Chapter 28 – The Heart of the Hive
The descent ended in silence.
Not the kind born of peace, but of suffocation — a silence so deep it seemed to listen.
The cavern they entered was colossal, a cathedral of stone and crimson glass. The walls curved upward like the inside of a great ribcage. Countless Qi-crystal cocoons hung suspended from the ceiling and walls — each glowing faintly, like stars drowned in blood.
Inside them, half-formed beasts twitched.
Some breathed.
Some didn't.
Shin lifted his wristwatch. The scanner pulsed once, then flickered into static.
He smacked the side of it. Nothing.
"It's dead," he muttered. "No readings, no signal. We're blind."
Alicia's voice was barely a whisper. "The Qi density here… it's beyond measurable limits. The whole place feels like it's alive."
Vaibhav didn't answer. His eyes tracked the rows of cocoons stretching into infinity.
Thud… thud… thud…
Then the earth shuddered.
A faint rumble rolled through the hive, deep and wet, as if something beneath the stone had shifted in its sleep.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the cocoons. One split open with a sharp hiss.
A crimson vapor burst forth, swirling in the air before condensing — flesh forming where mist touched stone.
The first Hive Spawn hit the ground screaming.
Within seconds, more cocoons ruptured.
Dozens of Spawn emerged — creatures stitched from memory and nightmare. Their bodies dripped molten Qi, claws glowing like forges.
Shin's fists ignited in orange fire. "Guess we're not leaving quietly!"
"Form line!" Vaibhav barked, his blade already humming with energy. "Protect Alicia!"
The battle erupted — flashes of silver, red, and gold tearing through the dim hive.
Vaibhav cut through the first wave with precision, his strikes collapsing Qi nodes mid-air. Each beast dissolved into red mist, feeding the storm around him.
Shin slammed into the next, fists detonating like meteors, shards of crystal scattering across the ground.
But for every Spawn they killed, two more crawled out.
The hive was birthing them.
Then.
A sound split the chamber — a roar that shattered the air.
The cocoons trembled. Qi rippled outward in crimson waves.
From the far wall, a massive shape unfurled. A chimera stitched from fossils and fire, its body forged of bone and molten veins. Dozens of mismatched eyes blinked open across its chest.
The Hive Guardian.
Each step it took cracked the stone beneath. Its voice was a rumble of dying stars.
> "Trespassers… feed the heart…"
Shin staggered back, eyes wide. "Wait… It… Can talk?!"
Vaibhav didn't respond. He surged forward. "Stay behind me!"
The Guardian's claw came down — a strike that could split mountains. Vaibhav met it head-on, Qi blazing around his sword in a vortex of blue and red.
The Vortex Technique
The impact split the air with a thunderclap, hurling dust and shards in every direction.
Alicia fired her pulse rifle into the Guardian's side, but its molten skin only hissed.
It turned toward her — and struck.
The claw pierced her shoulder clean through.
She screamed, blood scattering into the glowing mist.
"ALICIA!" Shin roared, lunging forward — his flames exploding from his arms uncontrolled, wild, furious. He slammed into the Guardian's knee, cracking its molten armor. But the beast swung again, catching him mid-air and hurling him into a wall of crystal.
The impact shattered the stone — Shin collapsed, coughing blood.
The Guardian turned its full attention toward Alicia, still pinned against the ground.
Vaibhav moved.
He intercepted the next blow, the claws tearing across his arm. Blood sprayed in ribbons of silver light, his Qi burning violently in the wound.
With his free hand, he grabbed Alicia and flung her toward Shin.
> Shin (hoarse): "You'll die if you take that hit!"
Vaibhav (gritting teeth): "Then I'll die standing."
Vaibhav centered his stance. His body trembled, veins glowing with unstable light. Qi converged into his core — twisting, collapsing inward until his breath came out as steam.
His blade shimmered — crimson and azure, interlaced like living threads.
The Guardian lunged again.
Vaibhav moved faster than thought.
SHHHHKK—!
His sword pierced through the Guardian's chest.
A sound like a dying planet filled the Hive — the creature's roar breaking into static and light.
Crimson flames devoured it from the inside out. Its form splintered, disintegrating into thousands of motes of red and green, drifting upward like embers.
For a moment, it looked beautiful.
The light settled across the ground, washing over the three of them.
A faint chime rang in the air — Vaibhav's Powerscreen appeared — glowing blue.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION DETECTED]
The screen pulsed once. Vaibhav stared at it, frozen.
> Shin: "What happened? What's it saying?"
Vaibhav (after a pause, faint smile): "...So it really is like Genesis Reign."
Shin blinked. "Wait—what—"
Vaibhav didn't explain. The light faded from his eyes, leaving something colder there. Something aware.
Then — it hit him.
A rush of energy not his own. Memories, sensations — the Guardian's last breath.
For an instant, he saw through its eyes:
A dying world.
A heart buried in flame.
A voice whispering — soft, mournful, resolute:
> "The Crimson Heart… must not awaken…"
The vision vanished.
Only silence remained.
Time blurred. The cavern stilled. The oppressive Qi faded as if the Hive itself had exhaled.
Alicia stirred, pale and trembling, clutching her shoulder. Shin, battered but breathing, helped her sit up.
> Alicia (weakly): "You… saved me."
Vaibhav (smirking despite blood): "Next time, let's switch turns."
They laughed — quietly, shakily. It sounded human again.
Then Alicia's scanner pinged faintly. A weak signal, pulsing deep below.
Vaibhav turned, his expression hardening.
They descended further, past the ruins of cocoons and shattered crystal until the tunnel opened once more — into a chamber unlike any before.
The Heart of the Hive.
At its center floated a massive Crimson Cocoon, translucent and alive. Energy flowed in veins across its surface, each pulse rippling through the air like a heartbeat. The ground trembled with every beat.
Shin swallowed hard. "That… thing's not dead, is it?"
Vaibhav's eyes stayed fixed on it. "No."
The cocoon throbbed once, then twice. Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, molten red light spilling from within.