I. The Murmur of the Organs
Fassad's defeat and the collapse of the Bloodpipeline had left Edenfall gasping for air. The blood vessels that crisscrossed the city like an artificial circulatory system now pulsed with a strange rhythm. Some doctors reported that the heartbeats didn't match any known human pattern .
"There's something else… underneath," Lirea murmured as she studied the biomagnetic recordings. "A heart rate that's not human. Not even alive."
Naeya hadn't slept for days. The memory of Harienma had left her emotionally wounded, but also more determined. For the first time, she felt that her strength lay not only in what she could do, but in what she could feel .
II. The Pulse Parasite
In the densest areas of the subsoil, bloodless bodies began to appear. They weren't dead, but they weren't alive either. They remained in a state of complete immobility, their eyes open and their muscles rigid.
Akihiko, accompanied by Sael and Lirea, descended the abandoned ducts and reached what was known as the Throne's Cardiac Core. There, they found a figure suspended in the air , with tubes connected to every exposed vein in its body.
It was the Sixth Seal: Kardior , a youthful-looking creature with translucent skin that revealed the flow of its own blood. It had the ability to mimic the rhythms of other bodies , taking over their vital pulses.
"I don't need to fight," Kardior said in a soft voice. "I just need to get in sync."
III. The Breathless Combat
When they tried to attack him, Akihiko stopped dead in his tracks. His heart had stopped beating. He felt no pain, but he also had no energy.
"He's stolen my pulse," he said, falling to his knees.
Lirea attempted to launch a disruptive wave, but her arms became heavy as lead. Sael, immune due to his different energy structure, activated the Push-Pull System , and for a moment, the group could breathe again.
Kardior smiled. "As long as there are rhythms, I can live in them. Even in the tremors of fear."
IV. The Hemodynamic Cut
Akihiko, concentrating, invoked his newest Void technique: Hemodynamic Slash , which cut not flesh but the flow of intention.
"I don't need blood to fight… I need direction."
With each movement, his katana resonated like a dull tuning fork. It produced no sound, but each stroke disrupted Kardior's circulation, interrupting its symphony. Sael covered him from the flank while Lirea reprogrammed the urban pulse lines to destabilize the Core's artificial cardiac environment.
The fight lasted 73 seconds. At the last moment, Akihiko struck with an upward spin that disconnected Kardior from his tube network.
The body fell... but the blood was still floating.
V. The Reverse of Rhythm
Kardior dissolved into suspended droplets that formed the shape of a clock. A rhythmic ticking sound filled the room, and a toneless voice said:
"Now that you know the pulse, prepare to know the hunger."
And so the confrontation ended. But Edenfall began to shake. Not physically. Mentally.
END OF CHAPTER 197