[The external barrier is destroyed!]
[Warning!]
[The energy of the second barrier is running low!]
"Damn it!" Ardur slammed his fist on the console while his laboratory trembled.
Sparks from bursting cables and breaking equipment flew in all directions, but Ardur's gaze was fixed ahead, on the tank with numerous tubes connected to it, where the black beast lay in agony.
'How much time do I have left?' He glanced at the screen only to see the streams of darkness, the Raging Plague, a calamity that had destroyed his world.
The only thing standing in the way of darkness was his laboratory. All Ardur had was a few minutes left.
Ardur frowned as he stared intently at the monster.
"I assembled the genes correctly, it should give me immunity!"
Like most people, as soon as the Raging Plague appeared, Ardur directed all his efforts toward finding salvation. In his world, where science and genes ruled, it was logical to find a way to destroy the darkness or at least gain resistance to it.
Thus, the monster in the tank was Ardur's last chance to escape the fate of every inhabitant of his world. However, they were both the last living beings, and very soon that would change.
Crash!
A breach in the wall broke through as darkness seeped in.
Ardur's pupils narrowed as he grabbed the syringe from the table and ran forward. With each step he took, more darkness flooded in, closing around Ardur on all sides.
The monster panicked, thrashing around inside the tank, trying to get out and escape. It was too scared to realize that there was no way out for either of them.
The next moment, when the monster turned around, its eyes froze as it saw Ardur, who had jumped right into the tank. He was not afraid of suffocating from lack of oxygen underwater. If he did not come up with something, the darkness would kill him before he ran out of air.
Bubbles rushed past Ardur's face as he raised his hand and, like a spear, thrust the syringe straight into the monster's chest. The thick needle pierced the monster's heart as Ardur pressed the plunger, pumping out its blood.
A stream of blood gushed from the monster's wound as it swiped its paws when Ardur pulled out the syringe. He was going to stab the needle right into his own heart.
'I hoped that this monster would gain the ability to destroy the darkness, but... I didn't have enough time. The best I can hope for is that I survive this day!'
In an instant, Ardur's face froze, staring in horror at the darkness already reaching the monster.
In a heartbeat, the plague devoured the monster's flesh, exposing its bones, but soon even they turned to nothing.
Crack.
Under pressure, the syringe in Ardur's hand cracked as all the monster's blood gushed out, momentarily hanging in the water by his hand.
It is over.
That was the only thing Ardur could think of. There was no escape from the Raging Plague. His last idea did not succeed, and he couldn't even take the risk of using the monster's blood.
Suddenly, sparks ran across the tank.
Ardur's eyes reflected how the darkness touched the monster's blood, which, according to his calculations, should have been resistant. It was his creation that was already dead.
'Blood and water?' Ardur thought as bright sparks surrounded him. Their target was a living creature, and Ardur was the only suitable option.
Soon, the sparks turned into a dense web of light that not only prevented the darkness from touching Ardur but actively absorbed it. Turning a formidable calamity into an ally ready to join them on their voyage.
This world had come to an end, now it was time to leave, and the only way out was... below.
But was it a world at all?
Before Ardur could comprehend anything, an invisible force pressed down on him, breaking through the laboratory, layers of earth, and everything in its path, as if the light wanted to reach the deepest part.
This continued until...
Until clouds appeared at the very bottom.
'W-What?!'
...
Dang! Dang! Dang!
The hammer struck the anvil again and again with a force unattainable to a mere human.
Barna brought her hammer down on the iron plate, flattening it to the desired thickness.
Sparks flew past her gray hair and green eyes as she continued to work. She had a duty to fulfill, for she was the only Origin at Iron Chain Village.
She wished their village were in a different position, but they had no other choice.
'It's all because of the Heaven Dwellers!' Barna gritted her teeth as she struck the plate with all her might.
Crack.
At the same moment, the door opened as a young man ran inside.
"Barna! A star is falling from the sky!" He exclaimed, breathing heavily.
"Agh?" Barna glanced at him. "Now? Are you sure?"
Dawn was approaching outside. The time for the night sky was long gone, and soon the first rays of the sun would appear.
"Yes!" The young man waved his hand. "It's flying straight towards the Winding Plain!"
Barna's eyes widened.
"A star...? Could it be the defeated monster? If so, we're incredibly lucky! Come on, Ren, you're coming with me!"
She threw her hammer aside and rushed forward. Before the young man could react, Barna rushed past him and grabbed his wrist.
"Wait, I'm not sure I'm ready to go!"
"It doesn't matter!" Barna exclaimed as she smiled broadly. "Ren, this is your chance to become an Origin! You will finish off this wounded monster!"
The Origins possessed power that came from the genes they absorbed from monsters or other Origins like themselves. It wasn't as simple as gathering a resource, but killing the first monster was the beginning.
Killing a monster was a difficult but achievable task for a simple person. But it wasn't that easy. A person had to suppress the monster, which could only be done if the monster was wounded or, on the contrary, was on the verge of evolution, causing its energy to be unstable.
It was a task with several levels of difficulty, so the number of people willing to simply take the risk was quite small, not to mention those who managed to become an Origin.
When Barna heard about the falling star, she decided it was a wounded flying monster. A rare kind and an even rarer opportunity to obtain the monster's gene, because Ren could suppress it.
Another Origin could help the Iron Chain Village in its difficult situation. Barna believed in it.
She was right that the second Origin would soon appear, but she was wrong about who it would be, as well as what the star rushing towards the Winding Plain actually was.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The amber star cut through the wind currents, approaching an expanse full of rocks and trees among twisted paths.
Ardur opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a rapidly approaching surface.
A bright explosion sent a cloud of dust upward as Ardur's back slammed into one of the peaks.
"Gha!"
He had many questions, but he didn't have time for them because he didn't come into this world alone.
A clot of blood trembled above the ground, surrounded by a dark mist. It was all that remained of the monster and the Raging Plague, and now it was about to spread here too.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
The blood became a dark heart, and in the next moment, when Ardur blinked, a skeleton covered in flesh formed around the heart.
There were no plans or tactics that Ardur's mind could rely on. He had to solve this problem right here and now.
He grabbed a sharp rock and lunged forward as fast as he could, looking at the creature's heart, which was still exposed.
'This is his weak spot. I don't know where I am, but if I don't kill him, the same fate awaits me as everyone else!'
The creature swung its bony arms as Ardur leaned in. The claw cut his shoulder.
Ardur stepped forward as the creature's head came before him. Flesh covered the skull as two red eyes appeared at Ardur's breath.
But it was already too late.
Thrust!
The rock pierced deep into the creature's heart, as blood gushed out, flooding Ardur's hand.
The creature trembled, it tried to recover, but its core was destroyed. The creature had too little time to protect its only weak spot.
Thus, the last piece of the Raging Plague and the blood of the monster created by Ardur disappeared.
Usually, people sighed with relief when they managed to save their lives at the last moment, but Ardur only had a grin.
He grinned not because of a thirst for blood or a simple victory. No, in his case, the reason was different.
He killed the nearly perfect creature, created from his experiment, and the ultimate weapon that had destroyed millions of lives and almost reached him.
"What could be better than destroying perfection?" Ardur said with heavy, ragged breaths.
Thump!
The creature collapsed to the ground, scattering into black particles that flew like ash before Ardur's eyes.
[You have killed your first monster. All conditions have been met, and the creature was on the verge of evolution.]
A mechanical voice sounded in Ardur's head as space trembled and a mysterious orb floated before him.
Two rings of black fire crossed around the broken sword, as if symbolizing a shattered ideal.
[Are you ready to accept the Core Gene and become an Origin?]
No one would refuse such an offer.
"Yes!" Ardur exclaimed, clutching the floating orb.
Darkness engulfed his mind when another message sounded:
[The Bridge will be created and the Catalyst will be obtained.]
[From this moment on, only two things matter.]
[Will and Genes.]