The turn of events in the laboratory happened far too quickly.
The blade fragment, one of the representations of the Ancient God of Flame's power, grew excited upon sensing the arrival of Laevatain. It forcibly broke out of its container and merged into Loken Williams's body.
Surtr and Lucas Reeve also sensed the change in the divine fragment the moment they entered. A tremor ran through the depths of their souls, a tremor of longing. Both wanted to devour the other, and it was clear.
This divine fragment from Loken Water Tank must have existed for a very, very long time.
It had even developed a new consciousness of its own.
This consciousness did not belong to the Ancient God of Flame itself, but was like Nian and the others. Although it was a fragment of a god, over a long period of time, it had gradually formed a new self.
As for why Laevatain hadn't developed a new consciousness, it was because Laevatain was purely a fragment of power and lacked the conditions to form one. The basic condition for developing consciousness was for the fragment to contain at least a tiny speck of a soul. As long as a soul was present, it would continue to grow and strengthen over time, eventually forming a new consciousness.
All the researchers were suddenly terrified.
Almost all of them were purely researchers, the type who were too weak to even truss a chicken. When dissecting test subjects, they were calm, emotionless, even excited. But when faced with things beyond their comprehension, or a crisis that threatened their own lives, these cold researchers who treated others' lives like sand would also show fear.
As for the new director of Rhine Lab's Structural Section, he had never seen such a situation either. This was too... too metaphysical.
The fragment actually had its own consciousness!!
His experience was far inferior to his teacher Parvis's. Faced with such an emergency, his first instinct was to hide in a corner with the other researchers.
The body of Loken Williams, now merged with the divine fragment, was severely deformed.
A human body like this simply couldn't directly withstand the terrifying power of a god, even if it was just a divine fragment. The difference in life levels between a god and a mortal was plain to see. Under the torment of the flames, Loken Williams's original human body was gradually losing its human form.
He charged madly towards Surtr.
His strength was immense.
A simple charge was enough to dent the hard alloy floor. His body was as swift as the wind, carrying waves of heat. His fists, burning with scorching flames, their skin and flesh already turned to charcoal by the fire, exposed the bones beneath as they struck out at Surtr.
This speed and power were so immense that even Surtr, whose body had been slightly modified by Laevatain's power, almost failed to react.
Although both were divine fragments.
Surtr couldn't unleash one hundred percent of Laevatain's power, but her opponent could. The price was that Loken Williams's physical body was rapidly decaying.
"Surtr, switch..."
Lucas Reeve said hurriedly.
Surtr nodded quickly, and in the next second, her eyes turned a deep black.
"Who are you!!"
"Loken Williams" roared in fury upon sensing Lucas Reeve's presence. He had just sensed that a part of his own power fragment seemed to have already merged with this strange soul, which made the divine fragment roar with rage.
His fists whistled through the air, the palms of his hands almost completely rotted away, exposing the bone.
But Lucas Reeve, using Surtr's body and aided by the Transparent World, easily dodged nearly all of his attacks.
[Sun Breathing~]
All twelve forms of Sun Breathing were unleashed in an instant by Lucas Reeve's formidable power. A series of flaming blade attacks, trailing afterimages, slashed across the divine fragment's body.
"Almost there..."
Lucas Reeve was not afraid of his opponent in the slightest.
His opponent was a god.
So was he.
Moreover, his opponent was just an incomplete divine fragment, far less whole than someone like Nian. So it was relatively easy for Lucas Reeve to deal with. Strictly speaking, a fragment like Laevatain was on par with Nian in terms of completeness. If Laevatain had a consciousness, its strength would likely be no less than Nian's. But unfortunately, it had no consciousness, being just a pure fragment of power.
The powerful sword techniques of Sun Breathing instantly severed "Loken Williams's" body. His arm was directly cut off, enraging the divine fragment.
With a furious roar, he charged straight into the crowd of researchers, melting and absorbing many of them into his own power. After gaining so much power from their flesh and blood in one go, the arm that had been severed by Lucas Reeve's sword grew back from the stump, a solid arm made entirely of magma.
And.
His body was also undergoing a heaven-and-earth-shaking transformation.
Splat!
His other, intact arm suddenly exploded. Flesh and blood splattered and were quickly scorched, replaced by another thick magma arm. His body swelled up by an unknown amount. The skin on his chest cracked open, revealing scorching magma like that flowing from a volcano. Crimson bone spurs began to grow continuously from his spine.
His entire physical body gradually swelled.
Growing taller and taller.
In the end, he grew from a man of just over 1.8 meters into a monster over three meters tall. This transformation horrified the surviving researchers and the current director of the Structural Section. They all wanted to flee, but the only way out had now become a battlefield. Rushing in would be certain death.
"I want to eat you!!!"
Magma constantly flowed from the corners of "Loken Williams's" mouth. This reminded Lucas Reeve of Nian; magma also flowed from her mouth, though with Living Forge, he could also spew magma from his mouth.
"It's all yours."
Lucas Reeve voluntarily withdrew from Surtr's body, and Surtr knew what she had to do.
She slammed her greatsword into the ground. Flames swirled around her body, and her purple eyes turned crimson.
"Laevatain!"
She whispered the name.
Then.
The next second.
The alloy floor of the laboratory suddenly cracked open. Magma seemed to flow out from the fissures, pooling behind Surtr, as if forming a lake of lava.
The next moment.
A massive black hand reached out from the magma, pressing down hard beside Surtr. For a moment, the earth shook, as if the entire laboratory was about to collapse under the palm's strike.
"!!!"
The sudden appearance of the giant hand first terrified the divine fragment, but after the terror came elation. If he could devour this fragment, he would recover a great deal of his power!
Another hand, to the horror of the surviving researchers, reached out from the magma and grabbed the flaming greatsword embedded in the ground. Then, the headless, half-bodied torso of a four-meter-tall monster emerged completely from the lava. Even just its upper body was taller than "Loken Williams's" three-meter-plus frame.
The appearance of Laevatain completely broke the researchers' composure.
A monster!!
Another monster!!
The divine fragment charged forward, condensing a greatsword of the same type from flames in its hand. The two greatswords clashed, and in an instant, a scorching heatwave blew the researchers against the metal walls. Their clothes melted slightly from the heat.
However.
There was still a bound boy on the operating table.
Lucas Reeve dodged a blow from the divine fragment.
He rescued the terrified boy and sent him outside.
The clash between divine fragments was not something a mortal could withstand. Even the shockwaves would likely be too much for a frail boy like him. As for the surrounding researchers and the current director of the Structural Section, Lucas Reeve had no interest in them. If they died, they died.
These fanatical researchers would stop at nothing for the sake of so-called science, brazenly calling the taking of others' lives a 'sacrifice,' yet cherishing their own lives as treasures. Lucas Reeve despised such disgusting people the most.
If these people had regarded their own lives as worthless, Lucas Reeve might have held them in slightly higher esteem.
The battle between divine fragments often appeared somewhat plain and unadorned.
This was especially true for two divine fragments that originally belonged to the same god.
After all.
Their moves were identical, making it nearly impossible to inflict any effective damage. All that was left was this kind of primitive brawl.
Gods could master all sorts of rules.
But divine fragments were not necessarily able to.
The prerequisite for a divine fragment to master rules was sufficient completeness, like Nian, her sister Dusk whom she had mentioned, and another sister, Ling. Although they appeared to be divine fragments, they were, in fact, completely different and complete individuals. Only these complete individuals had the potential to control rules, but these two tattered fragments of the Ancient God of Flame were not qualified to master them.
Gods have different levels of strength.
So do divine fragments.
The Flame Demon within Ifrit could be considered a divine fragment, but it was incredibly weak. Nian was also a divine fragment, and at her peak, even Patriot was no match for her. Even in Yan, she had few rivals; only powerful Celestial Masters could possibly subdue her.
However.
The biggest difference between Laevatain and this divine fragment was...
Laevatain had Lucas Reeve as its soul, and Lucas Reeve was capable of more than just these abilities.
[Noble Phantasm: Knight of Owner!]
Crimson patterns instantly covered the flaming greatsword in Laevatain's hand. This greatsword, which could be called a divine weapon, was once again enhanced. When the divine fragment tried to block with its own condensed sword, it was shattered in an instant.
Under the divine fragment's horrified gaze.
A golden light, like a vortex, condensed in the palm of Laevatain's left hand.
A simplified Holy Lance shot out, striking the divine fragment's body. The three-meter-tall body was sent flying backwards, crashing to the ground and shaking the earth. It tried to counterattack, but Lucas Reeve had already arrived in front of it.
He swung the greatsword down with one hand.
Amidst the flashes of sword light, the alloy walls of the large laboratory were scarred with countless deep cuts from Lucas Reeve's swings. These alloy walls, capable of withstanding armor-piercing rounds and large Originium bombs, could not resist Lucas Reeve's sword. Under the flaming greatsword, they were like tofu, easily sliced.
"Hmph, ahhhhhhh!"
The divine fragment roared, trying to resist. However, Lucas Reeve's strength was simply too overwhelming. In addition, Laevatain's own power was far greater than this fragment's. If it were Surtr, the power she could wield would naturally be unable to withstand the divine fragment's attacks. But Lucas Reeve could. He could, for a short time, completely unleash all the power of this Laevatain fragment, truly becoming a divine fragment in his own right.
And under this almost crushing power difference.
The divine fragment, which had with great difficulty developed a new consciousness, gradually fell into despair.
Ultimately.
It was ruthlessly pierced through the chest by the greatsword.
And the self-awareness that had so painstakingly developed within this fragment was completely scattered and destroyed.
Lucas Reeve and Laevatain had finally won this battle of fragment consumption.
"Loken Williams's" three-meter-tall body gradually shrank, turning into a charred, mangled corpse. With its consciousness gone, the power of the flame fragment also left Loken Williams's body, forming a sphere of pure condensed power in the air. Lucas Reeve swallowed it directly.
In an instant.
After merging with this fragment, Laevatain's power grew stronger again. Laevatain's strength also meant Lucas Reeve's strength.
Although it wasn't easy for a fragment to develop a consciousness, Lucas Reeve had no choice. After all, if he didn't devour it, it would surely find a way to devour him.
As for the surviving researchers, they had already died in the shockwaves of the battle between Lucas Reeve and the divine fragment. Of course, that director of the Structural Section was also dead. Very unlucky, he didn't survive in the end. Lucas Reeve gave a cold glance, deactivated his materialized state, and retreated back into the sword.
Completely unleashing Laevatain's power was quite draining.
With the crisis resolved.
Lucas Reeve returned to the core laboratory where Rosmontis was.
And when the cute little kitten saw Lucas Reeve and Surtr return safely, her tense expression finally relaxed.
Phew...
The battle next door had been too intense. Even though they weren't close, it had still terrified Rosmontis. She had been worried something would happen to this brother and sister.
Lucas Reeve opened the cages for all the surviving children. These children, who had been imprisoned for who knows how long, still couldn't believe they had actually been rescued.
After dealing with the guards outside.
Lucas Reeve called Jessica and briefly explained what had happened.
Not long after.
Raythean Industries' special forces arrived and completely sealed off the Loken Water Tank site. Jessica's father's secretary was also overjoyed. He never expected the young miss to give the company such a huge surprise again. With such an outstanding contribution, such an excellent heir, if anyone dared to oppose her inheriting Raythean Industries in the future, he would be the first to object.
Raythean Medica's ambulances also rushed to the scene to take the surviving children to the hospital.
With a large injection of funds, Raythean Medica had also established its own hospital. Although it was still operating at a loss, it didn't matter.
Since Raythean Industries was the first to arrive on the scene, before Rhine Lab could even react, everything inside Loken Water Tank had been thoroughly searched by Raythean. This included a massive amount of reports on cruel human experiments, and even a large number of children's bodies that had not been disposed of. When checked against the network, these children could be matched with information in the missing persons system. They were all children who had gone missing within the last two years.
And collaborating with them was the current director of Rhine Lab's Structural Section. Although that director was already dead, Rhine Lab would have to face a massive amount of public opinion from the government and society as a whole. Even for the number one biotechnology company, it would certainly not be an easy time.
Rosmontis was also sent to the Raythean Medica hospital for treatment.
At the same time, Jessica also arranged for a number of psychologists. The psychological trauma these children suffered was no less than their physical injuries. Psychologists were essential.
"I could feel you guys fighting from a mile away."
When Lucas Reeve returned to the villa, Nian ran over and patted Surtr on the shoulder.
Lucas Reeve materialized as a small flame figure.
"You could feel it from that far away?"
"Of course. Don't underestimate a god's perception."
Nian laughed.
"But, you should be glad that fragment wasn't complete. If it were complete like me, and had a complete sense of self, and even mastered rules, this battle would have most likely been extremely difficult for you."
"Indeed..."
"Enough about that, are we filming tomorrow? I helped the Penguin Logistics girls shoot a lot today. Wow, they are simply genius actors! So professional on their first try. And Miss Franka, truly worthy of someone who studied at a professional school. That acting, so professional!! Tsk tsk tsk... I feel like my movie is definitely going to be a hit across all of Terra!"
"When the time comes, I'll definitely carry a TV over to my sister Dusk and make her watch it 24/7."
"And I, Nian, will win Best Director. You, Lucas Reeve, and Surtr will win Best Actor and Best Actress. I'm so looking forward to it, I'm getting excited."
Lucas Reeve: "...."