Chapter 11: Echoes of the Dark War – 2
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Luxion's Main Body – Interior
Omni POV
The moment Leon stepped onto Luxion's main body, he didn't stop, not even for a second to appreciate the sights.
The metallic floor hummed faintly beneath his feet—smooth and unfamiliar, nothing like the wooden floors he was used to. Soft blue light ran along the walls in thin lines, pulsing gently like a living system.
He didn't look at any of it.
"Where's the lab?" Leon demanded, his voice sharp, already moving forward.
Luxion hovered beside him, keeping pace.
"What do you intend to do, Sir?" he asked.
Leon didn't even glance at him.
"Isn't it obvious?" he snapped. "I'm going to save them."
A brief pause.
Luxion's tone lowered slightly.
"Sir… based on the symptoms your parents described, I must inform you that the probability—"
He didn't finish.
"The lab, Luxion," Leon cut in immediately, his voice dropping—not louder, but heavier.
It wasn't a request, It was an order.
For a moment, only the low hum of the ship filled the silence.
"…Understood," Luxion replied.
Luxion led the wash as the corridor ahead shifted as they moved—panels sliding apart, pathways opening in perfect sequence, as if the entire ship anticipated their direction before they even chose it.
"Follow me."
Leon followed immediately.
Almost running.
The corridor ended without warning, a thin seam of light split down the center of the wall.
Then, Both sides slid apart.
No sound, just silence giving way.
Leon stepped through—and stopped, not because he chose to, but because the room demanded it.
The laboratory was… pristine, not clean like a noble estate, not organized like a workshop.
This was something else entirely.
The air felt different the moment he entered—filtered, controlled.
A faint sterile scent lingered, sharp and metallic, with none of the warmth or imperfection of the outside world, the floor reflected light like polished glass, yet his footsteps made no sound as he moved further in, around him, structures rose in smooth, seamless curves—no joints, no seams, no wood, no metal edges. Just flowing white and silver forms, as if the room had been grown instead of built.
At the center, a platform, slightly elevated, encased in a faint translucent field of light, with numerous equipment.
Leon's breathing slowed, from awe.
"…This is your lab?" he muttered, quieter now.
Luxion floated beside him, red optic steady.
"This is one of several research laboratories aboard my main body," he replied. "This one is dedicated to biological study and medical intervention."
Scanning everything.
Walls displaying layered biological structures of numerous creatures.
Floating instruments suspended in mid-air as if gravity had been irrelevant for centuries.
Systems that moved without visible input.
"…Okay," Leon said suddenly, snapping back into focus. "Set course for Rivia. How long will it take?"
"At maximum velocity, I can reach the location within minutes," Luxion replied.
Leon's jaw tightened.
"Then what are you waiting for?" he said sharply. "Do it."
"For your safety," Luxion added, "you are required to secure yourself before full acceleration."
Responding to Luxion's command, a seat rose silently from the floor behind Leon.
"…Fine," he muttered through his teeth, he didn't feel like sitting, he was too anxious.
But he did, not because he wanted to, but because there was no alternative.
He lowered himself into the seat, a soft click, sounded as the seatbelt locked into place.
A low vibration spread through the ship.
"Course set," Luxion confirmed. "Initiating max acceleration sequence in,"
"Ten."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"Nine."
His fingers tightened against the armrest.
"Eight."
The air itself felt like it was starting to lean forward.
"Just go already!" Leon snapped.
Luxion just responded with a calm, precise, almost colder than before. "Engaging manual override."
The ship lurched violently as its engines were forced to their limit, without ample preparation.
A deep vibration ran through the entire structure—low at first, then rapidly intensifying like something straining under unbearable weight.
Inside the cockpit, warning lights flared to life one after another. Red indicators pulsed across the panels, accompanied by sharp, insistent alarms that echoed through the control systems, metal hummed under stress.
Energy readouts spiked erratically as the propulsion system fought to stabilize the sudden demand placed on it.
But in the laboratory below, Leon felt none of it, the sterile silence of the medical bay remained unbroken, its controlled environment insulating him from the chaos unfolding above, he only heard Luxion's calm voice, so he did not notice how much damage his impatience had already caused.
A few minutes later the ship steadied as it slipped into position above Rivia, its massive frame hovering silently above the clouds. "We have reached our destination, sir," Luxion announced.
The words barely finished before Leon was already moving.
He shot up from his seat so fast it scraped back across the floor, boots hitting the metal with a sharp clang.
"Do you have a drone type that you can use to get DNA samples?" Leon asked immediately, voice tight with urgency. His eyes were fixed forward, but not really seeing anything in the room anymore. "Blood samples. Skin samples. Water samples. Air samples—anything we need to find the cause of this disease."
His hands were clenched so tightly his knuckles had gone pale.
Luxion responded. "Affirmative."
Leon exhaled, glad they didn't have to manufacture them from scratch.
"Then deploy them. Now."
Without hesitation, Luxion's systems responded.
Panels along the outside of the ship opened with smooth mechanical precision, revealing compact drone units nested in docking slots.
One by one, they rose—silent, precise, and insect-like in design. Their surfaces caught the bright glow of the sun as they unfolded thin stabilizing limbs and sensor arrays.
Unseen from the village below, small shapes began to descend from the clouds.
"Drone deployment initiated," Luxion confirmed calmly.
Leon didn't respond.
He was already stepping closer to the observation interface, eyes locked on the ruined landscape beneath them.
His reflection stared back at him faintly in the glass—tight jaw, sharp eyes, a face that had stopped belonging to a child somewhere along the way.
"…Hurry," he muttered under his breath, almost to himself.
When the drones returned, they integrated back into the ship, ports along the hull opened in perfect synchronization, each drone sliding into place with mechanical precision. The moment they locked in, thin streams of light extended outward—as their data streams were sent to the main terminal in the center of the lab.
In the lab the room came alive.
Holographic screens unfolded mid-air, layering over one another in translucent panes. Lines of data cascaded downward in rapid sequences—numbers, symbols, molecular structures shifting in real time.
Leon didn't hesitate.
"Run full-spectrum analysis," he ordered, already moving.
The central platform responded instantly.
A cylindrical field of light expanded upward, and within it—samples began to appear.
Blood.
Suspended in mid-air, separated into layers. Cells magnified thousands of times, their structures rotating slowly as threads of light passed through them.
Skin samples unfolded like maps—each layer peeling back digitally, revealing cellular decay, regeneration rates, foreign particles.
Air samples condensed into visible streams—particles isolated, labeled, broken down into chemical compositions.
Water samples shimmered, impurities extracted and displayed as glowing fragments.
Even biological waste was analyzed—broken apart, reconstructed, traced back through metabolic pathways.
Leon moved between them rapidly.
His eyes darted from one projection to another, hands hovering as he manipulated the displays. With a flick, data reorganized. With a swipe, entire structures expanded into deeper layers of analysis.
Time blurred.
Hours passed as the two looked for what could have caused the disaster.
"…No," Leon muttered under his breath.
He moved faster.
"Run comparative analysis against baseline human biology."
"Already in progress," Luxion replied.
More screens appeared.
Comparisons overlapped.
Perfect matches.
Stable readings.
Green indicators across the board.
Leon's breathing grew heavier.
"…This is impossible," he said, quieter now.
He stopped moving.
For the first time since the testing began.
"We've run everything… blood, tissue, environmental scans… everything is normal," he continued, his voice tightening. "All readings are clean. No pathogens. No toxins. No anomalies."
His hands slowly lowered.
"…Could this be magical?" he muttered, more to himself than to Luxion.
A brief silence followed.
Then— "It is the air, sir," Luxion said.
Leon frowned immediately.
"What do you mean?" he snapped, turning sharply.
"The air is normal—we already tested that."
"To you, sir," Luxion corrected calmly. "It is normal. It was likely normal to them as well… until recently."
Leon's patience snapped. "I don't have time for riddles, Luxion," he said, his voice rising. "Just tell me what you're trying to say."
Luxion spoke again. "This phenomenon matches records from the Dark War."
Leon froze.
"The new humans," Luxion continued, "poisoned the atmosphere with a compound designed to kill old humans upon exposure."
The holograms shifted, showing historical data and reconstructed models.
"The symptoms begin with a rash… followed by vascular swelling, sensory degradation…"
Images formed—bodies breaking down at a cellular level.
"…and within hours—total systemic failure."
Silence, heavy silence.
"So?" Leon said, forcing the words out. "These people are new humans, aren't they?"
"I cannot confirm with absolute certainty," Luxion replied. "However, based on how they've survived this long then, it is highly probable."
Leon's eyes narrowed.
"Then why is it affecting them?"
"When analyzing their genetic data," Luxion said slowly, "I detected a shift."
The holograms zoomed in.
DNA strands rotated—helixes glowing in layered colors.
"They are developing old human traits."
Leon's breath caught. "…That's impossible."
"The new humans originated from old humans," Luxion continued. "Given the correct conditions, reversion is not… improbable." "But not impossible."
Leon's mind raced.
"Then—what about me?" he asked quickly. "I have old human traits too. Why am I fine?"
Luxion didn't hesitate. "Balance."
Leon looked at him asking him to continue.
"You possess a near-stable ratio," Luxion explained. "Approximately fifty-one percent new human… forty-nine percent old human."
The display shifted again. "Rivia's population has crossed that threshold."
The numbers inverted.
"Forty-nine percent new… fifty-one percent old. And increasing."
Leon stared at the data.
"…So what happens to them?" he asked quietly.
He already knew.
But he needed to hear it.
"Their new human traits are attempting to resist the atmospheric toxin," Luxion said. "However, as their old human traits continue to develop—"
The projections destabilized, cells collapsing, body systems failing.
"—their biological systems will fail at an accelerating rate."
Then—
"In the end… all bodily functions will cease."
Silence filled the lab.
Thick.
Unmoving.
"…Do you have a cure?" Leon asked.
Luxion didn't answer immediately.
"If a cure was ever developed," he said at last, "it would have been after my disappearance."
Leon's stomach dropped.
"…Meaning?"
"I do not possess one."
The words hit harder than anything else.
Leon staggered back slightly.
"…So the only way to save them…" he began slowly, "…would be to rewrite their entire genome?"
"Correct."
"And how long would that take?"
"The time required for you to fully understand and apply the necessary data," Luxion said, "exceeds their remaining lifespan."
That was it.
That was the answer.
Leon's hands trembled.
"…So I can't save them?" he asked.
No anger.
No defiance.
Just… quiet.
"I'm sorry, sir," Luxion replied. "You cannot."
Something snapped.
"Damn it—!"
Leon slammed his fist into the floor.
Once.
Twice.
Again, and again, and again, and again.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Each punch echoed through the sterile lab.
His hands shook.
Pain shot through them—but he didn't stop.
Not until—A drone caught his wrist mid-swing.
Firm and unyielding.
Before it guided him back to the station he had been working at, gently—but with no room for refusal.
He was lowered onto a medical station.
Soft restraints formed around his arms as thin beams of light scanned over his injuries, micro-repair systems activated—sealing torn skin, reducing swelling.
Leon didn't resist, he didn't even look at it.
His head hung low.
"…What do I do now?" he asked.
His voice was small and tired.
Luxion hovered beside him.
"I recommend returning home," he said. "And spending this time with your family."
Leon closed his eyes.
For a moment—He said nothing.
Then, slowly… "…Set a course," he muttered.
The lab fell quiet again.
Just…heavy silence.
Leon sat there afterward.
Staring at nothing.
Not moving.
Not thinking.
Just… sitting.
Luxion watched him.
Paused.
Then—He did something that wasn't in his programming.
"Sir," he said.
Leon didn't respond.
"If you are feeling lonely… and require someone to speak to…"
A brief hesitation.
"I'll always be here."
Leon blinked slowly.
Recognition flickered.
Those words…He had said them before.
A weak laugh escaped him.
"…Yeah," he said quietly.
"Love you too, buddy."
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Somewhere… far beyond the reach of Holfort
Stone walls stretched upward into darkness, carved with symbols too old to belong to any modern kingdom. Faint blue light flickered along their edges—
At the center of the room—An altar, and before it, a man knelt.
His head was lowered. His shoulders tense. Sweat clung to his skin despite the cold.
"Master…" he began, his voice tight. "The results from the Rivia test were… not as expected."
For a moment—
Nothing.
Then—
A voice answered.
Not from one place, but from everywhere.
"Was it a success?"
The man flinched.
"Not exactly, my lord," he said quickly, his forehead nearly touching the ground. "But we are making progress."
Silence.
Then—
Crack.
Arcs of electricity burst across the walls without warning, snapping through the air like living things. One struck the ground beside him.
The man choked back a scream, his body trembling.
"If your 'progress' continues to disappoint me," the voice said slowly, calmly—
"I will use the blood on you next."
The man's breath hitched.
"I'm sorry, Master!" he shouted, panic breaking through. "We won't fail you again!"
Another pause.
Longer this time.
He didn't dare move.
"You better not."
The pressure vanished.
Just like that.
The man didn't hesitate.
He scrambled to his feet and fled the chamber, footsteps echoing loudly as he disappeared into the darkness beyond.
And then—Silence returned to the room.
But not for long.
From the altar—
The voice spoke again.
Quieter now.
But far more unhinged.
"I'll kill them…"
Then again.
"I'll kill them all…"
"All of them… every last one…"
"New humans…"
The voice broke slightly.
Not with weakness—But with madness.
But with something deeper.
"…I'll erase them."
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[Chapter Image]
I am writing my A Levels this year so I'm already stumped and if you add the time I use writing I think I'm entitled to POWER STONES sooooooo give them to me
P.S
Let it be known that the Story is undergoing a Rewrite, hence if you read the unedited chapters its on you, they are no longer part of the story.