The explosion is a lie from the heavens.
The narrow alleyway of the acid-bitten, Mistveil-adjacent settlement is, for a fleeting second, washed in the triumphantly destructive iridescent light that marks Issac Richter's final act. Violent flashes of red, blue, green, and a gut-wrenchingly unsettling violet blend together—a cruel, beautiful symphony marking his death.
But the beauty is temporary, and reality is eternal.
"Makus... Clara... Edgar..." Issac's final whisper echoes in the now-silent corridor, the names of those he cherished, those he left behind. It is the cost of sacrificing everything for someone else.
The shockwave doesn't just strike Jun physically; it slams into him as a terrifying emotional tremor.
He instinctively shields his head, collapsing against the fractured brick wall. He covers his ears against the ringing silence that follows the deafening sound. Issac Richter's death is the key—the one thing that shatters his carefully guarded shell.
Jun's indigo-violet eyes burn with a demonic hunger, a look of raw, unbridled malice. Grief, rage, and pure frustration—the complex emotions of his Irregular Core—have triggered his evolution.
Viper emerges from the settling dust and debris. Seconds before the blast, he shrouded himself in a dense layer of his Jealousy Parasites, avoiding any major damage. Only a minor tear on his shoulder and a few small scuff marks on his mask remain.
He lets out a sharp, deranged laugh.
Viper: "One pest down. Now, do you still wish to play hide-and-seek, little bug? Hah... hah..."
Jun does not respond. He is visibly in shock. His Emotional Core has splintered. Issac's ultimate sacrifice has left him devastated, yet consumed by a corrosive rage. These two opposing emotions clash violently inside, pulling him towards the Abyss. His physical body stands motionless, detached from his consciousness.
Viper: "Pitiful little bug," he sneers, covering the cut on his shoulder with fresh parasites to staunch the bleeding. "Too scared of death to even move?"
Viper starts walking toward Jun, slow step by slow step, extending his corrupted hand to grasp Jun's throat.
''CRACK!''
A sudden black appendage lashes out from the base of Jun's spine—a solidified chunk of shadow and malice, a tentacle like a flexible, elongated fox's tail. It wraps around Viper's wrist, seizing him mid-reach.
Viper: "Wha—!" A sound of genuine shock escapes his mask.
Another black appendage immediately shoots out, moving like a high-velocity whip, snapping through the air and slamming into Viper's chest.
''Whip-crack!''
The blow sends Viper hurtling across the alleyway, impacting a crumbling wall on the opposite side with a deafening CRASH!
The sound of the impact drags Jun back to consciousness. He stands rigid in the smoke and shadow, the echo of Viper's laughter and Issac's last whisper mixing in his ears. The sudden jolt of awareness makes him tremble.
"I... what do I do?"
His indigo-violet eyes still glow, but the previous, overwhelming demonic hunger subsides, replaced by confusion. He feels two things protruding from his lower back, just beneath the coccyx.
Before he can move, the two black appendages instantly retract and vanish.
"What... what just happened." Jun touches his body. There is no wound, no pain.
Viper pushes himself out of the broken wall, small cracks now visible on his mask. He stares at Jun in astonishment.
Viper: "You... what are you... Don't tell me... an Adaptor?"
(Adaptors possess an Irregular Emotional Core and a soul strong enough to Adapt to the Chaos Impact, evolving into a Half-Forsaken. They gain the ability to manifest flesh-like appendages but risk losing their humanity at a faster rate—a double-edged sword.)
Viper: "Interesting... you're an Adaptor." He laughs loudly. "...But I am Trigger 4: Hybrid Variant! The gap between us is the distance between the sky and the earth!"
Viper transforms, initiating his Hybrid Variant Form transformation.
Viper: "Transformation: Basilisk's Miasma!"
His body is rapidly engulfed by the Jealousy Parasites. Dark, pale green poison mist swirls in the alley. His lower half quickly metamorphoses into a massive, venomous serpent's tail. The tail slams onto the cracked cobblestones, leaving fissures.
A dense, corrupted mist, black and pale green, violently vents from his entire body. The fumes turn the surrounding air into a suffocating Toxic Haze.
Viper slithers across the ground in his Hybrid Basilisk Form, stopping abruptly before Jun, his Toxic Tail whipping through the air like a lethal flail.
Viper: "Come on, Adaptor! I turn your grief into entertainment! HAHAHA!"
Jun stares at the Variant Form with revulsion.
"Disgusting... This... thing... is revolting."
Just then, the sounds of the earlier explosion drew Makus, Clara, and Edgar running back into the alley.
The first thing they see is Viper's Basilisk Hybrid Form.
Clara (Gasping): "What... what is that!"
Makus (Eyes wide): "Trigger 4... a Hybrid Variant!"
Edgar grips his glasses, scanning the environment. His eyes land on the traces of pulverized flesh in the center of the alley, and all three stop, frozen.
Makus rushes to Jun, shaking his shoulder.
Makus: "Issac... Where is Issac! Where is he!"
Jun's indigo-violet eyes are filled with pain and confusion. His voice is a weak whisper.
Jun: "Mr. Richter... he... he saved me... he's gone..."
The words vanish in the Toxic Haze, but they strike Makus, Clara, and Edgar's hearts with crushing force.
Clara covers her mouth and stumbles back, trembling. A single tear streams down Edgar's cheek. Makus shuts his eyes in fury, his jaw clenched tight. He looks at Viper with murderous intent.
They have no time to grieve.
Viper sees their devastation and lets out a satisfied roar of laughter from behind his mask.
Viper: "Long time no see, little Makus. If you don't want to end up like Issac, give me the Artifact's map and information. I'll let you live."
Makus swallows the rage born of Issac's death and takes charge against the Trigger 4 Variant.
Makus: "We stop you first, Viper!"
Makus, Trigger 2 - The Patient, activates his ability. Brown Aura flows from his body. He manipulates the earth, immediately summoning several Earth Barriers to contain Viper.
He signals to Edgar and Clara.
Edgar, Trigger 2 - The Scribe, understands immediately. He uses his Rune of Stasis ability, rapidly inscribing ancient runes onto a nearby wall. The blue glowing runes form a Trap to slow Viper's movement.
Clara, an Arcanist-level Alchemist, swiftly pulls three small glass vials from her belt and shouts.
Clara: "Dodge! Toxin Suppressants!"
She hurls the three vials into Viper's Basilisk Mist. They burst, releasing a pale green gas that temporarily neutralizes Viper's toxic atmosphere.
Viper is cornered, his toxic abilities suppressed by Clara, his movement slowed by Edgar's scribe ability, and contained by Makus's barriers.
Makus prepares to charge Viper with a defensive tackle. Edgar finishes the final rune on the wall.
Viper roars in fury.
Viper: "You simple Trigger 2 pests... you think you can stop my Basilisk Variant?! Foolish!"
Viper's Toxic Tail slams against Makus's Earth Barrier with terrifying force.
Makus: "Agh!—CRASH!"
The Trigger 4 - Basilisk Variant's power easily shatters the Trigger 2's defense. Makus is sent flying into a wall, his brown aura dissolving.
Edgar's Scribe Trigger only slightly delays Viper's movement, failing to halt the Variant Form's brutal momentum.
Clara screams "Makus!" when she sees him fly, momentarily losing focus.
Edgar, knowing failure means death, quickly glances at the runes and grips his glasses, desperately chanting the final Sealing spell.
Edgar: "Ancient Sealing! The Vow of Binding!"
"KRONOS DREIGA! URNES CHAOS VESTIBULO! AETHERNA CLAUDE! CHAOS IMPACT VINE!"
The words replace the previous runes. At the same time, Edgar forms a complex Hand Sign, targeting Viper directly. Blood streams from his mouth from the immense strain.
"SHINK! SHINK!"
Black Chains erupt from the ground, violently wrapping around Viper's Basilisk Tail and body.
Viper: "Agh! What... is this!"
Clara snaps out of her panic, seeing Edgar's blood. Viper's containment is the priority. She pulls out a specialized Salt-infused Vial and begins the Sealing Magical Chant.
Clara: "Ipsum Silentium... Fortia Aetherna... Anima!"
A green and blue Magical Circle appears beneath Viper, bolstering Edgar's Sealing Chains. The Circle compresses the Variant Form's power with an invisible Gravitational Seal. Viper's struggles slow down, and he roars in frustrated rage.
Viper's movement is restricted by Edgar's Chains and Clara's Gravitational Seal.
Viper: "The games of these Trigger 2 pests will never contain me! Have you forgotten my rank!"
Then, he whispers.
Viper: "Emerge... Dream Fragment: The Infinity Breaker."
The Chains holding Viper momentarily freeze. A small black vortex appears beside Viper. From within, a five-inch long Crystal emerges—sharp, elongated, and radiating a cold light of gold, deep blue, and violet. This energy is the counter-force to the Divine Words.
Viper snatches the crystal.
Viper: "Tch... I can't believe I have to waste a Dream Fragment on such low-level pests." He snarls.
He hurls the Crystal onto the ground. The moment it strikes, a blinding, silent flash of light spreads out. Makus, Clara, and Edgar shield their eyes.
When they lower their hands, the Magic Circle and the Chains have disintegrated into dust.
Viper is free, the Dream Fragment dissolving his containment. His Basilisk Variant form stands motionless for a volatile second, radiating pure, furious triumph.
Viper: "Hah! I told you! Your low-level seals will never hold me!"
His massive Toxic Tail whips upward, preparing to lash out like a lethal flail, aimed directly at Clara and Edgar. All three of them are emotionally fractured_ reeling from the weight of Issacs death, the sheer power of the Variant Form, and the devastating counter-force of the Fragment.
Makus, recovering painfully from being slammed against the wall, collapses to the ground but watches in horror. Vipers tail will reduce Clara's body to shreds in a split second.
Viper: "Die!"
In that single, inescapable moment, Jun's inner turmoil explodes. His profound grief and crushing rage merge with an instinctual will to protect, driving his Irregular Core past its breaking point.
Jun's indigo-violet eyes blaze with a savage, inhuman light. His consciousness disconnects as his body becomes a vessel for the emerging Darkness.
''SHINK! SHINK!''
The two previously retracted black appendages_ the Phantom Tentacles_ erupt from the base of his spine with violent speed.
The first Phantom Tentacle is so fast it tears the very air. It intercepts Viper's descending Toxic Tail, blocking and pressing it back with unimaginable force.
''BOOM!''
The sound of raw flesh and scales impacting solidified shadow shatters the silence of the alley.
The second Phantom Tentacle lashes out, completely independent of Jun's will. It moves like a blur, wrapping around the Viper's mask and violently wrenching back.
Viper: "Agh! You insignificant pests... how dare you...!"
Viper howls in pain and astonishment. His Toxic Tail is momentarily suppressed, straining under the grip of the Phantom Tentacle which leaves deep, scorched marks on its scales.
Clara and Edgar recoil, terrified by the sudden appearance of the dark, fleshy appendages right in front of them. Both immediately look back at Jun.
A corrupted aura of black and violet aura pours off Jun's body like smoke. His breathing is ragged, his whole body trembling under the internal strain.
Edgar scrambles to retrieve his fallen glasses, putting them on and staring intensely at Jun. The shock on his face is swiftly replaced by a chilling realization.
Edgar (His voice cracking): "It can't be!... That's an Aethernal Mutation! The trait only found in those who can Adapt to the Chaos Impact... a Phantom Trigger!"