, faint but undeniable. The residue was there, crawling beneath the surface, like something waiting to wake up.
He exhaled slowly.
Arguing would not change reality. Running would only delay it.
He did not want monsters escaping. He did not want people dying because he was afraid to try.
"Alright," Ryan said quietly.
He stepped forward and placed his palm against the wall.
The moment his skin made contact, his perception shifted. The solid surface dissolved into layers of sensation. Beneath the reinforced material, he could feel the residue clearly now, fragmented and uneven, threading through the structure like veins filled with foreign matter.
The challenge was immediate and terrifying.
He could decay the wall easily. The material responded to his ability without resistance. But that was exactly what he could not afford to do. If he damaged the wall even slightly, the containment integrity would fail.
He needed to isolate the residue alone.
Ryan closed his eyes.
He focused, pushing everything else away. The sounds of the facility, the weight of Anya's presence, even the fear clawing at his chest were forced into the background.
He narrowed his awareness until only the residue remained.
At the same time, Anya stepped away and pulled out her mobile device.
She dialed a number.
The call connected after a single ring.
"Captain," Watson's voice came through immediately. "Did you finish dealing with the monster?"
"First-level alert," Anya said. "Prepare every available member for immediate combat readiness."
There was a brief pause on the line.
"What happened?" Watson asked. "Did something go wrong?"
Anya did not answer.
She ended the call.
She turned back toward Ryan, her expression unreadable, and then toward the wall again. She stood there silently, watching both, fully aware that the next few moments would decide whether the Holding Wing remained sealed or descended into chaos.
Ryan's hand trembled against the wall as he began to act.