089 POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY
The effect of Drain was instantaneous and absolute.
Ivory convulsed beneath the hood. A wet, ragged sound cut through the warehouse. The hood slipped; a splatter of blood arced across the concrete.
Ivory's body ruptured outward in a terrible bloom of gore.
Flesh and blood hit Dorin and the nearest operatives—staining their uniforms, shocking everyone into a stunned silence.
Dorin cried out, half-screamed, half-swore. "What the hell—"
When the noise died, there was nothing left where Ivory had been. There was no body, no ring, no mask—only a crimson splatter and a dozen stunned faces.
Damen's heart hammered, but his hands were steady on his phone.
The app's notification glowed coldly: "DRAIN COMPLETE."
-----
[A short while ago]
Sienna waved her hands as the large mirror in front of her suddenly came to life. It was like a camera but this camera doesn't take videos or pictures but frames from a person's soul.
"Sister, are you really going to let your new puppet be captured by the SIA? What if he talks? You'll have to waste your energy wiping the memories of half their agents," Argent said, frowning.
"This is part of my plan," Sienna replied calmly. "Let's see what the boy does."
"I don't understand why you need to set up all this—just to test him?"
"This isn't a test," she said, her tone cool and deliberate.
"It's a plot to corrupt his mind. Like his mother, he still clings to that fragile thing they call morality. He must learn that the greater good always outweighs any semblance of it."
"So, you put his name on the Message Board, sent gangsters after him, and plan to send Ivory out as bait? Just to make a point?" Argent asked, visibly perplexed.
"If Damen Dark truly awakens the hidden power of his inheritance, sacrificing a puppet is a small price to pay," Sienna said.
"What makes you so sure he'll fall into corruption?"
"All he needs to do is stop resisting what's inside him. If he embraces his true power, the rest will follow. Power corrupts—and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
"And you believe he'll actually do that?"
"He's already killed two of the gangsters," Sienna said, her lips curling into a thin smile. "Killing Ivory will be the last straw."
Argent's eyes widened. "At his current power rank? You think he can kill him?"
"He'll have to embrace his inheritance to do it, of course," she answered.
In a while, a crimson ripple of energy burst across the mirror before them. Ivory's body exploded into a pool of blood.
"He… really did it," Argent whispered, stunned. "But how? How could he possibly kill Ivory.."
Sienna's smile deepened. "There's a force inside him I may not even dare face. When awakened it has the power of the accumulation of all psychics. We call such a force…. The One."
"The One?" Argent turned sharply toward her. "Did he inherit something from his father? His mother?"
Sienna didn't answer.
She only smiled again—slowly, coldly.
-----
When Damen finally returned home, the first thing he did was open his phone. He needed to know the full effects of assimilating the Ring of Greed.
Name: Damen Dark
Strength Rank: D Meta Rank: E Blood Rank: D
Strength: 230 | Charm: 121 | Meta: 120 | Command: 120 | Blood: 203 | Armor: 293
Unlike when he had assimilated the Ring of Power, no new meta skill appeared this time.
Instead, his mining app displayed a new option—Drain.
The data was clear: after absorbing the Ring of Greed's power, Damen had reached the peak of Meta Rank E. If not for the natural cap limit of the rank, he could have advanced even further.
"Damnit… my Blood rating's through the roof," he muttered.
He had absorbed all the corrupted blood from Ivory.
That meant the Blue Blood Curse was now festering inside him—a volatile force that could twist his mind at any time.
He was, in essence, a walking time bomb.
"I need anger management before I start blowing things up," he grumbled, half-joking, half-serious.
Exhausted, he collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.
When morning came, his phone greeted him with a soft chime.
"Congratulations, your Meta Rank has increased to D"
The numbers had shifted again—his Empowerment toggle was still active, slowly raising his Meta score on its own after his breakthrough into the new rank stabilized.
Damen stared at the glowing digits for a long moment. The experience of the last night showed him that every time he grew stronger, the line between power and corruption blurred a little more.
"Drain!! This function is even worse than Acquire. I could kill with it," he thought and pondered.
Drain wasn't the kind of power he should use wantonly. Such power would bring consequences that he would not expect.
"Damnit, I can't use this power again", he sighed before adding, "until I have to."
-----
For the next few days, Damen stayed on campus, catching up on the lessons he'd missed. He neither went to the gym nor stepped outside school grounds.
Meanwhile, Dorin and Lander were busy cleaning up the chaos Ivory and the Message Board had left behind. The gangs in Melrose City's slums were being hunted down one by one, but the investigation had nothing to do with Damen.
His Strength had already reached the peak of Meta Rank D; even Empowerment could no longer push it higher. He needed just one more point to reach Rank C.
Then he had an idea.
He found Zairgid lounging at the dorm commons.
"Hey, do you know a place that sells GenSyn Genomics?" Damen asked.
Zairgid blinked. "You serious, buddy? Don't tell me you finished all four tubs of elixir already?"
Damen nodded.
Zairgid laughed and gave his bicep a squeeze. "Damn, you really did. I know a place you can buy more—but it's not cheap."
"I've still got a million aur left," Damen said. "How much can that get me?"
Zairgid grinned. "Enough…..maybe."
"Where are we going?"
"GenSyn Industries, of course, I know they have the latest strain on offer," he said, flashing a knowing smile.
-----
Damen and Zairgid stepped out of the subway train and craned their necks. They've reached their destination.
The GenSyn Genomics Tower rose like a blade of glass and steel over Melrose City's southern district. Its surface shimmered with layers of smart-light panels that adjusted color according to the sky—an artificial dawn in perpetual motion.
The corporate insignia was a stylized DNA helix wrapped around a gear, rotated lazily at the building's peak.
"Pretty, isn't it?" Zairgid said. "That logo alone costs more than your whole school."
Damen didn't answer.
His eyes were fixed on the main entrance: security drones floated above the gates like silent hawks. The moment they approached, scanners swept beams of blue light across their faces, reading identity chips and biological signatures.
"State your purpose or leave. This premise is for authorized business only," an automated voice demanded.
Above them two autocannon drones floated eyeing them suspiciously.