278THE REPLENISHING SOURCE
"A… well?" Dorin whispered. "You're telling me a well just appeared inside the crater?"
Lander stared at the feed, his mind racing. "If I had to guess… this is the source of the Blackout."
He dropped to one knee, pulling instruments from his backpack and syncing them to the drone's sensors.
The readings stabilized.
His expression darkened. "I'm right. Meta and psychic energy are flowing into the well. Not out of it. It's draining the city of power. This is the source of the blackout."
Dorin swallowed. "Then what do we do?"
"We get this information to Damen," Lander said immediately. "He's the only one who can stop this."
"But how?" Dorin asked. "We lost contact with everyone when the Blackout hit."
As if in answer, Lander's datapad chimed.
A message flickered onto the screen.
"Brother Lander—thank goodness you powered up your datapad. I've been trying to reach you for hours."
—Kail
Lander typed back quickly.
"Sorry. I was helping evacuate people from the train station earlier. It was chaos."
Then he froze, his eyes snapping back to the live feed.
"…Wait," he muttered. "There are people up there over the crater."
"What do you mean?" Kail replied.
"There are humans flying above the crater," Lander said, zooming in on the drone's footage.
"I know," Kail answered. "They're superheroes."
Dorin let out a shaky breath. "Thank the stars… we're safe now."
Lander didn't share his relief.
"Don't count on it," he said quietly. "In a world like this, no one saves you."
He shut down the drone and slung his pack over his shoulder.
"We save ourselves."
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[Up over the crater in the middle of the city]
A man hovered above the crater, silently observing.
The Blackout smothering the city had no effect on him. Cloaked in shifting shadows, he radiated an aura of dense, oppressive darkness. Twin blades of condensed night extended from his hands, marking him as the harbinger of darkness over the ruined skyline.
Beside him floated another man—far more ordinary in appearance.
He wore a reinforced exoskeleton fitted with twin jet thrusters. Unlike most tech in the city, his equipment ran on chemical propulsion and insulated circuitry, allowing it to function within the anti-meta field.
"What does Godfather want me to do in this damned crater?" Acyros asked, his voice edged with irritation.
"We inspect it and report back," Dr. Revive replied calmly. "The emergence of this well was not anticipated. It disrupts Godfather's design."
Dr. Revive activated a cluster of scanning instruments, sweeping the crater for residual frequencies and anomalous energy signatures.
Acyros remained close, serving as both escort and deterrent. Among Godfather's enforcers, he alone was fully immune to anti-meta suppression…. Only he was suitable for this mission.
"Do you think he'll come here?" Acyros asked.
"Who?" Dr. Revive didn't look up.
"Black Halo," Acyros said, a faint eagerness creeping into his tone. "I want a rematch."
"Black Halo won't enter an anti-meta zone willingly," Dr. Revive replied. "And if he does, you will avoid engagement. Godfather has other plans for him."
Acyros' jaw tightened. "I've been upgraded to Rank 5A. He won't stand a chance this time."
Dr. Revive smirked. "Underestimate him and you'll die. Black Halo eliminated multiple Rank 5A wardens under Godfather's own nose. Strategy is required. You alone are insufficient. Stay focused on your mission here."
Acyros spat into the dust.
"We descend," Dr. Revive ordered.
They lowered into the crater.
Jagged stones now circled the impact site, each carved with alien glyphs and primitive constellations. The script was utterly foreign—angular, spiraled, hostile to comprehension.
"This has to be alien work," Acyros muttered. "They planted the well here to cripple the city's defenses before their invasion."
"Possible," Dr. Revive replied. "But speculation is not proof."
He continued scanning the etched stones, recording patterns and radiation traces.
Acyros stepped toward the well at the crater's center—and froze.
Someone was already there.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
A feminine figure stood beside the well, clad in Annunakin war-armor. A deep crimson glow emanated from her body. Liquid blood hovered around her like a living halo, splitting into thousands of filament-like strands that drifted and coiled in the air.
The strands suddenly flared outward, spreading behind her like a peacock's unfurled feathers.
"Begone," she said coldly. "Do not disturb me from claiming the source of this unknown."
"You don't command me, bitch," Acyros snapped.
The well answered.
Blood erupted from its depths in a violent surge.
The liquid twisted midair, shaping itself into a sleek, muscular cheetah made entirely of crimson fluid—its eyes gleaming, and body taut with predatory life.
Then another formed.
And another.
Within seconds, a pack of blood-forged cheetahs prowled the crater floor, summoned by the armored woman's will.
"Acyros!" Dr. Revive barked. "What have you done? Why antagonize her? You've disrupted the site—and my work!"
"I didn't summon them!" Acyros shot back. "They're trying to repel me—what do you expect me to do?"
The blood cheetahs advanced in smooth, measured steps. Their movements were elegant, almost delicate.
But Acyros knew better.
In the next heartbeat, they would strike.
"Damn you, bloody cats," he muttered, raising his blades as darkness pooled around his arms.
-----
[Inside the abyss of the well]
Liorea and Fearose continued pressing the Priest of the Syndic of Fracture, forcing him to recount everything he knew about the strange realm bound to the well.
Damen, however, had drifted away from the interrogation. His eyes were on the ground.
"Do you all feel that?" he asked. "Is the water level in this damn well rising?"
Liorea turned sharply and measured the water marking on her boots.
"It is indeed rising. The water level wasn't this high when we came in," she replied.
The dark liquid inside the well was climbing, inch by inch, coating the stone interior in a slow, creeping tide.
The Priest's confusion shifted into horror.
"This… this is impossible," he whispered.
"What now?" Fearose demanded.
"The source from the well was drained years ago," the Priest said, staring at the well. "The core was emptied. This well should be dead. But now… it's replenishing."
"Replenishing?" Damen repeated.
Fearose leaned closer to the well and narrowed her eyes.
"That's not water."
The surface rippled thickly, viscous and scented like blood.
"The water looks like diluted blood."
Liorea crouched and dipped her fingers into the rising liquid. When she lifted her hand, crimson strands clung between her fingers before dripping back down.
Her expression hardened.
"It is blood…. or something very close to it."
Damen stared into the well. "Where did the well get this much blood from all of a sudden?"
Before anyone could answer, Liorea looked up.
The floating command glyphs above the well shimmered.
The word "Block" flickered—
—and shifted.
Now it read: Retrieve.
"Retrieve?" Damen muttered. "Who changed the command?"
His eyes snapped to the Priest.
"It wasn't me!" the Priest cried immediately. "I no longer possess the Death Note!"
"Neither do I," Liorea said. "When it entered my dimensional space, it vanished."
"If none of us altered the command…" Fearose whispered, "why did it change?"
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