Visible cracks appeared in the air all around Kyle and the gray monster. The very space around them shook as the darkness magnified, crimson energy seeping through the cracks. This was the first time he’d felt this familiar presence in over a year, and never before at this magnitude. The riftwyrm, the Progenitor, had arrived.

  The “teacher,” its attention drawn away from Kyle, stopped moving. Its eye blazed with even brighter violet light. “You’re bluffing, you shouldn’t be here at all. How severe will the backlash be, from even this level of interference. Now, go back to your hole!”

  In response, the crimson energy magnified, more cracks appearing in the space around them. Kyle could faintly hear cries of surprise coming from the shrikes. The isolation barrier is gone, he realized. His body was still wracked with pain, but without the creature actively trying to extract the Core of the Parasitic Devourer, it was slowly fading.

  I was unable to detonate the seed. If the being continues, I cannot stop it. I am sorry, Dr. Mayhew.

  Kyle panted as he processed the drone’s words, his weary mind taking a moment to fully comprehend them. It’s okay, C.H.A.D.D., Kyle thought. This had moved well beyond the level of anything they’d be able to handle. If this monster was powerful enough to insult a riftwyrm, Kyle honestly doubted that detonating the World Tree Seed, even if they could, would have done anything. All he could do now was wait for whatever came next.

  THE BACKLASH I FACE WILL BE WORTH IT IF IT KEEPS YOU FROM GAINING MORE FUEL FOR YOUR EXPERIMENTS, ZIERLAN.

  The voice boomed in Kyle’s mind, the words coming across as a snarl. The malice radiating through the cracks in space was palpable. And what’s more, the riftwyrm seemed to know this “teacher,” Zierlan.

  “Rather bold of you to think that you could stop me here, even if you tried,” Zierlan said. As Kyle watched, the creature’s form began to shift, its own aura beginning to flare as the concealment rapidly disappeared.

  Zierlan seemed to swell in size, its skin darkening by several shades. Something writhed beneath the black robes, and Kyle saw a second violet eye begin to open on its forehead. A third, then a fourth eye followed soon after, scattered haphazardly across its face. They darted all over the place, seeming to look at everything and nothing, all at once.

  The change that drew Kyle’s attention the most was his captor’s horn. The only thing Kyle could compare it to was a flower opening its petals. The gray horn split into a spiral, with 9 smaller horns opening to reveal a tenth that pulsed with an incredible energy. From his elevated vantage, he could see the tip of each of the 9 surrounding horns held a lamprey-like mouth, looking like small crowns opening and closing on each.

  As he watched, the horn flashed with power, and a barrier of pure shadow appeared around Zierlan and Kyle, pushing back some of the nearby cracks in space and forcibly closing others. Dozens of hands emerged at the end of long, spindly arms from the robe, and in a fraction of a second, a complex set of layered formations appeared on the ground beneath them.

  That, in turn, was broken as a longer tear in space appeared directly overhead. A blade of crimson energy fell to the ground, destroying the barrier and destabilizing the formation on the ground. Zierlan’s eyes narrowed as his hands exploded into a flurry of motion, shadowy energy appearing around the new, larger tear.

  YOU HAVE GROWN QUITE CONFIDENT FOR A WORM THAT HAS NEVER DARED TO FACE US IN OUR DOMAIN. YOU RELY ON PETTY TRICKS TO FORCE US OUT AND HARVEST THE REMAINS LEFT BEHIND FROM WHATEVER DAMAGE YOU CAN INFLICT. DO NOT BE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO THINK THAT YOU HAVE HAD THE HONOR OF FACING ONE OF US. UNTIL NOW.

  Zierlan’s hands raised toward the various cracks in space, palms facing outward. “I don’t truly have to face you now, do I? I simply have to bide my time – and when we meet again, I assure you that the outcome will be quite different.”

  A substance that looked like oil began pouring out of the shadows and into the cracks in space, eliciting a roar from the riftwyrm. The speed and power behind each of these techniques was so far beyond what Kyle could comprehend. What’s worse, Ignition was still forcibly active. The sheer amount of mana in his immediate vicinity was suffocating, his body drawing in far more potent energy than it ever had before.

  The pain from having his core destabilized was replaced by a new sensation all across his mana pathways as they burned with power, and no outlet available to them. Pressure built all through his body, and he knew that he had to do something. Frantically, Kyle activated Repel. The pressure surrounded him formed an absolute barrier. The release of the mana from caused his arm to suffer the full backlash. There was nowhere for his mana to escape.

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  Still, it reduced the pressure a bit. Despite the pain, it helped. A moment later, he activated Repel again, this time from his other arm. Then from one leg, followed by another. Kyle felt a bone crack in his arm after using it a third time, only getting worse as he had to repeat it for a fourth. All he could do was hold on and pray he’d make it through.

  Through his swimming vision, Kyle could see the oily smoke being pushed back, mixing with crimson mist. Another large tear opened behind Zierlan, a crescent wave of energy lashing out at the monster’s head, only to be deflected at the last moment by a shimmering shield. All the while, Zierlan was attempting to repair the formation on the ground. Segments were being reconstructed at an incredible pace, though waves of crimson destruction wiped away the progress nearly as fast as it was made.

  Nearly, in this case, being the operative word. Slowly but surely, the formation neared completion, Zierlan’s defenses managing to buy the necessary time.

  I WILL NOT LET YOU RETREAT! The voice roared, as the largest rift yet appeared in the sky above. The pressure intensified even more, and a golden compound eye could be seen before a thorny, chitinous spear flew directly at Zierlan at impossible speed. The gray monster’s central horn glowed with an eerie light, and then everything stopped, the spear less than a millimeter away from Zierlan’s horn.

  By now, Kyle’s arms and legs were in a truly wretched state. The constant backlash from Repel had broken many of his bones, and further use would risk permanently crippling him. He was just preparing to start using the skill on his body, putting some strain on his organs, when he felt his mana flow come to a stop, along with the absorption. He tried to look around, but found he was completely frozen.

  For a moment, everything was still. Then, a new, feminine voice broke the silence like the first footprints on freshly fallen snow. “Well, this is quite a tangled knot we find ourselves in. Violations aplenty, though with only one party I can actually call aggrieved. Make that 2, I suppose. In any event, let’s start with our first culprit. Why, pray tell, did you attempt to manifest on this plane?”

  I GREET ADMINISTRATOR GAMMA. THIS SCAVENGER ATTEMPTED TO FORCIBLY EXTRACT MY ESSENCE FROM ONE OF MY PROGENIES WHO HAS YET TO FULLY AWAKEN. SUCH AN ACTION IS ALSO AN ATTACK AGAINST ME, AND I REACTED IN DEFENSE.

  “Yes, we’ll get there in a moment. That still does not excuse your attempt for a full physical manifestation in this realm.”

  There was silence for a moment before the booming voice replied. I KNEW THAT SUCH AN ACTION WOULD REQUIRE AN ADMINSTRATOR RESPONSE.

  “And so, your plan was to get me involved to sort out this mess. You know what a bad idea it is to try and manipulate us into action, and yet you tried it anyway. Very well, we’ll get back to you in a minute. Now, Zierlan. Help me understand why you feel it is appropriate to take such direct action against one so many grades below you?”

  Administrator Gamma’s question was asked casually, though it carried with it an unmistakable current of danger.

  “I simply found the specimen interesting,” Zierlan replied. “His methods are intriguing to me, and so I decided to collect him. Just the important parts, mind you. I saw no need for all of his flesh, when his mana cultivation would be more than sufficient.”

  “A pretty story, even if it’s entirely a fiction. I’m going to give you one more chance. Why. Did. You. Choose. Him?” A different sort of pressure descended at Administrator Gamma’s final statement. It wasn’t that it was more powerful than the others, necessarily, but it carried with it an undeniable depth.

  When Zierlan next spoke, its voice sounded pained. “I recognized the potential connection to the Progenitors, and decided to explore it. When I saw how well-integrated the essence is, at such a low grade, I was intrigued.”

  The pressure immediately lessened, and Administrator Gamma spoke again. “Not entirely truthful, but close enough. Let me be clear on this point. Your actions already have been in a gray area. Furthering your ambitions by coming after a lone D Grade, at your level, is unacceptable. If you desire the Progenitors so badly, you possess enough power to come find them.”

  “Surely there is some sort of mistake,” Zierlan protested. “The destruction and culling of the weak is hardly a matter requiring Administrator involvement!”

  “And if he were killed as a result of your combat, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We both know that your… intentions go much farther than simply killing a D Grade. Based on what I’ve seen today, consider yourself Sanctioned.”

  Just as Administrator Gamma finished her last word, the pressure returned, though Kyle felt strangely unaffected. Her next words carried with them absolute authority. “Begone from this place. Further action against this world, or this individual, will be met with Judgment, until a time that they have grasped power enough to stand on their own.”

  There was a flash of brilliant white, and Zierlan was gone.

  “Now, with that handled, we have quite a bit to discuss. Let me be clear, they both have a right to be here. If you’d prefer to speak in private, that can be arranged.” Her voice sounded considerably more relaxed, taking the tone one would expect between old friends.

  I AM GRATEFUL, ADMINISTRATOR. I WOULD PREFER FOR MORE OF OUR CONVERSATION TO BE OUT OF THE LITTLE LARVA’S EARSHOT, THOUGH I WILL ONCE AGAIN EXPRESS MY THANKS FOR YOUR INTERVENTION.

  “Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “You’re also receiving a Sanction, and yours comes with quite a bit more restriction. Even if I accept that flimsy self-defense argument, if I hadn’t intervened when I did, this whole planet would have been obliterated. Which goes directly against your directive, in case you forgot.”

  I UNDERSTAND, ADMINISTRATOR. I WILL ACCEPT WHATEVER JUDGMENT YOU DEEM APPROPRIATE. Kyle felt the ancient presence turn its full attention on him before it, too faded away. LITTLE LARVA, YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO SURVIVE THIS LONG. ONCE YOU’VE TRULY HATCHED, WE WILL HAVE A PROPER CONVERSATION. DO YOUR BEST TO MAKE IT THAT LONG.

  With that, the riftwyrm’s presence disappeared, leaving Kyle and C.H.A.D.D. alone with Administrator Gamma.