Ashen Crucible

Chapter 22 Waiting

Chapter 22 Waiting (Part 1)

Su was dreaming again.

Endless emerald waves filled his vision. His consciousness drifted through the rippling water yet remained inexplicably confined to a small area. As for his body... Where was his body? What even constituted a body? These questions tormented him. Though he couldn't see his physical form, he sensed its fragmented state - pieces scattered under immense pressure that immobilized every fragment. Yet his consciousness remained intact, paradoxically unified. How could this be?

Bewildered, Su strained to move his dispersed body parts while observing his surroundings. His thoughts crawled at glacial pace, each realization surfacing minutes apart.

Beyond the green haze, shadowy figures moved and spoke in incomprehensible tongues.

Su's awareness blurred, sinking deeper into the emerald depths.

Time became immeasurable until a soft breathing sound pierced the void. The exhales grew clearer, closing within thirty centimeters of Su.

Control flooded back to his scattered limbs as his environment snapped into sharp focus. Thousands of data points and instinctive commands fired through his nervous system before conscious thought could intervene.

Su's eyes snapped open!

His upper torso slid sideways thirty centimeters in an unnatural motion before catapulting upright. His left hand shot toward the intruder's crown while his right clawed for their throat!

The assault unfolded with lightning precision. Though some body parts still refused commands, Su's adaptive consciousness compensated with millimeter-perfect adjustments. His target came into focus - a woman with elegantly coiled hair. His fingertips brushed silken strands as he executed the killing grip.

Perfect. Exactly as planned.

Her head tilted slightly, evading his left hand with effortless grace before straightening her posture. Su's right hand closed on empty air. Momentum carried his claws three centimeters further forward.

His outstretched fingers now hovered mere centimeters from her strained shirt buttons, the contours of her full breasts nearly filling his palm's span.

Su froze. His heightened senses detected dormant yet catastrophic power coiled within her frame - the primal threat keeping him petrified.

He recognized the woman at his bedside: Persephone.

Persephone adjusted her glasses deliberately, the movement causing her chest to tilt dangerously close to Su's frozen hand. Heat radiated from her body through the narrow gap.

"Want to test that grip? I won't object," she purred, eyes glinting dangerously behind thick lenses.

The pressure vanished. Su slowly retracted his hand despite Persephone's invitation. Survival instincts warned against entanglement with this capricious general of the Dark Dragon Knights.

"I..." Su surveyed the hospital room. His last memory featured shattering a tribal throne mid-air. Certain of death then, his current state defied expectations.

"Your recovery exceeds projections. Congratulations on surviving training camp... Lieutenant Su." Persephone's demeanor shifted to military frost, extending a formal hand.

Their palms met. Her fingers suddenly trapped his, nails lightly scraping his skin. "After theoretical training, consider becoming my personal assistant. My office requires... close collaboration."

Su parsed the dangerous subtext. "Let me complete training first. Your requirements may change."

Persephone's lips curved closer, breath warming his mouth. "New requirements could arise anytime, Lieutenant."

Footsteps echoed in the corridor outside, shattering the charged atmosphere. Persephone rose reluctantly, caressing Su's hand one last time.

"Remember this," she hissed, military crispness returning. "You should've slaughtered Cooke's followers immediately after castrating him. Mercy begets more corpses here. Next time, paint the walls red - I'll ensure your duels stay... equitable."

The door opened to reveal a blonde nurse bearing medical supplies. Her coquettish smile died upon seeing Persephone's single golden shield insignia.

The general methodically unbuttoned the nurse's uniform, sneering at the revealed black lace bra. With contemptuous shove, Persephone stalked out, stiletto heels hammering finality into the cowed nurse's psyche.

The trembling nurse approached Su's bed, forgetting her undone buttons. Medical patches crisscrossed his torso, evidence of brutal injuries now miraculously healed.

As she administered injection, the nurse whispered mournfully: "Forgive me... I didn't know you were the general's... pet."

Snap!

The syringe needle shattered against Su's tensed arm.

Chapter 22 Waiting (Part 2)

Creeeak—

The chapel's side door groaned open. A young man in jet-black uniform entered, stopping three meters from the pulpit to bow deeply. "Your command, Your Eminence?"

His beauty bordered on androgyny, platinum hair gleaming unnaturally bright. Though his uniform mirrored the Dark Dragon Knights', his entire left sleeve blazed arterial crimson - a visceral contrast to their oppressive gold patterns. This marked him as an Inquisitor of the Bloody Parliament's Judicature, those whispered-about arbiters who straddled the line between devil and venomous serpent.

No movement came from the armored figure on the pulpit. A synthesized voice resonated through the shadows: "Status report on my blade."

The Inquisitor checked his chronometer. "Thirty-one minutes fifty-five seconds remaining, Your Eminence."

"Deliver it in forty. Prepare departure protocols in forty-five. Send in Pepperos."

The young man retreated silently. Within a minute, a flame-haired woman with military-cropped hair entered, her augmented reality visor flickering data streams across her right eye. She halted directly before the pulpit - a privilege denoting higher status.

"Pepperos awaits orders."

Silence stretched before the armored figure spoke: "Report on the Dragon Knights."

"Subtle procedural deviations detected in their bureaucracy," Pepperos recited. "The Fabregas and minor houses mobilize covert forces. The Aesir clan shifts power - Oberon now commands their military, replacing Persephone."

"Meaning?"

"They conceal something."

"Investigate."

"Affirmative!" Pepperos snapped a salute.

Knuckles rapped the side door. "Your Eminence, Lord Oberon requests audience."

The armored figure gestured dismissal. Pepperos evaporated into shadows.

Oberon entered with measured strides belying his eighteen years. His polished boots halted before the pulpit's rotting wooden steps. As he lifted a foot to ascend, the floor before him split with a hair-thin fissure - deep enough to sever toes.

"You..." Oberon's composure fractured, cheeks flushing.

"Your error," the mechanized voice intoned.

"I... overstepped." Oberon mastered his breathing. "I assumed controlling my house might bridge our distance."

"Lineage grants you power, not worth. Your artsy delusions remain."

The young lord's jaw tightened. "You know I never wanted this! My dreams were restoring Earth's beauty until you disappeared into this hellhole two years ago. I've trained relentlessly since! When I assume command of Poseidon's Trident next month..."

"Transaction?" the voice sliced through his passion.

"Promise! A man's vow to protect you!" Oberon's throat constricted.

"Time expired."

Armor plates hissed like serpent scales as the figure rose. Oberon's courage crumbled as she advanced, forcing him aside. The black carapace couldn't hide her predatory grace - legs impossibly elongated by armored greaves radiating glacial malice that seemed to blacken the very air.

At the threshold, Oberon's roar shattered chapel stillness: "MEDERI!!"

She paused. Turned. Sapphire eyes swallowed light whole.

"Grant me this!" Oberon stood transfigured - no longer boy but warlord.

Three heartbeats passed. "Earn it. Defeat me, claim me."

She strode into searing white light beyond the doors. Four Inquisitors knelt, presenting a massive two-meter blade - its spine etched with glowing emerald letters: KILLING ABYSS.

The greatsword shrieked against stone as Mederi vanished into gloom, trenching a scar in the chapel floor.

"Sunlit girl..." Her armored fingers brushed the inscription. "Was that ever me?"

Chapter 22 Waiting (Final Part)

Dawn's golden fingers pried through cloud fissures, gilding the coastal megalopolis. For this rare pristine morning, Su stood before a floor-length mirror examining his new Dark Dragon Knights uniform - obsidian fabric tailored to millimeter precision. The lieutenant's insignia on his cuff gleamed: a golden dagger piercing irradiated steel.

He traced the miraculously unblemished skin beneath the uniform. No scars remained from tribal wars, another mystery of his anomalous physiology. Yet the immaculate facade carried staggering debt - 15,000 dollars already owed to Persephone for this apartment's three-month advance rent and basic furnishings.

The "modest" officer quarters boasted radiation-free running water, retro-styled appliances, and a bathtub large enough to drown his financial worries. Monthly rent alone equaled six Barrett sniper rifles. Worse, the Knights charged 1,000 monthly for "intelligence access" - pay-to-know tyranny.

At the training compound's wrought-iron gates, two stunning guards snapped salutes upon seeing Su's dagger insignia. Whispers chased him into the central building's maw:

"That's the Death Camp survivor?"

"Highest honors... but will he survive here?"

The eighth-floor corridor reeked of insubordination. A disheveled major leaned beneath "No Smoking" signs, cigarette ember glowing. His uniform hung open revealing ursine chest hair, crucifix insignia declaring rank.

Su consulted his tablet's regulations. Continued walking.

"Hold, whelp!" The major's growl echoed.

Turned. Emerald eyes met bloodshot glare.

"Bad odds..." The major studied Su's cuff dagger. "...but better I kill you."

Su's lips curled. "You?"

The corridor's tension crystallized.

"Try waiting." Su vanished through lecture hall doors, leaving the major grinding his cigarette underheel.