The tunnel stank of rust, ozone, and blood.
Sera yanked Kael by the wrist as the floor quaked beneath them. Sirens wailed in staggered bursts—intermittent, warbling tones that didn't follow civilian patterns. These were Enforcer pulses, a code only the hunted knew well.
"Move faster," she hissed, her boots pounding the steel grates as red lights blinked overhead.
"I can fight," Kael said, voice calm despite the chaos.
"Not yet you can't." She glanced back, eyes flashing. "You think the Codebreaker was strong? These things are built for one purpose—nullification. You're not ready for them."
They ducked into a vertical shaft where the air turned cold and damp. Kael could sense pressure building below—electromagnetic distortions that made his skin itch. He didn't argue. Not because he was afraid.
Because the System wasn't arguing either.
Threat Level: Ascendant-Class Interceptors—Subgroup: Cradle Hounds.
Hostile Parameters: Hybridized Clone Constructs. Exo-Carbide Armor. Neural Predators.
Kael's System pulsed a warning.
[Warning: Adaptive stealth systems ineffective against Cradle Dogs.]
[Recommendation: Seek cover. Upgrade offensive protocol.]
They dropped into a chamber sealed behind a hydraulic bulkhead. Sera slammed her disc into the lock node and keyed in a string of glyphs Kael didn't recognize. The door hissed closed just as something massive struck the far wall behind them, sending a shudder through the reinforced tunnel.
Kael exhaled.
"Where are we?" he asked.
Sera didn't answer immediately. She walked toward a console and keyed in a second code. The floor vibrated. Part of the chamber slid downward, revealing a side room lined with metallic crates, weapon racks, and a central pedestal housing something wrapped in cloth and steel.
"Our contingency vault," she said. "Cell leaders can authorize emergency ascension tools here."
Kael's attention sharpened.
"You want to fight? Fine. But if you're going to survive a Cradle Dog, you need more than instinct."
She gestured to the pedestal.
"That's a resonance core. Reverse-engineered from a broken Anchor." Her eyes met his. "You're going to inject it."
Kael frowned. "What does it do?"
"Bridges your proto-code to Ascendant frameworks. It's dangerous. Might burn your nerves out. But it'll let your system unlock something it's holding back."
Kael didn't hesitate.
He stepped to the pedestal.
The Resonance Trial
The resonance core was a jagged shard of black-glass alloy encased in a containment lattice. As Kael lifted it, the shard began to hum—pulsing with a low vibration that sang to something buried inside his bones.
His vision blurred.
[System Alert: Unauthorized Ascension Artifact Detected]
[Override Confirmed: Ashborn Integration Pathway - Catalyst Resonance Sync Initiated]
[Warning: Host Body May Not Withstand Full Merge]
Kael gritted his teeth. "Do it."
The shard liquefied in his palm.
He screamed.
The pain wasn't physical—it was dimensional. Like every molecule of his body was being redrawn, erased, then rewritten. He collapsed to his knees as his skin burned with invisible fire. His heart thundered in unnatural patterns.
Then—clarity.
A voice echoed through the void of his mind:
"You are not meant to be."
"But you will become."
[Ashborn Protocol – Tier I Unlock: Ascendant Code Branch Accessed]
Unlocked Ability: Shadow Crucible
Converts pain into kinetic null force. Gains stacking charges per injury. Detonates on release.
Unlocked Passive: Specter Veins
Enhances reaction speed and perception during high-adrenaline states. Grants temporary afterimage effect during evasion.
Kael gasped.
His veins glowed faint white for a heartbeat. Then the light vanished.
He stood.
Sera stared at him, wide-eyed. "You didn't die."
Kael looked at his hands. "Not anymore."
First Blood
The vault shook again. This time, the ceiling cracked—concrete and steel fragmenting above.
Then it came.
The Cradle Dog dropped through the hole in a blur of metal and shrieking static. Its humanoid body was twelve feet tall, coated in jet-black armor that shimmered with living runes. No face—just a smooth mask with three red slits glowing like dying embers.
It didn't speak.
It lunged.
Kael moved.
The world slowed—Specter Veins activating instinctively. His body blurred as he dodged left, the Dog's bladed arm carving through the ground where he'd been standing.
Sera fired a sonic disruptor from behind him—useless. The Dog turned, screeching, and its helmet flared red.
Kael's hands lit white.
He sprinted forward, took a blow to the ribs that cracked at least two, and drove his palm into the Dog's chest.
[Shadow Crucible: 1 Stack – RELEASE]
A burst of null energy exploded point-blank.
The Dog staggered.
It didn't fall.
"Again," Kael growled, dodging as its blade sliced past his shoulder, drawing blood.
[Shadow Crucible: 2 Stacks – RELEASE]
Another blast. This time it tore off part of the Dog's shoulder plate.
Sera shouted. "It's healing—kill the core!"
Kael's eyes flared white.
He launched himself off a collapsed pillar, twisting midair as the Dog raised its arm—
And drove his foot into the glowing slits on its mask.
[Shadow Crucible: 3 Stacks – RELEASE]
The Dog's head imploded in a burst of kinetic null force. It collapsed like a marionette with cut strings.
Kael landed hard. Chest heaving. Skin pale. But alive.
Sera ran up to him, blinking. "You just—"
"I know," he said.
The floor trembled again.
Another Dog howled in the tunnels below.
Kael didn't flinch.
Into the Fire
The Hollow Court's emergency evacuation route ran through an abandoned transit conduit. Cracked rails. Rotting cables. Every step was lit by Kael's faintly glowing eyes now, as the last of the resonance pulse still echoed in his veins.
Behind them, the Court cell fought a losing battle.
Kael and Sera reached the fallback tunnel to find Callis waiting—covered in blood, one arm missing.
"We're down to eight," she said. "And we lost the anchor tech."
Sera cursed under her breath.
Kael looked at Callis. "Let me draw them away."
She blinked. "You're still standing?"
"I can't stop now."
Sera caught his arm. "You're not invincible."
"No," Kael said. "But I can bleed. That's enough."
He turned down the tunnel toward the enemy.
Behind him, Sera whispered to Callis, "He doesn't even know what he's becoming."
Callis replied, "Maybe that's why he'll win."
END OF CHAPTER 5