The room trembled, the walls groaning as the final crack in Alypos's seal splintered. A rush of life essence exploded from him, bursting into the sterile air like a river that had been held back too long. It was green—a glowing, overwhelming flood that seemed to consume everything in its path. It was pure, raw, unrefined energy, powerful enough to tear the world apart.
The cloaked figures who had slipped in with such purpose were the first to feel its weight. At first, it was healing, a miraculous balm that smoothed over their injuries and made their shattered bodies whole again. Bruises faded, wounds vanished, and even the pain in their bones was soothed.
But it didn't stop.
The life essence kept coming, spilling into the room, overwhelming them, like an ocean that refused to recede. The healing turned into something unbearable, as if every breath they took was being forced through a narrow, suffocating funnel. Their chests heaved with the pressure, their skin stretched as though it might burst open under the strain.
The green liquid in the pods—his blood—seemed to obey him, lurching forward as if trying to stabilize his failing form. The viscous substance curled around him, trying to hold him together as his body fell apart. It was too late. There was no stopping the storm. Alypos's power was too great, too wild for his weak, fragile form.
The world began to crumble.
Alypos's last thought was not of fear. No, for once, it wasn't fear. It was… freedom. A strange sense of release. Death wasn't a curse this time. It was an escape. It was the end of everything. He felt lighter, as if all the weight of his existence, the burden of his powers, had been lifted. And in the end, there was no pain, only a deep, peaceful quiet.
An explosion rocked the base as life essence spilled out from him in an uncontrollable blast. The city above—once bustling with life—was now ripped apart, its buildings shattering into dust, the streets swallowed in a blinding wave of light.
Even the cloaked figures were not spared. Their bodies disintegrated, torn to pieces by the raw energy that Alypos had unleashed. The room turned to chaos as walls splintered, the floor cracked open, and everything was consumed by the force of his final release.
James, too, felt it—felt the end come. But he didn't fear it. For once, he found peace in it. It was as if the weight of years—years of experiments, fear, manipulation—had been lifted off his shoulders. The release of the life essence had given him freedom, a freedom he hadn't known he could experience. He welcomed the quiet, the nothingness.
But there was no quiet.
Alypos had shattered into the void, his body disintegrating under the immense power that he had tried—too late—to control. Yet even as the dust settled, the memory of his power remained, as if the earth itself still trembled from his presence.
***
Ilias awoke with a jarring start, his body rising from the thin, worn cot he had somehow ended up on. His breath came out in shallow gasps, his chest tight, his mind reeling. A strange heaviness pulled at him as if he had been asleep for far too long.
His eyes darted around the room—small, wooden, with a single window showing the thick trees of a forest stretching out as far as he could see. He was… where? His head throbbed with confusion, memories slipping away like water through his fingers. He wasn't sure how he had ended up here—or even who he was. But something deep inside him stirred, a gnawing sense of knowing.
He looked down at his hands. His skin was smooth—too smooth. Young. Smaller. His limbs were lean, but there was an unusual strength underneath the skin, a strange pulse beneath the surface. He felt… lighter, but in an almost wrong way. It wasn't right.
His eyes went wide when he spotted his reflection in a dusty window.
A child. A twelve-year-old boy.
He reached up to touch his face, feeling the smoothness of his skin, the youthful glow he didn't recognize. His fingers skimmed over his chest, where he could feel something pulsing under the surface. Two things. Two cores.
One green. One blue.
The green core pulsed faintly, as if it were dormant, locked away in some hidden part of him, sealed tight. But the blue core—it was still there, thrumming under his skin like a second heartbeat. It was weak, too. Weak but free.
His mind felt fragmented, the edges of his memories frayed and slipping. He knew that he had been something—someone—powerful, once. The feeling of power was still there, deep inside him, and it was as if it was fighting to wake up again.
But who had done this to him?
The explosion. The world ripping apart.
He remembered. He remembered the destruction, the sense of freedom that had come with it. And then… nothing.
James.
He could see his face in his memory—a man twisted by the same sorrow and fear that had once bound him. But now, in the aftermath, there was no hatred. No anger. There was only a strange, shared understanding. A release from the chains they had both been held by. Alypos was free.
And so was James.
But now…
Now, Ilias didn't have time for the past. He needed to understand why this had happened. Why he was here, in this strange body, in this new life. He had to find out who was responsible, and why he had been reborn like this.
He had to get his revenge.
And he had to do it before the power within him—whatever was left—grew too strong to control.
He stood up, shaking off the disorientation, and moved toward the window. The forest outside was thick and wild, untouched by human hands. It was peaceful. But that peace felt hollow.
His reflection in the window was different, though.
This child—this body—was small. Fragile, even. His skin was a pale shade of brown, smooth and young, though it didn't suit him. His hair, once pale, now fell in messy, chestnut brown locks that touched his forehead. His eyes, however, held something far older. A depth that didn't belong to a child. They were dark, almost black, but behind them was a storm—one that had seen too much.
He was still him, but not. Something about his form felt weak, untested, as though his old self had been forced into a body too young, too small. He could feel the difference. This body wasn't made to carry the weight of his power. It wasn't made to handle what he was about to unleash.
But that wouldn't stop him.
The power was still inside him. The green core, still locked away. He could feel it in the pit of his stomach. It was a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode.
But first, he needed answers.
And he would get them.
No matter the cost.