Darkness didn't take him this time.
I tried.
But something held it back.
Kael's body trembled violently as waves of energy clashed inside him—
Colliding.
Tearing at each other.
Refusing to coexist.
"Stabilization… failing."
The system's voice echoed faintly.
Kael couldn't respond.
His entire body felt like it was splitting apart from the inside.
The energy he absorbed—
I was fighting back.
"—!"
A surge of power ripped through him again, forcing a scream from his throat.
His vision fractured—
Flickering between reality… and something else.
A battlefield.
Broken worlds.
Endless war.
And that presence—
Watching.
"Focus."
The voice cut through everything.
Calm.
Unshaken.
Aetherion.
Kael's breathing stuttered.
"…I'm trying…"
"You are not controlling it."
"It's tearing me apart!"
"Because you are resisting."
The words hit harder than the pain.
Kael clenched his fists.
"So what—just let it take over?!"
A pause.
Then—
"No."
The core pulsed.
Slower now.
Controlled.
"You will dominate it."
Silence.
The chaos inside him surged again—
But this time…
Kael didn't push it away.
He faced it.
The foreign energy.
Wild.
Violent.
Hungry.
It wasn't just power.
It was instinct.
Consume.
Destroy.
Survive.
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"…Yeah."
His voice was quieter now.
Steadier.
"I know that feeling."
The energy surged again—
Trying to overwhelm him.
But this time—
He pushed back.
Not blindly.
Not desperately.
Precisely.
He guided it.
Forced it inward.
Toward the core.
"System…"
"Redirecting energy flow."
The pressure shifted instantly.
The chaos—
Began to compress.
Kael gritted his teeth as the energy condensed inside him.
Smaller.
Denser.
Until—
It stopped fighting.
Silence.
Real silence.
Kael's body relaxed slightly.
His breathing slowed.
The pain…
Faded.
"Stabilization… complete."
The system confirmed.
Kael stayed still for a moment.
Processing it.
Feeling it.
Something had changed.
Slowly—
He looked down at his hands.
Energy flickered across his fingers.
Not like before.
Darker.
Sharper.
More… controlled.
"What did I just gain…?"
A brief pause.
Then—
"New function unlocked."
"Designation: Partial Assimilation."
Kael's eyes narrowed.
"…That sounds dangerous."
"Function allows temporary integration of external energy patterns."
"In simple terms?"
A pause.
"…You may use what you consume."
Silence fell.
Kael looked at his hand again.
The faint energy around it shifted—
Flickering between his own…
And something else.
"…So I'm not just absorbing anymore."
"Correct."
"…I'm becoming it."
No response.
Kael let out a slow breath.
That wasn't good.
Not at all.
He pushed himself to his feet, body still weak—but stable.
The chamber around him had gone quiet.
Too quiet.
"System…"
"Yes."
"…We're not done here, are we?"
A pause.
"Negative."
The lights in the chamber flickered again.
One by one—
Other dormant structures along the walls began to glow.
Not one.
Not two.
Dozens.
Kael's eyes narrowed slowly.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
"Additional fragments detected."