Chap 163: The Breaking Point

Rain poured like bullets from a sky choked with thick, unmoving grey clouds—so heavy, it felt like the heavens could collapse at any moment.

Glass towers shimmered beneath lightning’s cruel glare, rising crooked from alien soil—ruins from a world never meant to touch theirs. Between the broken metal of massive mech carcasses and glowing cracks in the earth, the Sentinels pressed forward through cold wind and muddy water, lungs aching.

They ran for what felt like hours—until the land opened into a crater, jagged like a wound carved from the planet itself. At the center of that wound were the Harbingers.

Sade held the Fragment, standing beside Lilith and Legion as a red vortex began to spiral open behind them. They were about to leave. 

Miko's voice cut through the storm,  “Not if I have anything to do with it.”

Before anyone could stop her, her figure blurred, breaking space with a thunderous crack. She reappeared in front of Sade, snatched the Fragment mid-step, and vanished again. She landed hard, a dozen meters from the Harbingers with the Fragment in hand.

Then she threw it to the ground. They were not there to collect rocks. The Sealed Bond was already deactivated. The real war could begin.

From that single defiance, everything ignited.

"Now's your chance," Saeda muttered to Tee, low and venomous. "The Harbingers are here."

Zod, surging forward, blades already crackling with Ultramana, barked over his shoulder,  “Yeah, prove which side you’re on!”

Then steel clashed.

Sparks. Swords. Screams. The crater became a pit of chaos.

“I thought you died!” Legion’s voice echoed in a chorus of many, layered and distorted. Shadows peeled from his body like ink swirling through water—until they revealed his towering skeletal beast once more.

Unfortunately, Sade had spent a great deal of energy successfully deactivating the Sealed Bond. Yet, as he had watched the female Sentinel throw the fragment on the ground, it felt like a waste. Still, he couldn't deny the flicker of satisfaction at seeing the vessel again—though she acted as if he didn’t exist.

Legion’s spirits swarmed the battlefield like maddened pests, shrieking and wailing in endless discord, their cries scraping against the edges of sanity. Their voices drowned out everything else, a constant cacophony. The dim, rain-soaked gloom only amplified the chaos, turning the field into a nightmare.

Amid the chaos, Tee charged toward Lilith, her buster blade flashing beneath the lightning. At her side, Kie matched her stride, Ultramana sword in hand, its blue glow sharp and steady. No words—only shared resolve.

Tee swung. Lilith parried. The clash split the air, loud as thunder. Blow after blow, but Tee’s blades kept shattering, failing under the weight of Lilith’s long sword.

Kie circled, waiting for his moment.

Lilith's lips curled. 

Tee’s eyes darkened. Her hand pulsed. Buster sword gone, she let out a blast of pure dark mana. It hissed through the air, aimed at Lilith’s face.

Lilith raised her palm and absorbed the blast effortlessly. It vanished on contact—no trace, no scorch, not even a flicker left behind.

"Foolish child." Lilith licked her lips.

Tee recoiled. Creeped out. Angry. Violated.

Tee’s mouth split wide. Her scream tore through the air like glass breaking underwater. But Lilith whipped her sword to tear the scream in half—sound distorted, diffused.

Then—Kie struck.

From the shadows behind, a blade of pure Ultramana came flying. Lilith twisted just in time, narrowly avoiding the blow—but not without cost. The strike grazed her cheek, slicing skin and severing strands of her black hair.

Kie appeared behind it, another sword ablaze in blue flame. “Die already!”

Their battle became a storm of blades and gravity. Lilith pulled down parts of buildings with her telekinesis, hurling the debris down on them like a vengeful god. Kie and Tee slashed them to dust. 

Lilith’s whip-blade burst into flames, tearing through the rain-soaked air as she lashed at them—until Kie cut through it clean with his Ultramana sword, steam hissing where fire met rain.

For a second, Tee and Kie moved like one being, dancing in perfect sync. Tee felt it. Kie did too.

He remembered, painfully, why he first fell for her.

Meanwhile, the sky pulsed with stormlight, clouds split open with violet lightning. Craters littered the battlefield—broken metal, shattered stone, scorched earth.

In the middle stood Zod, Saeda, and Miko, backs to each other, faces sharp with focus.

“Everyone ready?,” Saeda asked, lowering into a battle stance, her flaming sword igniting in her hand.

Miko adjusted her grip, her blade glowing a soft blue, her hair plastered to her face. “Same plan?”

Zod nodded, exhaling slowly. “Yes, we don’t hold back. We kill them.”

From across the field, a red vortex exploded, and Sade appeared from its core, arms outstretched, his fingers weaving glowing violet symbols into the air like threads of dark magic. 

Beside him, Legion dropped from the sky like a black meteor, his true form revealed—a massive skeletal beast with spiked limbs, crowned horns, and black smoke seeping from cracked bones. His roar tore across the field, warping sound itself.

Zod reacted first. He dropped low, slammed his palm into the ground—a floating energy orb blinked into existence five meters ahead.

“Let’s go!”

He kicked, launching a sharp blast from his heel, and the orb fired in sync—a double strike aimed directly at Legion’s face.

The monster reeled—but not for long.

Miko vanished in a blink, fast-stepping mid-air, appearing behind Sade with her sword drawn. She swung—but the sorcerer dissipated into black smoke, reappearing above her. 

Miko barely dodged the red vortex that flared behind her, its pull nearly yanking her in. Sade was trying to trap her just like he had with Saeda before. But not that time. She wouldn’t let herself be caught. Not by him.

Sade sneered, arms weaving new layered symbols. The ground beneath her feet folded, turning jagged, trying to trap her—but she phased through the stone with a shimmer, her body vibrating into blue light, slipping into the earth and out behind him.

“Not happening.” She sent an Ultramana hand blast, sending him crashing into a broken obelisk.

Saeda rushed forward, blue energy coiling down her blade. She hacked through three of Sade's controlled incoming Leaks, their glowing eyes fading as their bodies vanished into smoke.

Then Legion lunged.

He was fast for his size—an arm made of shrieking bones swung low, trying to sweep her. She ducked, blade glowing brighter. With a roar, she dragged her glowing sword through his limb, slicing bone clean through.

“For Snickers!”

Zod ran wide, palms pulsing. He summoned two more floating energy balls, that time behind Legion.

“Surround and smash!”

The orbs fired. 

Miko zipped past the blasts, teleporting mid-air, her sword striking from the other side. Legion howled.

Sade reappeared behind Zod, drawing a massive purple circle midair—chanting faster, calling on a veil creature, a dark Leak. Its twisted frame rippled with unnatural muscle and patches of coarse, bristly fur. Razor-sharp metal claws extend from its fingers, gleaming with a deadly edge. 

With lightning speed, it lunged through the air, aiming straight for his face.

But Zod jumped, spinning midair, blasting it from his foot, disintegrating the creature in one burst.

Zod’s palms flared to life once more—he drew in a deep breath, holding it tight as he unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of blasts. Each shot hammered against Sade's purple energy bubble, forcing the sorcerer to stagger backward under the relentless pressure.

Saeda and Miko moved together. 

Miko flashed in. Saeda went low.

SLASH—BOOM!

Their blades struck Legion’s ribs, carving glowing scars across his body.

He roared—and suddenly hundreds of bone spikes launched from his back, scattering the air with deadly shrapnel.

Miko phased into the ground. Zod summoned a forceshield midair. Saeda twisted behind a chunk of stone, barely avoiding impalement.

Breathing heavy, Zod crouched behind his flickering orb. “One more opening.”

Saeda’s eyes narrowed. Her blade burned hotter. “Then we end this.”

Miko emerged beside her, “Let’s end them both.”

Tee and Lilith clashed again, their hands locking that time—fingers locked like wrestling titans. Neither pushed back. The ground cracked under them. Rain turned to hail. Gravity bent.

"You are not ready, child," Lilith said, her voice low and reverent. "But you are the key—the one who will end the eternal suffering that is still to come."

"Screw your destiny!" Tee roared. "I never asked for any of this! THIS IS MY LIFE!"

Their locked hands began to glow—something strange swirling around their fingers. A dark vortex.

Tee gasped. "What the hell is happening?"

Lilith’s face split with delight—and horror. “Even I don’t know... but why don’t we find out?” Her voice mutated—guttural, layered with inhuman tones. Her face began to morph. Skin bubbling. Teeth sharpening. A beast.

Tee tried to pull away. She couldn’t.

The energy between their hands grew. Rocks levitated. The sky screamed.

Kie was blown back. His whip melted in the storm. Everyone paused—their battles frozen by the pressure around Tee and Lilith.

The ground beneath them sank. Buildings cracked. Glass shattered across the field.

Tee’s mind spiraled. Her hands numb. Her will—shaking.

What was Ultramana? How did she activate it? What should she be feeling?

Her mind flickered to Kie—the light in his eyes. That terrifying, righteous fire. She hated it... but maybe that’s what it was.

Not rage. Not darkness. But... knowing what must be done. Choosing it. And believing you have the strength to see it through.

“I can do this.” she whispered.  “I am a Sentinel! Not a Harbinger!”

Then—light.

Beams of blue light shone from her eyes, climbing up her arms. The black vortex reversed. Lilith screamed.

“What... No—”

The black began crawling up Lilith's arms instead. Her monstrous face peeled further in horror.

Tee pressed forward, trembling but determined. Her own body glowing—bright veins of energy pulsing from her heart.

Lilith’s body turned black. Statue-like. Still. Then shattered.

A million shards. Vanished in the storm.

Tee collapsed to her knees. The crater, silent.

Zod looked over, eyes wide.

Saeda, disgusted. 

Miko, stunned. 

Kie... proud.

But no one spoke.

The rain kept falling.

Tee collapsed, her body wracked with pain, hands torn and bloodied beyond recognition. The energy clash had taken its toll—too much, too fast. Consciousness slipped through her fingers like smoke.

When the team reached her, they froze at a distance. No one moved closer.

“She’s knocked out cold,” Miko said. “So how is she gonna press the teleportation button?”

Saeda, “Any volunteers?”

“We’re all giving off compact Ether which eliminates the need to get close,” Zod said. 

“Sounds like you guys would rather teleport without her,” Kie said bitterly.

Elsewhere, in the shadow of crumbling ruins, Sade and Legion knelt before Lilith.

Lilith’s form reconstituted—permanently damaged. Her left eye was dull and cracked, her face scorched. Her once jet-black hair had turned white as salt.

Lilith stood tall.

“Flawless execution.” A dark smirk curled her lips. “Let her run… it will only bring her closer to her destiny.”

Some time after the mission, when Tee was finally awake...

The Sentinels gathered in Elder Caledor’s office, eyes fixed on the glowing orb as Kie’s memories from the last Harbinger mission played out before them. Tee stood off to the side, unacknowledged. 

No one dared approach her. Not while the threat of MegaSapian still lingered—her Balance Seal hadn’t been applied. And even if it had, trust was a thing long gone. Every word from her mouth felt like a trap.

A deceiver. That’s what they saw when they looked at her.

But the memories told the same story. Just as Tee had said, she had fought Lilith in brutal hand-to-hand combat. She’d unleashed her Ultramana powers against her, and if the final blow was what it seemed, Lilith might be dead. Yet despite the clarity of the vision, the topic shifted quickly.

“This Balance Seal... it’s meant to stop her from becoming a Xenosapian, right?” Miko asked cautiously.

“I think you mean MegaSapian,” Zod corrected, then swallowed hard.

Elder Caledor, “The Balance Seal severs the mind's link upon mutation. There would be no monster to fight. The host dies before one can be born.”

Zod, “So we’re sitting around a ticking time bomb, and she gets to choose whether to defuse it? We’re the ones who’ll suffer and die if she snaps. And she’s still not wearing a crest. Am I the only one who sees the problem here?”

“Selfish,” Miko muttered.

“Hell yeah, she’s selfish,” Zod snapped louder. “She kept this from us all this time—she doesn’t care.” He turned his back to her without another glance.

Tee stared at them, stunned. She was in the same room, yet they spoke like she wasn’t there—like she wasn’t even human. Just a walking threat. A liability.

“Have you figured out why Tee is interfering with my aura-sensing?” Saeda asked, her voice cool and clinical.

That was the last thing Tee heard before her thoughts pulled her under. The world dulled into silence.

Her gaze drifted to Kie. He said nothing. Did nothing. Since his demotion, something in him had cracked. The confident smirk, the bold voice—gone. Replaced by a haunted silence.