The deeper Thomas followed Subastian beneath the Black Iron Headquarters, the quieter the world became.
The echoes of marching soldiers and distant conversations disappeared behind thick stone walls. Every step carried them farther underground until even the torchlight above had vanished.
Only a strange blue glow remained.
The passage opened into an enormous chamber unlike anything Thomas had ever seen.
His footsteps slowed.
The room stretched farther than he could see, its ceiling disappearing into darkness. Rows of stone shelves overflowed with ancient books, cracked glass containers, and countless glowing crystals that bathed the laboratory in an eerie light. Strange liquids bubbled inside glass tubes connected by twisting metal pipes. Thick smoke drifted lazily toward the ceiling before disappearing into hidden vents.
Men and women dressed in dark robes hurried from one table to another.
Some carefully wrote notes into old journals.
Others mixed shimmering liquids inside crystal flasks.
The air smelled of herbs, blood, and burning metal.
Thomas frowned.
"...Who are these guys?"
No one answered him.
Not immediately.
Subastian continued walking as though he had crossed this room a thousand times before.
"They are the brightest minds the Black Iron has gathered over the last two centuries."
Thomas looked around again.
Some of the researchers paused only long enough to bow their heads before returning to their work.
None dared meet Subastian's eyes.
"The greatest alchemists," Subastian continued, "the greatest doctors... and the greatest fools. Every one of them devoted their lives to chasing a single dream."
Thomas folded his arms.
"What dream?"
Subastian stopped before a large stone table.
Resting upon it was a glass container no larger than a person's hand.
Inside floated something that seemed...
Alive.
It resembled a vein.
Golden light pulsed gently through it, each heartbeat illuminating the entire room before fading again.
Thomas instinctively took a step closer.
The light was beautiful.
Warm.
Gentle.
Yet somehow...
It made his chest feel heavy.
Subastian's crimson eyes reflected the glow.
"From the stolen ancestral veins and forbidden experiments," he said quietly, "the Black Iron sought a weapon capable of challenging Darkness itself."
Thomas couldn't look away.
"A new element..."
Subastian smiled faintly.
"Born not from shadow..."
The vein pulsed again.
"...but from Light."
The laboratory fell silent.
Even the bubbling potions seemed quieter.
Thomas stared at the glowing thread inside the glass.
His breathing slowed.
"...Is that Grandma's vei—"
"Yes."
Subastian interrupted before he could finish.
"It is."
Thomas's eyes widened.
"The very vein taken from Betty."
His stomach twisted.
His fists tightened until his knuckles turned white.
"What..."
His voice barely escaped.
"...What did you guys do to it?"
Subastian didn't answer.
Instead, he slowly circled the table.
"I told you already."
His footsteps echoed softly.
"Do not interrupt me while I'm speaking."
Thomas bit the inside of his cheek.
Anger burned beneath his skin.
Subastian rested a hand beside the glowing container.
"There is one truth the world has always feared."
His fingers lightly tapped the glass.
"Even the dimmest light..."
The golden vein answered with another pulse.
"...can pierce the deepest darkness."
Thomas swallowed.
"So..."
His voice hardened.
"...what are you going to do with it?"
The moment the question left his mouth—
Everything changed.
Several researchers suddenly grabbed him from behind.
Thomas's eyes shot open.
"What—"
Iron grips locked around both of his arms.
Another pair forced him onto a cold metal table.
Chains snapped shut around his wrists.
Around his ankles.
His chest.
Thomas exploded with lightning.
Blue bolts erupted across the laboratory, striking the floor with deafening cracks.
Researchers stumbled backward.
Glass shattered.
Several candles blew out.
But the men restraining him never let go.
Their own elemental energy surged through their bodies, smothering his lightning before it could spread.
Thomas struggled harder.
The metal table groaned beneath him.
"LET ME GO!"
Nobody listened.
One doctor calmly laid polished surgical tools beside him.
Another adjusted glowing crystals above the table.
Someone else placed the glass container carrying the golden vein beside Thomas's head.
His heartbeat quickened.
Cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
"What are you doing...?"
No one answered.
Subastian stood a few meters away with his hands behind his back.
Watching.
Waiting.
Almost...
Interested.
Thomas pulled against the restraints until blood formed around his wrists.
"Subastian!"
His voice cracked.
"What are you doing?!"
Subastian finally spoke.
"They say..."
His calm voice somehow sounded louder than Thomas's screams.
"...even the dimmest light pierces the deepest darkness."
A doctor stepped forward.
The blade caught the crystal light.
Thomas's breathing became frantic.
"No..."
The blade rested against his chest.
"...wait..."
His entire body trembled.
"N-no.
His back arched violently against the table as warm blood poured across the cold metal beneath him.
The doctors didn't hesitate.
Their hands moved with terrifying precision.
Thomas fought until every muscle burned.
Lightning burst uncontrollably around him, scorching the floor.
Still...
The restraints held.
His vision blurred beneath tears.
The ceiling twisted above him.
His own heartbeat thundered inside his ears.
He couldn't tell whether the warmth spreading across his body was blood...
Or the glowing vein drawing closer.
The world slowly faded.
Voices became muffled.
Shapes became shadows.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Time lost its meaning.
Hours passed beneath the silent glow of the crystals.
The doctors worked without rest.
Sweat soaked through their robes.
One by one, they infused their elemental energy into Thomas's body, repairing torn flesh, sealing ruptured veins, and forcing the foreign power to merge with his own.
The golden light flickered.
Then stabilized.
A doctor slowly lowered his hands.
Another checked Thomas's pulse.
A long silence followed.
Finally—
One exhausted smile appeared.
"It merged..."
The room breathed again.
Subastian's own smile grew wider.
"It worked."
Thomas's eyelids felt impossibly heavy.
He forced them open.
The laboratory ceiling greeted him once more.
Only this time...
Everything looked different.
The crystals seemed brighter.
He could hear footsteps from the other side of the chamber.
Even the tiny flames of distant candles looked sharper.
His chest felt...
Strange.
Not painful.
Different.
As though another heartbeat now existed beneath his own.
He slowly looked down.
A thick bandage wrapped around his torso.
Subastian sat quietly beside the bed, arms folded.
The moment their eyes met...
Thomas spoke.
"...What..."
His throat burned.
"...did you do to me?"
Subastian leaned back with a satisfied smile.
"It worked."
Thomas frowned.
"What... worked?"
"The fact that you're looking younger, instead of aging rapidly..."
His crimson eyes gleamed.
"...is proof enough."
Thomas froze.
Subastian's smile widened.
"The Light Vein has accepted you."
Far away from the darkness beneath Black Iron Headquarters...
The night sky stretched endlessly above the mountains.
Thousands of stars shimmered peacefully.
Tomora stood beside Ezra near the edge of a quiet cliff, Patricia's flower resting gently in his hand as the wind drifted between them.
Neither of them knew.
While one inheritor of Darkness looked toward tomorrow...
Another inheritor had just been born beneath the earth.
And somewhere beyond both of them...
Destiny quietly began weaving the path that would one day force Light and Darkness to meet once again.