Holden sat on his bed and pulled up the System menu.
The Breakthrough Acceleration tab glowed in his vision. Every breakthrough had cost fifty thousand KP, and every single one had been worth it.
He scrolled down to the current option.
[Current Rank: 2 (8-Star)]
[Next Milestone: Rank 2 (9-Star)]
[Note: 9-Star represents the final bottleneck of the Rank 2 mortal realm. The energy required to breach this threshold is significantly denser than previous milestones.]
[Cost: 65,000 KP]
[Accept?]
Holden pressed Accept.
The energy hit him like a tidal wave.
It was different from every breakthrough before it. Instead of flowing through his meridians like water, it moved like molten metal, thick and almost impossible to control. It forced its way into every part of his body until his bones creaked under the pressure.
Holden clenched his jaw.
His muscles seized and his tendons tightened as his skeleton, already reinforced to 8-Star density, compressed even further. The Iron-Body enhancement pushed deeper into every bone in his body, strengthening it under the crushing pressure.
It felt like being trapped inside a vise made entirely of energy.
His core expanded.
The reservoir at his center had grown with every breakthrough before this one, but now it pushed hard against its own limits. The 8-Star barrier stood in its way, thicker and tougher than any wall he’d broken through before.
The molten energy slammed into it.
The barrier shuddered.
Holden pushed back.
Every scrap of willpower the 10,000x processor could focus was directed toward a single point. He poured it all into the barrier, forcing the energy against it again and again.
Hairline cracks appeared.
Energy began leaking through in tiny streams, burning through him like acid.
Holden pushed harder.
The cracks widened.
The barrier groaned under the pressure, and for a moment, it felt like the entire world had narrowed down to that single wall standing between him and the next level.
Then it broke.
The wall shattered.
A violent wave of power exploded from his core and surged through his body. Every cell absorbed energy at maximum capacity. His muscles grew denser, his bones compressed further, and the strength packed into his body reached a level that made his previous 8-Star state feel almost fragile.
[Breakthrough Complete!]
[Rank Updated: 2 (9-Star)]
[Physical Enhancement: Iron-Body has reached maximum mortal density. Neural response time at theoretical human limit. Energy capacity at Rank 2 peak.]
Holden opened his mouth and slowly exhaled.
A cloud of hot steam poured from his mouth and filled the small bedroom, fogging the windows. His skin was flushed and radiated heat like a furnace that had just been stoked.
He stood up and the difference was instant.
His body felt as if it had been reforged from the inside out. Every movement came naturally, without the slightest resistance. His muscles responded the instant he thought about moving, and his senses felt sharper than ever.
Holden raised a hand and flexed his fingers.
He was at the peak of Rank 2 now.
One more step, and he’d leave this tier behind completely.
[Remaining KP: 167,890]
"Not bad."
Holden headed to the bathroom, washed his face, and waited until the heat in his body settled before opening the bedroom door.
The living room had been transformed into a command center.
Maeve had rearranged the furniture to create a proper workstation. Three screens sat in a semicircle around the coffee table, each showing a different feed. The Capital’s emergency broadcast system, a police scanner, and a hacked feed from the Royal Palace’s internal security network.
Maeve sat on the couch with her tablet in her lap, headphones covering her ears as her fingers moved across the screen.
She didn’t look up when Holden entered.
"Riots are spreading," she said, pulling one earphone out. "The eastern market is completely out of control. The Royal Guard has pulled back to the palace perimeter, and Parliament is stuck in an emergency session."
She paused.
"Half of them are still loyal to the Crown. The other half are too scared of the public to do anything."
"Sounds messy."
"Very."
Holden dropped onto the couch beside her.
Maeve finally looked at him.
"But that’s not why I’m telling you this."
She tapped her tablet, and one of the screens changed to a logistics manifest.
"The Royal Family is panicking. The Emperor ordered an emergency transfer of the palace’s most valuable assets to a secure bunker in the lower city."
"Valuable assets?"
"Treasures, artifacts, documents. Anything they can’t afford to lose if the rioters breach the palace walls."
Maeve scrolled through the manifest.
"Most of it is gold and historical junk. But there’s one item on this list that caught my attention."
She zoomed in on a single line near the bottom.
[Item 47: Divine-Spark Gem. Classification: Rank 3 Catalyst. Storage: Vault C, Case 7. Handler: Royal Quartermaster Vane.]
Holden’s eyes settled on the name.
"Divine-Spark Gem."
"It’s legendary."
Maeve pushed her glasses up and leaned closer to the screen.
"I had to dig through some seriously old archives just to find a reference. It’s a Rank 3 catalytic gemstone mined from an Abyssal Geode two hundred years ago. There are only a handful left."
"What does it do?"
"It accelerates and stabilizes the jump from Rank 2 to Rank 3."
Maeve’s expression became more serious.
"Going from the mortal ranks to Instructor level is already dangerous. The energy requirements are massive, and the failure rate is over ninety percent. Without a catalyst, most people who attempt it either die or permanently damage their meridians."
She turned toward him.
"If you want to survive that leap, Holden, you need this gem."
Holden stared at the manifest.
A treasure so rare that the Royal Family kept it inside their personal vault under the palace.
And tonight, they were moving it to a bunker because they were afraid of their own citizens.
"When does the transport leave?"
Maeve smiled.
It was the knowing smile she wore whenever she was about to give him information she knew he’d like.
"Midnight."
Holden waited.
Maeve continued, "The armored transport is taking a back route through the lower commercial district to avoid the riot zones. Minimal escort, since most of the Royal Guard is busy protecting the palace."
"Minimal escort?"
"Two vehicles and one transport truck. Eight guards in total."
She glanced at the roster.
"All Rank 3, 1-Star. Royal Shadow Guards. Elite assassins."
Holden leaned back and thought about it.
Eight Rank 3 guards were nothing to sneeze at. Even at 9-Star, taking on eight Rank 3 opponents at once would be a serious challenge.
But he wasn’t going in empty-handed.
He had the Void Mantle, the Abyssal-Bone Wings, the Solar-Forged Sword, and a 10,000x processor capable of tracking multiple targets at once.
His chances weren’t bad.
"They’re basically giving it away," he said.
Maeve’s smile widened.
"That’s what I thought you’d say."
Holden stood and walked toward his bedroom.
At the door, he paused and looked back at her.
"Keep the window open for me."
"Always do."
He went inside and pulled on the Asura gold mask
Holden ran his thumb over the eye slits, feeling the rough texture of the forged iron.
He hadn’t worn this mask in a while.
Holden put it on and took a step forward.
He pulled the Void Mantle over his shoulders and summoned the Abyssal-Bone Wings.
Black bone structures unfolded from his back, stretching to their full span as purple veins pulsed with faint light. Holden flexed them once, feeling the spatial distortion they created and the way the air bent around their edges.
He moved toward the window.
Outside, the Capital was burning.
Not literally, not yet.
But the glow of fires reflected against the low clouds, and distant sirens had become a constant part of the night. The streets below were mostly empty, aside from the occasional military vehicle speeding through the city with its lights flashing.
Midnight was forty minutes away.
Holden opened the window and stepped onto the ledge.
Rain had started again, a light drizzle misting against the buildings.
He looked up at the dark sky above the Capital.
Then he stepped off.
The Abyssal-Bone Wings caught the air.
Holden shot upward into the night.
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