The torrential rain in the Maya District showed no sign of ceasing. Black rainwater washed over the collapsed ruins of Warehouse No. 7, attempting to conceal the traces of the fierce battle that had recently taken place there. Charred scrap metal, broken green conduits and steel floors, melted by the royal golden light, emitted acrid white smoke in the cold rain.
A pair of jet-black military boots, crafted from high-quality steel, crushed a charred gear.
"This smell…"
The newcomer pulled back his large rain cloak to reveal the silver-white heavy armour of an Inquisitor beneath. Unlike the ordinary 'Soul Cleansers' or guards, his armour was engraved with a star-shaped cross representing the Holy Blood Council's highest military force. He was Cassor, Chief Executive Officer of the Maya District Inquisition and Lord Malakor's most ruthless 'hound'.
Cassor crouched down and gently touched the radial crack in the ground with his bionic leather-covered fingers. The metal there had an eerie, translucent, glass-like quality — a physical deformation produced only under extremely high-purity etheric loads.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Besides the smells of rust, mould, and the nauseating stench of flesh and blood, a faint scent of gardenias lingered in the air. But it was the lingering, oppressive aura of the energy that sent shivers down his spine.
'Purple-gold divine light... that's the etheric frequency of the ancient royal family.' Kaso opened his eyes, and a flicker of the distinctive red light from his prosthetic eye could be seen in his pupils.
'Judge, based on the analysis of the remains left at the scene, the extraction of the "Primal Singularity" was forcibly interrupted,' an adjutant reported nervously from the rear. 'That traitor, Aaryan, not only rescued the test subject, but also caused a massive etheric collapse, resulting in irreversible damage to our Soul Cleansing Circuit.'
"This level of destruction cannot be caused by anger alone." Kaso slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping over the inquisitors' corpses nailed to the wall in the distance. He sneered. 'This is the instinct of blood. It awakens in battle, perhaps even reaching 100% of its rage threshold."
According to the official records of the Maya District, the royal family had been completely wiped out in the 1969 fire. However, Kaso's keen sense told him that the cursed bloodline, capable of simultaneously harmonising holy and magical power, was lurking in the shadows of this city.
He turned to look in the direction of the clock tower — the very point where all cause and effect converged.
"Pass down the order: seal off all the underground passages in the East District. Tell those scavengers of the Demon Clan that whoever provides clues about the person with the golden light will receive a "holy blood pardon" for their entire family.' Kaso put his mercury mask back on, his voice low and cruel in the rain. "The royal family has revealed themselves. The Order of the Maya District requires a more thorough "purification" to maintain.' 'Since he wants to be a saviour, I'll make him watch those he wants to save die one by one because of him.'
In the black rain, Casso's figure disappeared into the depths of the ruins, leaving only the chilling sound of gears grinding — foreshadowing an even greater crisis for the Aaryan gang.
The rain intensified. Huddled behind the rubble outside the warehouse ruins, Aaryan crouched low, pulling the weak child in his arms deeper into the shadows. Balthazar stood behind him, gripping the heavy sword that was still warm with a lingering crimson glow. His breathing was as heavy as a bellows.
'He's searching for us,' Balthazar whispered, his crimson pupils gleaming in the darkness.
'Not just searching; he's toying with us.' Aaryan stared at the silver-white figure in the distance — Cassor. Rather than rushing to have his Soul Cleansers conduct a thorough search, the CEO walked casually through the rubble, each step moving at an invisible frequency.
Cassor suddenly stopped and turned his head. The electronic red light beneath his mask locked onto the direction in which Aaryan was hiding.
'Found you, little mouse, and… that nauseating stench of holiness.' Cassor's metallic, sharp voice came through the loudspeaker. He raised his right hand, his slender fingers forming a slight pinch in the air.
"Buzz—!"
An extremely powerful electromagnetic pulse instantly swept through the ruins. Aaryan felt a sharp pain in the golden bones hidden in his left arm — a physiological reaction to interference with the royal ether.
"Since you won't come out yourself, then let the 'Order' of the Maya District invite you out." Casso snapped his fingers.
In an instant, three 'Soul Cleansers', clad in light, holy armour, emerged from behind the broken I-beams, their movements perfectly synchronised. They held prayer wheels and spun them rapidly, releasing a sharp frequency capable of stripping away the defences of demonic bloodlines.
"That trick again!" Balthazar roared, rushing out from cover first, his dark red greatsword sweeping across and bringing with it a near-liquid demonic aura.
However, these 'Soul Cleansers' were no ordinary guards. They twirled through the air like smoke, evading the sword's blade. Suddenly, one of them snapped his prayer wheel shut, transforming it into a short, luminous halberd which pierced Balthazar's shoulder.
'Get out of the way!' Aaryan moved.
His figure swayed like a ghost; he was no longer suppressing the ethereal fluctuations within him. Brilliant purple-gold divine light exploded in the torrential rain. He used no weapon. His fingertips swept across the void and golden arcs of electricity instantly wove a net of lightning, forcibly severing the array connections between the Soul Cleansers.
'Boom!'
A Soul Cleanser was blasted away by this pure royal power and crashed heavily into a wrecked steam pump.
'Is this your power? A 'false god' awakened by stealing sacrifices from others?' Kaso strode towards the battlefield, utterly indifferent to the lives of his subordinates. As he approached, a cold, austere and iron-willed pressure enveloped the entire area.
This was Aaryan's first direct confrontation with an enemy of 'Judgement' calibre. Unlike the grand, illusory presence of Lord Malakor, Kaso felt like a steel knife plunged into his chest — real and deadly.
'We are not sacrifices, nor are we your "expendable resources" for maintaining order.' Aaryan stood in front of Balthazar, the golden light emanating from his left arm clashing fiercely with the red glow of Kaso's mask in the rain.
'In the Maya District, value determines existence.' Kaso suddenly accelerated, his cloak leaving a black afterimage in the air. Instead of heavy armour or weapons, he drew a strangely shaped folding rapier from his waist — a 'Kingslayer Blade' forged from the remnants of the 1969 singularity.
The two figures crossed paths in the rain in an instant.
"Clang!"
The ear-splitting metallic clang tore at Aaryan's eardrums. Much to his astonishment, he discovered that Kaso's rapier had slashed a tiny gash in his seemingly indestructible golden armour. Purple smoke billowed from the wound.
'Don't look at me like that, royalty,' Kaso whispered cruelly in Aaryan's ear. 'Your era ended in 1969. The Maya District now only needs obedient beasts, not shining heroes.'
Kaso retaliated with a powerful punch, the hydraulic system in his armour whirring. The force of the blow sent Aaryan flying back several metres.
"Get out of here! Aaryan! That guy's weapon can corrode your aether!' Pau shouted from behind a nearby pile of junk, frantically adjusting a broken smoke projectile.
"Trying to escape?" Kaso raised his rapier, the tip pointing skyward. Dark rain clouds in the sky began to converge towards the tip of the rapier, forming a miniature gravitational vortex. Kaso sneered. This small-scale clash revealed the true nature of both sides completely: Casso represented the ruthless and efficient ruling machine of the Blood Council, while Aaryan's royal bloodline appeared immature and fragile in comparison.
The impact of Kaso's powerful punch was still throbbing in Aaryan's chest. Although the amethyst-gold divine light had quickly repaired his damaged muscles, the icy chill from the wound inflicted by the 'Kingslayer Blade' lingered, spreading like an insidious infection.
'Don't fight him head-on! His weapon is laced with 'Anti-Ether Mercury'!" Pau scrambled over and handed Aaryan a metal can that reeked of cheap machine oil. 'Quick! Spray this on the wound; it'll temporarily stop the corrosion.'
Aaryan took the spray and felt its piercing coolness, but his gaze remained fixed on Kaso, who was slowly approaching through the smoke and dust.
'Is this how the "order" of the Maya District is maintained — through such despicable means?' Aaryan wiped the blood from his mouth and felt the Ether Golden Core within him spin rapidly.
Kaso stopped, in no hurry to give chase. Instead, he took a dark gold communicator out of his pocket and looked at Aaryan. There was no anger in his eyes, only cold indifference, as if he were scrutinising an experimental subject.
"Despicable? No, this is called 'adaptation'." He issued a low command into the communicator: 'Seal off all power supply pipes from Sector C to Sector E. Activate the "Holy Blood Descent Circuit".' Now that a pureblood has been discovered, there's no need to be stingy with the ether reserves. Raise the signal strength here to the maximum. I want Lord Malakor to witness this experimental subject's struggle firsthand.'
As the command was issued, the entire Maya District began to shake violently. The previously dim neon streetlights suddenly turned an eerie deep red. Due to excessive extraction, the concentration of ether in the air had become so thin that it was difficult for ordinary civilians to breathe.
This involved the cruel core tenet of the Maya District: the 'Holy Blood Balance Theory'. Through a massive ritual called the 'Descent of Holy Blood', the council could instantly and forcibly plunder tiny amounts of ether from all beings within a region and concentrate it in specific Inquisitor armour. This meant that Caso wasn't fighting alone; he was carrying the life energy of thousands of impoverished people.
'He's mobilising the energy of the entire city...' Hiding behind cover, Cyrus stared at the wildly fluctuating numbers on the detector, his face pale. 'Aaryan, if he completes his charge, every strike he makes will trigger a miniature singularity explosion. We must evacuate before he enters the 'overflow state'."
'We can't evacuate.' Aaryan closed his eyes, sensing the malevolence in every raindrop around him. He had discovered that his royal bloodline was resonating dangerously with this oppressive force.
This was a consequence of the large-scale ether plunder that occurred in 1969: in the event of such an occurrence, the royal bloodline would automatically enter 'sacrifice mode', attempting to repair the lost energy.
'This is your trap.' Aaryan opened his eyes, the golden light in his pupils now a deep, dark gold. 'Using my instincts and making me exhaust my very essence to save these innocent bystanders — is that it, Your Honor?'
Kaso let out a satisfied chuckle. The rapier in his hand had generated a gravity vortex two metres in diameter, sucking the surrounding reinforced concrete into it like scraps of paper.
'You understand quickly. Now, will you choose to run, watching helplessly as half a block of people die with their ether drained, or will you choose to stay and allow me to gracefully peel away your divine bones?'
In the torrential rain, the death knell tolled again. Aaryan knew that every second from that moment on would be a race against time; he had to find a way to fight back before Kaso fully deified.
As Kaso's "Kingslayer Blade" expanded its gravitational vortex, the entire Warehouse 7 wreckage area became subject to extremely erratic gravity. Rainwater no longer fell vertically, but instead traced eerie arcs through the air before being sucked into the dark centre.
'Damn it! This is a fusion of 'Gravity-based Magic Technology' and 'Forbidden Aetheric Spells'!" Hiding behind a broken pillar, Cyrus heard a piercing alarm from his detector and saw that the waveforms on the screen had become chaotic. 'Aaryan! He's draining the oxygen and aether from this area! He wants us to suffocate here!'
Aaryan stood in the eye of the storm, his legs trembling slightly. Although the wound inflicted by the 'Anti-Aetheric Mercury' had been temporarily sealed by Pau's spray, a wave of mental exhaustion washed over him. He could feel Kaso activating the 'Holy Blood Descent Circuit'.
Heart-wrenching screams echoed from the surrounding slum alleyways. Scavengers, labourers and even innocent women and children who had been lurking in the shadows collapsed in agony in the mud. A pale green glow emanated from their skin — the faint life ether within them was being forcibly stripped away and flowing through an underground network of conduits, like rivers converging into the silver powerhouse behind Caso.
'Look, these are the "lives" you sought to save,' said Caso, strolling elegantly across the collapsed ruins. 'Their lives are so cheap. The cries of a hundred are enough to sustain the swing of this sword once. Aaryan, your very existence is the source of their suffering. If you hadn't appeared, they might have lived a few more years in a daze."
"Shut up!" Baltazar roared, charging forward again, his eyes turning completely crimson. His demonic blood boiled with rage and his greatsword unleashed a dark red blade of energy several metres long, shattering the air bound by gravity.
However, Casso merely raised his left hand slightly.
.
With a click, the armour on his arm opened to reveal rows of fine, panpipe-like metal tubes. 'Judgement Sequence 04: The Wind of Decay.'
A greyish-white gas shot out from the tubes. This was no ordinary smoke, but highly compressed, corrosive 'Depleted Aether'. It reacted violently with the Demon Clan's ferocious energy, causing Balthazar's dark red greatsword to whistle through the air, its magical runes peeling away piece by piece.
'Bang!'
Casso vanished from his spot. The next second, his knee slammed heavily into Balthazar's abdomen. The Demon Clan warrior, who had dominated the arena, was sent flying like a kite with a broken string. He crashed through three thick brick walls and was buried under a pile of scrap metal.
"Balthazar!" Aaryan's eyes widened with fury as he tried to rush to his friend's aid, but the ground suddenly rose up around him. He knelt on one knee and the steel floor instantly cracked beneath him.
'Before absolute order, anger is the most useless emotion.' Casso looked down at Aaryan, the tip of his rapier pressed against his throat. 'Do you feel it? Your blood is wailing. Are you heartbroken for those dead ants? This superfluous emotion is the root cause of the royal family's downfall.'
The situation had deteriorated to breaking point.
Pau tried to throw smoke grenades for cover, but the smoke was instantly sucked away by the gravitational vortex. Meanwhile, Cyrus's bronze bell components malfunctioned due to the intense electromagnetic interference, and of the three core members of the protagonist group, one was critically injured and unconscious while the other two were held down.
What filled Aaryan with despair was the dimming of the amethyst-gold divine light within him. His innate power seemed utterly powerless against Kaso's battle tactics, which were designed specifically for hunting royalty.
"Is this the true strength of the Holy Blood Council?" Aaryan struggled to lift his head.
In the distance, the high-rise buildings of the Maya District remained brightly lit. The tragedy unfolding there seemed like a trivial interlude in the rain. The red light reflected from Kaso's mercury mask appeared magnified infinitely in Aaryan's retina, resembling the gaze of death.
'If this is all you've got, then you are unworthy to be the vessel of the "Singularity".' Kaso slowly raised his rapier, the black light on its blade reaching its peak. The entire ruin fell into a deathly grey silence. 'It's over, Aaryan. I will take your divine bones back to Lord Malakor.'
The shadow of death loomed over Warehouse No. 7. This was the first time since Aaryan's awakening that he had felt so close to the abyss. The people he was protecting seemed to have lost all hope. Amidst this suffocating oppression, only the relentless black rain continued to wash everything away.
The black light of the 'Kingslayer Blade' had touched Aaryan's throat. The chilling pain was like a key, unlocking the long-sealed iron door deep within his consciousness.
'Since you like "the price" so much,' Aaryan said, his voice suddenly changing from anger or weakness to a deathly stillness imbued with divinity. He no longer looked directly into Casso's eyes, but instead gazed at a certain point in the void. 'Then I'll show you who the real creditor of the Maya District is.' Despite being completely suppressed by the 'gravity vortex', Aaryan slowly raised his left hand and grasped the jet-black rapier.
'Sizzle—!'
The anti-ether mercury emitted a boiling sound like oil hitting water upon contact with Aaryan's palm. The toxin, which could corrode all royal energy, now seemed to have encountered a higher-level predator, frantically trying to escape Aaryan's body.
'This is impossible!' A cry of alarm rang out from beneath Casso's mask. He tried to withdraw his rapier, only to find that the balance of power had been instantly reversed.
In the distance, the groans of those who had collapsed abruptly ceased, as they sensed that the life force that had been forcibly drained from them had not flowed into the underground conduits, but had instead been severed by a greater, warmer force.
"Cyrus! Now! Activate 'Frequency Zero'!" Aaryan roared.
Cyrus, who had been lurking in the shadows, suddenly stood up. His face was covered in blood, and he laughed maniacally. He pulled an ancient, rust-covered component from his robes — the core of the bronze bell he had been repairing since Chapter 16 — and slammed it into an abandoned ethereal interface on the ground. In the underlying logic of Etherpunk Maya District, the ancient royal family was not just an energy vessel. They were the 'resonance centre' of the Maya District, and the so-called Holy Blood Council was merely a hacker who had stolen the centre's access.
As the core of the bronze bell connected, the tremors of the entire city paused eerily, followed by a visible purple-gold aura that spread wildly from Aaryan throughout the Maya District.
'Judgement sequence failed... Energy supply interrupted... System reload...' The AI within Kasor's armour frantically reported errors.
'You used their pain to sharpen your sword.' Aaryan stood up, his figure elongating infinitely in the golden light as liquid crystalline energy flowed across his skin. 'Then I will use their will to take your life.' Suddenly, Aaryan's right hand grabbed at the air, and the faint embers of the souls previously absorbed by Kasor sensed the royal summons. They transformed into countless golden threads that instantly coiled around Kasor's silver armour.
"Boom!"
Kasor's prized gravitational vortex instantly collapsed, and the 'King-Slaying Blade', unable to withstand the collision of two extreme powers, snapped into several pieces with a crisp ringing sound.
'Judge, can you smell it?' Aaryan teleported instantly in front of Kasso, slamming his golden iron fist into the mercury mask with an earth-shattering force. 'This isn't the scent of gardenias; it's the smell of this land awakening!' At that moment, the Soul Cleansers present were paralysed with fear, and even the high-ranking council members atop the Holy Blood Tower looked simultaneously at the monitor screen. The golden figure rising like the sun in the rain made these self-proclaimed 'gods' feel cold for the first time.
Kasso's body was blasted through the steel structure of Warehouse 7 like a silver cannonball, embedding itself deeply into the ruins of the distant clock tower. The power reactor in his chest spewed out large amounts of burnt steam and the mercury mask, which had never been revealed before, shattered to reveal a face riddled with mechanical damage and filled with terror.
"This frequency… it's definitely not just a simple awakening." Kasso spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with engine oil and stared intently at the boy emerging from the rain. "You are... you are that 'seed'."
The downpour continued, but the oppressive atmosphere had been replaced by a solemn majesty. Aaryan stood atop the rubble, his golden pupils surveying the entire city as if to declare to all the shadows of the Maya District:
The trial has only just begun.
As the smoke cleared, Aaryan stood before the crumbling ruins of the clock tower. The golden light on his chest was gradually receding and transforming into a deep, dark undercurrent.
Beneath his feet, among the ruins of the clock tower, Caso's broken sword — the 'Kingslayer Blade' — still emitted remnants of black energy. Cyrus stumbled over and carefully wrapped the fragments of the broken sword in a piece of deerskin soaked in a neutralising fluid. These were not merely spoils of war; they were core data from the Holy Blood Council's research into the royal bloodline and the key to deciphering the truth of the '1969 Singularity'.
'Take it and get out of here!' Aaryan's voice was unnaturally hoarse; the forceful severing of the city's etheric circuits had left his meridians with an unprecedented tearing sensation.
Balthazar wiped the blood from his face, hoisted the still-unconscious Pau onto his shoulder, and the group quickly disappeared into the intricate network of drainage pipes.
However, less than three minutes after they left, the night sky over the Maya district underwent a dramatic change.
The previously dim clouds were torn apart by blinding crimson searchlights. These lights did not come from ordinary airships, but from the Holy Blood Council's ultimate weapon: the 'Heavenly Punishment' class floating fortress. The image of Kaso's shattered mask was instantly replaced on every electronic screen in the city by a wanted poster featuring Aaryan's profile against a shocking crimson background.
'Martial law has been declared throughout the city. Target: Royal remnants. Priority: Elimination.'
A cold yet resounding voice echoed across the Maya district, delivering a divine decree from Lord Malakor himself.
'Not only is he not dead, he's driven the Council completely mad.' Deep within the tunnel, Cyrus stared at the monitor in his hand, which was flashing frantically, his face deathly pale. 'Aaryan, they've activated the "Bloodline Tracking Radar". No matter where we hide, as long as you're still breathing, you'll be as conspicuous as a torch in the night.'
An even greater crisis has descended. The Council is no longer trying to capture him alive; they are trying to eliminate this threat completely. In the next chapter, Aaryan's gang will face the 'physical annihilation' of the entire city, and their only hope lies in the forbidden area of the Maya District — the 'Red Zone', a place rumoured to have never seen a survivor.