[Pure Capitol – Citadel of Clarity, Observation Deck – 09:38 AM]
The Citadel of Clarity was a cathedral to control—its towers sculpted from polished whiteglass, standing as a monument to symmetry, logic, and cold dominion. At its heart, in the Observation Deck suspended by magnetic columns, Elaine Virelle watched the chaos unfold far beneath her.
Jun Kael's image flickered on a panel—mid-leap, cloaked in energy that should not exist.
"Impossible," she muttered. "A Neutral with awakening traits… and not just any trait. Adaptive resonance. Spontaneous synthesis."
The relic's violet hue danced in holograms, forming fractals that spiraled into impossible geometric sequences. Essence readings warbled on screens. One line on the graph wasn't leveling out—it kept climbing, like the system couldn't contain him.
A voice echoed from the glass corridor behind her.
Lord Ceylan Virelle, Pure Dominion's Supreme Arbiter, stepped into the light, his ivory robes brushing soundlessly across the smooth floor.
"Do you see it now?" he asked. "He's the missing variable."
Elaine nodded, eyes never leaving the screen. "A dormant Neutral born without affinity. That relic didn't just awaken him. It fused with his core essence. He's become something else."
Her father's voice remained composed, but a rare edge undercut it.
"And now he threatens the Balance."
Elaine turned, cloak flowing with her. "Then I'll restore it."
He smiled with grim approval and touched her shoulder. "As you always do, my daughter. End this before chaos spreads."
Elaine bowed slightly, her expression unreadable.
"No uncertainty. No hesitation."
---
[Neutral Zone 5 – Freight Underpass Ruins – 09:47 AM]
Jun Kael had always been good at running. Not in the athletic sense—though he could definitely haul ass when chased—but in the metaphysical sense. Running from the past. From expectations. From responsibility.
But now, with blood in his mouth, his ribs barely holding together, and the weight of a relic fused into his damn bloodstream, he had run out of roads.
He limped through the wreckage of the underpass, dragging his hand across a concrete wall to steady himself. The steel trembled under his touch—the Essence inside him warping reality in small, twitchy bursts. Loose metal vibrated. Lights flickered. Gravity wobbled just a little.
His fingers traced one of the veins of silver now etched across his skin. The lines glowed faintly, pulsing in time with his heart. The relic no longer looked like a cube. It had dissolved into his hand, spreading tendrils through his chest and up into his neural pathways.
He didn't know what that meant.
And that terrified him.
"Okay," he muttered, leaning against the remains of a freight container. "So. Step one: Don't die. Step two: Figure out what the hell I am. Step three: Maybe scream into the void for a bit."
Let go, a whisper echoed.
Jun flinched. That voice again.
He glanced over his shoulder—nothing. Only shadows, broken tracks, and graffiti tags. The underpass was empty. Or it should've been.
He closed his eyes.
Let go.
And then—
Steel whined. The air thickened. And without warning, someone appeared behind him.
No footsteps. No presence.
Just arrival.
---
[Combat Initiated – Target: Jun Kael]
She stepped from the shadows like judgment incarnate. Her armor gleamed with a sharpness that could split atoms. Her boots didn't disturb the dust. She carried no visible weapon, yet the air around her shimmered—folded in fear and pressure.
"Jun Kael," she said with precision. "You are a Nullborn who has broken systemic threshold laws. Surrender."
Jun turned slowly, his pulse spiking. "And you are...?"
The woman inclined her head.
"Elaine Virelle. First Blade of the Pure Order."
Oh, hell.
Jun remembered the name. Everyone in Neutral Zones did. She was a myth wrapped in flesh—a prodigy raised in laboratories, taught to dissect her own empathy. She didn't fight; she erased problems. And now she stood before him like a sword blessed by gods.
His throat went dry.
"Okay. So this is the part where I crack a joke and hope you're the type to laugh instead of kill."
Elaine's expression didn't shift. Not even a twitch.
"No."
Jun sighed. "Didn't think so."
---
[BATTLE – 0.4 Seconds to First Strike]
Elaine moved.
There was no warm-up. No stance. Just motion—liquid and lethal.
Her arm unfolded mid-swing, and a blade of pure white Essence burst forth, slicing through a derelict train car as if it were paper. Jun dove aside, skidding across concrete, sparks flying.
She followed instantly. Her blade retracted and reformed in a breath, this time stabbing. Jun ducked, rolled under a pipe, and launched a repulsion burst from his palm.
It missed.
She twisted mid-air, flipped sideways, and landed on a vertical wall as if gravity were a suggestion.
"What are you?" Jun panted.
Elaine launched herself off the wall like a bullet. "Balance."
Her blade nicked his shoulder—clean and surgical.
Pain exploded through Jun's side. His scream tore free involuntarily, but the relic reacted. Silver light poured from the wound, sealing it with crackling energy.
Elaine paused for the first time, eyes narrowing.
"Autonomic healing... involuntary. Adaptive Essence layer. Unstable synthesis."
Jun stood slowly, arms shaking. "You always narrate your fights?"
Elaine raised her blade again. "Only when facing anomalies."
---
[Jun Kael – Essence Surge]
Jun exhaled sharply. His heartbeat synced with the relic—deep, thunderous, like war drums.
He reached inward.
Let go.
And the world broke again.
The ground under him cratered. Energy burst out in a circular wave—raw, violet, jagged. A mix of power and pain. Not clean. Not refined. But real.
Elaine stepped back—but too late.
The blast hit her like a freight train. Her cloak shredded. Her balance faltered. She dropped to one knee.
Jun didn't wait.
He charged—wild, desperate, reckless. He threw a punch infused with the relic's weight. It collided with her blade-arm. Essence clashed, light tearing through the gloom.
She blocked, redirected, countered—striking his leg with her heel, flipping him over.
He landed hard. Concrete cracked beneath him.
---
[Clash Reset – 32 Seconds of Combat]
Both of them breathed heavily now.
Elaine's pristine aura was disrupted. Her armor cracked near her waist. Blood lined Jun's chin, his hoodie shredded, violet light leaking from his palms.
"You shouldn't be able to do this," she said quietly.
Jun spit blood. "I agree."
"You're not Pure. Not Evil. Not even true Neutral anymore. You're something broken. Something wrong."
Jun smirked despite the pain. "Yeah. And you're standing on the wrong side of history."
Elaine tilted her head. "Am I?"
She raised her blade for the final strike.
Then froze.
---
[Unexpected Signal Detected – Unknown Faction Interference]
A pulse of energy—red, rhythmic, and corrupted—rippled through the air like a heartbeat with missing beats.
Elaine's eyes widened. "No... Not here."
Jun's relic pulsed in response. For a moment, a network of crimson threads floated in the air—impossible runes woven through space.
A new voice entered the field. Deep. Mocking.
> "You found him first, Pureblade. But he doesn't belong to you."
A portal tore open midair, folding like torn cloth, leaking shadow and static.
From it stepped a tall man cloaked in flame-black robes, a smile carved across his pale face like a blade wound.
His eyes—pitch black—focused only on Jun.
> "You don't know me yet, boy. But I've known you since you screamed your first breath."
Elaine instantly took a defensive stance. "Eidolon Class Signature—confirmed. Initiating high-risk extraction protocol."
Jun's voice rasped. "Who the hell is that?"
The figure laughed.
> "Your godfather."
---
[Scene Collapse – Emergency Extraction]
Elaine moved first—firing a blinding white flare into the sky. A grid of light slammed into place around them, locking down the air.
The intruder smirked. "Tsk. Always the efficient ones."
He raised a single hand.
The light grid shattered like glass.
Elaine shielded Jun by instinct, but the man didn't attack. Instead, he threw down a crystal—jagged, black, humming with violent frequencies.
A symbol formed in the air—half Essence, half nightmare.
> "We'll speak soon, Jun. And when we do… I'll ask you to choose."
Then he vanished.
The portal closed. The world fell silent again.
Jun stared at the scorched spot where the man had stood.
Elaine turned to him, her blade still raised.
"You're more dangerous than I thought," she whispered.
Jun, trembling, looked up at her.
"I didn't ask for this."
Elaine hesitated.
"None of us did."
And with that, she retreated into the shadows, leaving Jun alone in the wreckage.
---
[Unknown Location – Red Sanctum of the Broken Eye]
In a chamber lined with bones and mirrors, the black-robed man stepped into the circle of fire.
His agents knelt around him—half-shadow, half-human.
"He's waking," the man said, touching his chest. "And he's already begun to fracture the script."
A woman in silver chains looked up.
"Will he join us?"
The man smiled.
"He won't have a choice."
---
END OF CHAPTER 2
> Next Chapter Preview: "The Hollow Crown"
Jun wakes in the slums of an old Resistance sector, wounded and haunted. But when he discovers a girl who shares the same relic pulse as him, the Trials take a deadly new turn—and the clock begins to tick.