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Chapter 142
After a while. The medical ward was quiet except for the soft hum of healing equipment and the occasional footsteps of nurses checking on patients. Four beds were arranged in a small room, close enough for conversation but giving each occupant space to rest.Miko lay on his back, staring at the white ceiling. The ash lines on his skin had faded to barely visible marks, but he could still feel them—like a reminder of everything that had changed. His right arm, the one Anna had regrown, felt strange. Not wrong exactly, just... different."Can't sleep either?" Akiya's voice broke the silence. She was propped up on her side, facing him from the next bed."Every time I close my eyes, I see him," Miko replied quietly. "Suspended in that thing. Looking so... peaceful.""He's alive," Anna said from across the room. Her voice was hoarse from the healing treatments she'd undergone. "That's what matters.""Is it?" Miko asked. "Many years as a living battery. Twenty years while I grew up thinking
Chapter 141
Hours later, Miko sat in a sterile conference room deep within the Academy complex. His medical discharge papers were fresh in his pocket, though he still felt drained from elemental exhaustion. The room's only other occupants were his teammates, all looking as tired as he felt despite their medical treatment.A door opened and Coordinator Hayes entered, his weathered face grim. The old man looked like he hadn't slept in days, dark circles under his eyes and worry lines etched deeper than Miko remembered."Team Seven," Hayes said simply, taking his seat at the head of the table. "I've read the preliminary reports. Now I want to hear it from you directly. All of it."Gregor started to speak, but Hayes held up a hand to stop him."From the beginning," Hayes said. "And I want complete honesty. What happened in the Abyss?"A heavy silence filled the room. The team exchanged glances, each waiting for someone else to begin the impossible task of explaining what they'd experienced.Finally,
Chapter 140
“Elemental exhaustion," he heard someone say as they checked his vitals. "Severe depletion. And these markings..."The world blurred around him as his body finally acknowledged what his will had been denying—he was at his limit. The last thing he saw before unconsciousness claimed him was the portal's surface, shimmering with the promise of home.Miko woke to white walls and the antiseptic smell of the Academy's medical wing. For a moment, he thought the entire Abyss expedition had been a dream. Then he tried to move and felt the deep ache of elemental depletion in every muscle."Easy," a familiar voice cautioned. Akiya sat beside his bed, looking cleaner but no less tired than when he'd last seen her. "The healers say you need rest.""How long?" Miko asked, his voice rough."A day and a half," she replied. "We came through the portal yesterday morning. The Peregrine brought us straight back to Central Academy.""The others?""All alive. Mostly recovered." She smiled slightly. "You go
Chapter 139
They ran through the living corridors of the World Tree, no longer caring about the wonders around them. The pulsing walls seemed different now, threatening rather than magical, watching rather than welcoming."Keep moving!" Gregor shouted from the rear, where he maintained a fire barrier against any pursuing wraiths. "Don't slow down!"Miko ran on autopilot, his mind still back in the battery chamber with his father. Anna and Akiya flanked him, supporting him when he stumbled, pulling him forward when he slowed."We need to find an exit," Elena called from the front of their group. "These passages all look the same."The tree itself seemed to respond to their desperation. The corridor ahead split into multiple branches, then sealed all but one, guiding them toward what they hoped was freedom."It's helping us," Lyra realized. "The tree wants us to escape.""Or leading us into another trap," Gregor countered, but they had no better options.They followed the remaining path, running un
Chapter 138
Behind them, the battle had reached a stalemate. Kael couldn't get past the combined defense of seven mages, but neither could they defeat an Awakened Wraith with their depleted reserves."We have to go," Gregor called, sweat pouring down his face from the effort of maintaining his fire barrier. "Now!""Listen to me," Miko’s father said urgently, more strength returning to his voice. "You can't remove me from this. Not yet. The consequences—""The wraith told us," Miko cut in. "About the balance. The regulation of corruption flow.""Then you understand why—""I understand they're using you," Miko insisted. "That you've been trapped here for twenty years while I grew up without a father."Pain flashed across his father’s face. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to leave you. But the alternative was worse. Much worse."Before Miko could respond, a massive blast of corruption energy knocked everyone off their feet. Kael stood at the center of the destruction, his playful demeanor completely gone
Chapter 137
"The Fourth Awakened," Elena whispered, with fear mingling in her voice. "What do you want?" Gregor demanded, positioning himself between the wraith and the younger mages."What do I want?" The wraith repeated, childlike excitement in his voice despite his monstrous appearance. "So many things! To play. To feed. To see what happens when I break things." His expression shifted to something more focused, more predatory. "But right now, I want to know why you're touching my favorite toy."He gestured toward the battery and the suspended figure within it."He's not a toy," Miko said, anger overriding fear. "He's my father.""Is that what you think?" The wraith laughed, the sound like breaking glass. "Oh, he's so much more than that, ash-child. He's the lynchpin. The fulcrum. The only thing standing between your world and the complete merger with the Abyss."The wraith moved closer, each step unnaturally fluid. The team instinctively backed away, maintaining distance."Did you know," he c
Chapter 136
Miko stared at the tunnel that had opened for him. With no other choice, he stepped forward."Hello?" he called, his voice echoing strangely. "Anyone there?"No answer came back. Just the soft, steady pulse of the tree's inner workings.The path sloped downward, curving in a gentle spiral. Miko lost track of time as he descended, the monotony broken only by occasional chambers where the tunnel widened. In each chamber, strange glowing symbols covered the walls—similar to the ash patterns on his skin but more complex, more ancient."What are you trying to show me?" Miko asked the tree, touching one of the symbols.A vision flashed through his mind, AAU headquarters as it had been centuries ago, newly founded after the Rupture. He saw mages experimenting with the boundaries between worlds, pushing into the Abyss with reckless curiosity. Then came the first wraiths, drawn to elemental energy like moths to flame.The vision faded, leaving Miko disoriented but with new understanding. He co
Chapter 135
Elena pointed and every one turned. The World Tree dominated the clearing, its massive trunk stretching impossibly high into the strange Abyssal sky. No one spoke as they stared up at it, awed by its sheer size and the power that radiated from it like heat from a fire."Do we approach it?" Liam finally asked, breaking the stunned silence.Gregor frowned, fourth-circle fire flickering unconsciously around his fingers. "We should be cautious. Nothing in the Abyss is as simple as it seems.""The rabbits couldn't follow us here," Anna pointed out. "This place is different. Maybe safer.""Or more dangerous in ways we don't understand yet," Elena countered.While they debated, Miko took a step forward."Miko, wait," Akiya called, noticing his movement.But he was already walking, feet carrying him forward as if pulled by an invisible string. The others watched as he crossed half the distance to the tree, moving with steady purpose."Stop him," Gregor ordered.Liam rushed forward, catching M
Chapter 134
The tapping followed them through the forest, a persistent rhythm that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Though they could no longer see the giant rabbits, the sound of their massive feet striking the earth carried through the strange Abyssal woods.Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap."They're still following us," Lyra whispered, glancing fearfully over her shoulder."Keep moving," Gregor ordered, his voice tight with exhaustion. "We need more distance."The team pushed onward, each step a struggle after their desperate flight from the maize field. Miko leaned heavily on Akiya, the mini-Lantern having drained what little strength he'd recovered. The ash lines on his skin had spread further, now covering most of his arms and creeping up his neck."You need to rest," Anna told him, healer's instincts overriding her own fatigue."We all do," Elena agreed, looking around at their battered group. "But not here. Not yet."The Abyssal forest grew thicker as they moved deeper, trees twisting into unnat
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