The Unvanquished: Child of Nihility-Chapter 86: DX-Mano Fitter Energy Machine

He leaned forward slightly. As if on cue, a translucent screen shimmered into view–automatically syncing to the central surveillance array.

His eyes skimmed the upper corner of the alert.

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[Layered-Shift Protocol Activated – Northern Region / UCv1 / Cadet Zone 12]

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He didn’t wait to finish reading.

The chair creaked as he stood–and then he was gone. No sound, no motion, no trace... Only a faint shimmer in the air where he had just been. And the glowing mail still hovering mid-air.

Its subject line remained:

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[Notice: Tyler Sherman – Unique Cadet 12 – Departure Authorized.]

Permission Granted: By Order of Select Council Members.

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The room pulsed once with residual energy... then silence returned.

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Northern edge of Unique zone–Black wood forest.

Leo stood like a statue beneath the canopy, his black attire blending seamlessly into the surrounding gloom. His golden eyes scanned the twisted forest–slow, methodical, unblinking.

Ten minutes had passed since he arrived.

He hadn’t moved an inch. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The isolated woods at the northern edge of the Unique Cadet zone–rarely visited, ancient, shrouded–remained unnaturally still. Not even the leaves stirred. Only the faint pulsing light of his wrist device proved that time had not stopped.

Then–

The air shifted. Subtle at first... then cold. Bone-deep cold. Leo’s chest tightened. His breath caught.

’He’s here.’

From behind the gnarled shadow of a crooked tree, a figure emerged–cloak darker than night, steps utterly silent. Each movement was like the whisper of death. No crunch of leaves. No stir of mana. Just presence–quiet, absolute.

A silver embroidery shimmered faintly on the cloak’s sleeve: a skull with four dark daggers crossing beneath.

Leo’s fingers twitched.

"You’re late," he managed.

The figure stopped three paces away. The silence thickened.

Then a voice–low, gravel-edged, yet surgical in tone–spoke from beneath the hood "You didn’t have the authority, kid. You’re only here to report. And it better be worth my time..."

The pressure spiked.

Leo’s heartbeat quickened, but his arms loosened at his sides. His face hardened into something unreadable.

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UCv1 – Villa 03 | Late Night

While All this was unfolding, Inside the cultivation chamber, Morca sat calmly atop the DX-Mano Fitter Energy Platform. His eyes remained closed. The ambient mana swirled slowly, flowing toward the left side of his chest, seeping into his skin–drawn to the region near his heart... to his energy core.

If one could peer inside him, they would witness something unnatural. His blood and mana did not flow in harmony–they collided.

Moving in loops. Reverse, forward, back again. Spiraling. As if time itself stuttered in his veins. Then, after a moment guided by some invisible force, they began to fuse. Not into pure red energy, but a mixture–crimson laced with obsidian threads.

A force not of blood. Not of mana. Something... in between.

Morca was cultivating.

He had activate the mid-tier setting of the DX-Mano Fitter Energy Machine–not the high-tier. He’d learned much from his last session. This time, his approach was calculated. Controlled. Intentional.

Using his technique, the second codex of the Breathing Blood Codex. With it, he regulated the ambient mana, guiding its flow through his body. The Codex pulsed around his core like a silent guardian, syncing his breath with his blood. As the flow increased, so did his pressure, and then–he moved it inward.

Blood and mana converged.

Together, they surged through his veins, pushing into his meridians, converging at the core of his being.

And there it was.

His energy core–no longer translucent or dull. It had changed. A deep shade of black and crimson.

Its size had expanded. Now as large as a tennis ball. Alive. Pulsing. Silent and sovereign. Morca opened his inner sense and studied it closely, unlike the last time.

’Is this... related to the mission from the system?’

His mind flashed briefly to the Infinity Nihility System – Mission:

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Current Mission: Integrate Bloodline into energy Core.

Fusion Progress: 3% / 100%

Reward: Special Evolution

---

Though the dual-color core were still faint, he could feel something anchored there–something ancient. There was a pull... a resonance.

Faint, but undeniable connection to his dual bloodlines. Right there–inside the core.

His breath steadied. Not because of serenity–but anticipation.

’Let’s see what lies inside...’

When he thought of this, he directed the black-crimson force–the fusion of his blood and mana–into his core. And in the next breath, the inside of the core unfolded within his mind’s eye.

The first thing he noticed was the size.

The interior, once roughly the size of a room, had grown–subtly but undeniably. The space pulsed with faint pressure.

Then, his attention shifted to the drifting rain-like droplets suspended within. What had once been transparent droplets were now faintly stained–black and red. Though subtle, Morca could still distinguish the change. As an invisible force divided the two force within the core’s atmosphere.

To the left: black misty rain.

To the right: red rain-like vapor.

They did not merge. They existed in harmony but apart–split by some unseen law.

If Morca had once thought the connection between his core and his bloodlines was coincidence... now, he was certain it wasn’t. This was no fluke.

The refined black-red fusion energy drifted to the very center of the core–where the divide lay sharpest–and began to spin. Suspended. Twisting in midair like a quiet storm gathering will.

Morca’s consciousness returned from the inner vision as he resumed channeling the mana-blood fusion, his breath deepening, and the chamber falling into a darker stillness.

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Outside the Entrance Plaza – Eden Domineer Academy

The moonlight veiled the plaza in muted silver, casting long shadows against the black stone tiles. Just as the heavy silence settled, Ann Shia reached into the folds of her cloak and withdrew a small, perfectly round silver orb.

It pulsed faintly in her palm, no larger than a fruit pit.

She tapped a glowing green button embedded along its seam.

Click.

Then, with a simple underhand toss, she released it into the air.

The orb hovered.

Suddenly–whirrr–the silver surface split into rotating metallic bands, each etched with microscopic runes. They shifted, spun, and aligned midair as the core of the orb flared with internal energy. Within seconds, the bands locked into position, forming a narrow circular gate.

A sharp pulse followed.

With a mechanical sigh, the center of the structure expanded outward into a glowing portal–blue light swirling like liquid starlight trapped within glass. It spun slowly, humming with strange resonance.

Tyler blinked, her breath catching. She’d never seen this kind of tech before–not even the magical teleportation booths within the academy could compare.

Ann Shia, unbothered by the awe, spoke lightly, her tone as if explaining something mundane.

"Exotech Teleportation Orb," she said. "Similar principle to the academy’s teleportation booth–but this one’s built for long-distance displacement. Independent. Silent. Untraceable."

Tyler said nothing, but her jaw tightened with focus as the swirling light beckoned.

Ann stepped forward. Her figure faded into the portal like mist drawn through a thread.

Tyler followed. Her silhouette vanished a second later.

And just like that–

The structure collapsed.

The metallic rings uncoiled in reverse. A soft hiss escaped the air as each band fragmented into fading threads of silver light. In the span of three breaths, the plaza was once again empty. As if no one had ever stood there.

Until...

A faint pulse broke the air.