Fate/Eva Frankenstein

"There are pains that can't be healed. They can only be channeled. In every blow, in every step… in every explosion."

— Fragment of a Forgotten Teaching

__________________________________________

Chapter 5: Burst and crush.

Pov. Third person.

Silence.

Not the empty silence of death, but that of something contained. Latent. Like the space between an inhalation and an explosion.

Benedict Kizcrud stood alone before the secondary altar in the lower chamber, illuminated by the ritual circles that were slowly beginning to pulse.

His head was slightly bowed, and in his hands, as if weighing a sacred relic, rested the dagger.

The blade was made of a dark purple metal, almost black, but it caught the light with an inner glow, as if harboring an invisible fire. At its base, a red gem pulsed like a ruby ​​heart.

A Mystic Code composed of ultra-high density and the original prototype of all Azoth Blades.

Sword of Paracelsus.

An artifact forged by Paracelsus von Honheim with his own hands. A Noble Phantasm of the impressive A+ rank.

Or well, normally it would be. But in the hands of Benedict and his family, because they weren't its true owner, its rank was reduced to B.

It was still their best and most trusted tool and the greatest treasure their family had ever possessed.

He observed it for a few more seconds. Then, leisurely, he ran a finger along its blade.

"Perhaps I overdid it a bit..." he murmured, unrepentant.

The weapon still vibrated gently, as if remembering the spell he had cast.

Orbe du Vide: Poussée.

A simple wind spell, amplified by the dagger in his hand to reach the rank of Intermediate Sorcery.

I didn't mean to kill her. If I had wanted to, I would have.

But that final reaction...

That burst of emotional energy, that uncontrolled explosion of soul... it was mesmerizing. Beautiful, I dare say.

A wild gem. A flawed creature that still... shone.

"Whoever crafted it..." she murmured, her eyes following the outline of the gem, her mind reliving what had happened in the workshop, "...was a genius bordering on the monstrous."

She didn't mean this with disdain. She meant it with admiration.

With great care, she sheathed the dagger.

She took a step forward and stopped in front of a massive circular chamber.

There, the ritual core, that beating heart Eva had seen hours before, was now placed atop a large magical formula.

The dull light of the core had changed.

Now... it resonated.

Her presence was a surprise, though ultimately irrelevant. Everything is still going as it should: as long as the core continues to receive energy from the Ley Lines, I am only hours away from my destination.

He said that last statement with confidence, his mystical eyes blazing with unbridled pride.

"Soon," Benedict whispered, his gaze caressing the inscriptions on the circle. "Very soon."

The threads are in motion. The variable that appeared—that girl with a hammer—had survived, yes. But not because she posed a threat.

But because he found her beautiful. Incomplete. Necessary.

Perhaps he would go find her later... to contemplate that soul a little longer...

One of the older chimeras approached, carefully dragging something.

Benedict didn't turn around. He didn't need to. The ritual was moving forward.

Everything else was ornamentation.

...One more.

That's what he thought as he scanned the core of the ritual.

The artifact was already vibrating with a stronger, more vivid light than before. The calculations had been adjusted.

The stored mana, the alignment of the cores, the partial compatibility of the souls... everything fit together. Almost.

Only one more piece was missing to complete the soul matrix he himself had designed.

A single soul to serve as the final bridge between all the others.

One more, and he would achieve perfect resonance. The false incarnation.

He turned on his heel. Ra'el slipped silently behind him, already erasing his presence.

His body cycled its shape until he became almost invisible, like a beast asleep in the mist.

"Come," Benedict commanded gently, as he walked toward the upper passage.

The lights flickered behind him.

As he moved forward, the entire room seemed to breathe with him.

And as he passed by the right wall of the workshop, a row of crystal columns revealed their contents.

There they were.

The girls.

In suspension. Unaware of the fate that awaited them.

Each one floating within a prism of blue energy, like crystallized dreams.

Still throbbing, their souls preserved, held, and prepared for their future dissolution.

Seven in total. Among them: little Anna Meyer.

He passed them by without looking at them. Not out of contempt.

But because, to him, they were no longer people.

They were part of the system.

Fragments. Inputs. Variables.

Variables that he—and only he—had learned to organize.

"Yes," he murmured. "One more... it will do."

He passed through the metal door into the tunnel.

Outside, the snow was falling.

Benedict Kizcrud was heading for Chamonix.

Ra'el followed him, invisible, without making a single sound.

And deep within the workshop, the light of the ritual core pulsed again.

Faster.

Louder.

The time was approaching.

__________________________________________

Pov. Eva.

Darkness.

A faint hum. Distant.

Eva opened her eyes.

The first thing she felt was the cold of the floor against her cheek. Then, pain. A stabbing lash that ran down her back, as if every nerve in her body was screaming in unison.

She tried to move.

A moan tore from her throat. The tension in her muscles barely allowed her to raise an arm before she collapsed again, breathing heavily.

"Where...?" she whispered, her voice barely a hoarse thread.

Everything was a haze.

A blurry memory. A storm of noise, lightning, an orb exploding in front of her... and a wall. Pain.

A lot.

Pain.

It took her a second longer to realize it: she was in the workshop. She was still there. She didn't know how much time had passed.

I couldn't even see if it was day or night outside.

That's bad.

She wanted to get up.

Her body protested with every inch he forced. In the end, she only managed to roll onto her back, panting. Cold sweat trickled down her temple. Her breathing was shaky.

Then she saw her.

A few feet away, lying as if worthless, was her mace. Bridal Chest.

A spark ignited in her eyes.

She gritted her teeth.

"I..." she whispered, with a stifled sigh. "I need..."

She tensed her arms, and slowly—too slowly—she began to crawl. Every movement was torture. Her ribs burned, her legs barely responding.

But she kept going.

Elbow to elbow. Crawling like a wounded animal.

And when finally, her hand touched the handle, something changed.

"Bridal Chest... pick up," she muttered in a raspy voice.

The mystic code responded.

The gem at the center of the weapon vibrated, absorbing the magical residue still floating in the air of the workshop like an invisible hunger. Faint green sparks began to swirl around it.

The gem at the center of the weapon vibrated, absorbing the magical residue that still hung in the air of the workshop like an invisible hunger. Faint green sparks began to swirl around it.

Then... electricity.

The energy pooled in the weapon and then traveled, slowly but surely, toward its wielder.

Eva moaned when she felt it.

But not in pain.

But in relief.

Like a warm current flowing through her veins, stitching the torn muscles, silencing the pain, strengthening the damaged bones.

Her breathing steadied. The trembling in her arms lessened. For the first time in what seemed like hours, she managed to sit up.

Not quite right. Not without effort.

But she was back on her feet.

Even if it was hard to admit.

She had lost.

The thought fell like a stone into the silence.

She looked around. The workshop was the same, horrible and silent. The core... was gone.

That detail startled her. She opened her eyes wide and looked toward the dais.

Empty.

The living machine that had once pulsed with that unpleasant light was gone.

"When...?" she murmured, frowning.

But even that... was secondary.

The worst part... was remembering why she was still alive.

Not because she had posed a real threat.

Not because she was close to winning.

No.

Because Benedict found her interesting.

Just for that.

"Tch..."

She clenched her fist, tightly, until her knuckles turned white.

A voice echoed, not in the air, but in her mind.

She had managed it with difficulty, crawling like a defeated beast.

The pain wasn't what weighed on him most now.

It was the truth.

I failed.

I let myself be dragged along.

I entered without thinking, only with anger.

I didn't observe him. I didn't study him. I didn't see the battlefield, his position, or his weapon.

I didn't even stop when I realized he was analyzing me… like Victor did.

And then I came to the worst conclusion of all.

Because I couldn't control myself.

Eva lowered her gaze, her teeth clenched tightly. She gripped the hilt of Bridal Chest as if it were the only thing keeping her together.

"Years... years have passed..."

And yet...

"Even if you're dead... even if you've been gone for so long..."

Resentment coiled in her chest like a rusty thorn.

"You still cause me trouble."

A bitter taste pooled on her tongue. She could almost spit it out.

"It was enough to see a spark in that bastard's eyes. It was enough to notice that way of looking, that calmness, that arrogance disguised as curiosity..."

"It was enough to lose my mind."

And she hated herself for it.

"Damn you..." she whispered into the void, her voice cracking, as an errant spark streaked across her shoulder.

The silence thickened again.

Eva stood still, her back still against the cold workshop floor, as her breathing slowly returned to normal.

The residual electricity from Bridal Chest continued to course through her body in faint waves, barely keeping her standing.

Then, like a star twinkling in the darkness, a soft voice flashed through her memory.

"Failure is the key to success. Every mistake teaches you something. Take each defeat as an opportunity for reflection: think about what you failed, what you did wrong, and, most importantly, what you learned from it."

Lea...you always help me when I need you most...

Her words, dry but full of conviction. She had said them one morning, after another of her failed training sessions, when Eva could barely lift her arms.

Eva swallowed and let the inner silence envelop her. She closed her eyes. She reviewed. She remembered.

"What did I do wrong…?"

The memory of the fight came flooding back.

First:

"The magus… that bastard. He watched. He didn't intervene. He just stared at me, analyzing me. As if I were an equation he wanted to solve."

Second:

"Ra'el… that thing… that monster…"

Its tentacles. Its pincers. Its vision.

"It could cover all angles. Attack from any direction. It completely overwhelmed me."

But…

"When I snapped, when I let it all out… there was an opening. It was real."

"It's not invincible or inescapable, just complicated."

Third:

"…the wind."

His expression changed. Barely. But it was enough.

"The sorcery he used… was wind."

That detail reverberated in her mind like a drum.

Wind.

Wind.

Her gaze dropped to her weapon.

Bridal Chest, still sparkling softly, rested at her side.

"A mystical code that devours ethereal magic. That transforms magical attacks into electrical energy. That counters… sorcery."

Recognizing this boosted her confidence.

"I didn't lose because I was weaker. I didn't lose because I couldn't."

"I lost… because I got upset. Because I saw Victor in him. Because I let that echo break me before the first spell."

The sparkle returned to his eyes.

Slowly, but surely.

"It won't happen again."

With a slow breath, Eva placed both hands on the ground and forced herself to move.

Her legs trembled. The pain wasn't completely gone. But there was something new accompanying it: resolve.

"Up…" she muttered through gritted teeth.

She tried to take a step, but her knee gave way.

She almost collapsed again if not for the support she had placed on Bridal Chest, using it as a makeshift cane.

Her knuckles turned white from the strength with which she gripped the weapon.

"Primeri, I need to recover…"

Her voice trailed off. The echo followed her, as if mocking her.

She wasn't ready for another fight. Not even close. Her body still burned with the memory of the impact, the fall, the pain.

But she couldn't stay there.

"How long was I unconscious…?"

She didn't want to know. But he did know one thing: he couldn't lose any more.

He clenched his jaw, lifted his face with effort, and scanned the workshop, searching for something. Anything.

He couldn't wait to heal naturally, so he needed energy to speed up the process.

The energy she collected from the workshop was barely enough to numb the pain and regain some strength. Far from enough.

Then she stopped.

The vials.

Along the wall, still lit with a dull greenish glow, the test tubes that had once contained the chimeras were still there… or at least some of them.

Eva squinted.

The ones that were complete… are gone.

A chill ran down her spine.

She followed the trail with her eyes. The tubes were connected to a metal base, into which multiple channels of magical flow and life-giving liquid flowed.

From there, a set of conduits led through the floor and toward a heavy double door at the far end of the workshop.

An activation chamber? Another core? A transfer system?

Whatever it was… whatever lay beyond that door probably held the answers.

Or more questions.

Eva forced herself to take another step. Her breathing was slow but steady.

The pain was still there.

But the doubt, for now, wasn't.

The echo of her footsteps, shuffling and heavy, accompanied her as she crossed the workshop, her eyes always fixed on the door.

When she opened it, she wasn't sure what to expect.

But what she found was… interesting.

A much smaller, circular room, almost like a sealed chamber. The walls were covered in runic lines and symbols etched with fire.

In the center, a metallic structure floated lightly on a carved silver base.

It was shaped like a geometric heart, with several tubes connected to its surface and a glowing core inside that pulsed rhythmically.

It wasn't the same terrifying artifact she had seen when she had first entered the workshop. It wasn't the large core that pulsed as if it had a sentience.

This was different.

"…A magical reactor," she murmured, not realizing she had said it out loud.

Lea had told her about them once. Many magi used them to maintain defenses, power traps, or even facilitate automatic rituals.

Eva took a couple more steps.

The reactor pulsed with a warm, orange glow. Some tubes leading from it connected to the previous vials—those where the chimeras were.

Others disappeared into the walls, carrying energy to other areas of the workshop.

But most importantly…

Eva narrowed her eyes.

Even without magic circuits, she could feel it.

Magical energy vibrated in the air like static electricity, like a floating heat field. The sensation ran over her skin, measured against her body, as if responding to her very presence.

As if the air itself whispered to her:

Take it. It's yours.

A smile—fierce, sharp—formed on her lips.

She gripped the hilt of Bridal Chest with both hands.

"Perfect."

Just the boost needed for Round 2.

_________________________________________

Pov. Thirs person.

The cold Chamonix wind caressed Benedict's cloak as he descended the side path, hidden in the dense forest.

Ra'el followed him at a distance, invisible, though his presence could be felt as a pressure on reality itself.

In his arms, Benedict carried the girl.

Her body was small, fragile. Her blond hair was tangled by the wind, and her eyes... empty. They stared ahead, unseeing. Unthinking.

"A pure soul," he murmured appreciatively, without pausing. "Perfectly malleable. Without trauma, without sin. A blank canvas. Alien to the concept of "Evil."

The girl didn't respond. She couldn't.

He had found her near the river, as if fate had placed her there for him.

Perhaps it had.

Benedict looked up at the sky, covered with heavy clouds. Snow was beginning to fall, slowly and silently.

"This place is truly blessed," he said, as if addressing someone invisible. "So many immaculate souls gathered in a single village... unique, truly unique."

He closed his eyes for a second. He took a deep breath.

"Yes. This is the perfect place for the ritual."

No one else would have offered me so much.

He opened his eyes again. A spark glimmered in them, hidden beneath the habitual serenity. The spark of a vision. Of something close to completion.

The path ended in a small clearing.

There, camouflaged by an illusory seal, stood the secondary entrance to the ritual chamber: a hatch hidden beneath the roots of a dead tree, covered by snow and branches.

Benedict stretched out a hand.

A faint murmur escaped his lips.

The illusion dissolved like mist in the sun.

"Fate is on our side, Ra'el."

The creature responded with a soft rustle of air. Benedict descended firmly into the depths, the child still in his arms.

Benedict descended the steps to the lower level. There, the corridor that led to the core chamber awaited him: the heart of his incarnation.

But before he could take another step...

BOOM!

A shock ripped through the floor like a shockwave.

The entire hallway shook, and the lamplights flickered once, twice... before stabilizing, though noticeably dimmer.

Benedict stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

"...What was that?"

He turned his head slightly toward Ra'el, though he didn't need words to communicate the command. The creature vanished instantly, moving ahead in exploration.

Benedict slowly lowered his hand and placed it near his hip, where the Sword of Paracelsus still rested, sheathed.

"A core flow error? No... unlikely."

The calibration was precise.

The vibration dissipated, but a faint hum—a distorted magical resonance—lingered in the air. Like the residual echo of a lightning strike.

Benedict stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes fixed on the far side of the corridor. For a moment, he said nothing.

And then, as if an invisible line had been drawn in his mind, his eyes widened.

A spark crossed his gaze.

"..."

A small smile formed on his lips. Not mocking, not arrogant. One of genuine, restrained amazement.

"So... you did it."

He murmured softly.

He slowly turned his head in the opposite direction, toward the source of the tremor, and narrowed his eyes.

"You got up... so early."

He didn't say it with disapproval. Not even with annoyance. He said it like a researcher who'd just had a hypothesis challenged.

His interest in her had increased again.

__________________________________________

The blast echoed throughout the workshop.

In front of Eva, the remains of the magical reactor sizzled and smoked, wrapped in a halo of crackling electrical energy.

Her body thrummed with pure electricity, coursing through every fiber, heightening her senses and strength.

But there was no time.

From the shadows emerged the chimeras.

Again.

Their eyes reflected rage and despair, their sharp claws and mutated skin gleamed with lethal threat.

Eva gripped the hilt of Bridal Chest tightly.

-GRAAAAHHG!!

A ferocious roar escaped her throat as she charged the first.

The clash was brutal.

The sound of the mace impacting on flesh and bone echoed in the room, mingled with the howls of the beasts.

Pain and exhaustion didn't matter.

Only survival.

With each blow, the electricity crackled louder around her, as if Bridal Chest were absorbing the residual energy and returning it multiplied.

The chimeras didn't stop.

But neither did Eva.

From the shadows emerged a wolf-boar hybrid with sharp, fang-like claws, its yellow eyes fixed on Eva with savage ferocity.

It leaped toward her with a terrifying howl, but Eva rolled to the side, barely dodging the attack. With a swift twist, she raised Bridal Chest and smashed its skull into the ground.

She barely had time to breathe when a second enemy appeared: a creature with the body of a snake and the head of a human, its mouth gaping in multiple rows of sharp teeth. Grotesque.

Its movements were sinuous and agile, launching into quick, erratic attacks.

Eva raised her mace and used it to block a poisonous thrust, then counterattacked with an electric blow that sparked the monster's scaly skin, sending it reeling back as a wisp of smoke escaped from its wounds.

Zzzzzt!!

Then with a swing, lightning erupted from her mace and struck the chimera. Its body was instantly charred.

A third enemy descended from the ceiling: a flying chimera, half eagle, half insect, with compound eyes that glowed in the gloom.

Eva lunged forward just as the monster launched an attack with its claws and stinger.

With a sweep of her mace, she deflected the creature, which collided with a column and fell inert to the ground.

The fourth enemy was perhaps the most terrifying: a shapeless mass with multiple human parts, tentacles, and a single giant eye that slowly rotated, following her movements.

Eve felt the pressure of the gaze and quickly used the electricity stored in Bridal Chest to create a shock that momentarily paralyzed the chimera.

With a final blow, she brought it down.

Breathing heavily but unyielding, Eve stood firm. Every blow was a battle, every dodge a breath closer to victory.

The chimeras stopped suddenly, as if they had sensed something beyond the battle.

A tense silence fell over the passage as their wide eyes watched them.

It seemed that, somehow, the fury and carnage that Eva had unleashed on her fellow humans had intimidated them, or perhaps left them momentarily in shock.

Taking advantage of this brief respite, Eva looked up at the spot where Benedict had disappeared hours before.

Without hesitation, she gripped the Bridal Chest tightly and gathered all the electrical energy she could muster in her arms.

With a war cry, she charged with all her might, swinging the mace toward the closed passage.

Upon impact, an electrical explosion erupted with a thunderous roar, the shockwave illuminating the entire tunnel, and a metallic screech echoed as the wall split in two.

The path opened before her, making it clear that, this time, Eva wasn't going to hesitate or stop.

Just as her steps took her to the threshold of the corridor, a chill ran through her from head to toe.

The air seemed to thicken, colder, as if everyone was holding their breath.

Then, a deep, harsh roar broke the silence, echoing off the walls like a menacing echo.

Ra'el was there, immense and dark, blocking the entrance with his outstretched tentacles, eyes flashing with unrelenting ferocity.

Eva gritted her teeth, feeling an involuntary shiver run through her body.

Despite the electricity still dancing across her skin and the brief relief of recharging, the wounds—and the wounds of her soul—hadn't fully healed.

It wasn't just physical strength, but that invisible weight that every confrontation left behind.

"You again..." she murmured, trying to summon courage, though her voice trembled.

Ra'el stood firm, an immense shadow that seemed to absorb the dim light in the workshop.

His multiple eyes, glowing like burning coals, fixed on Eva with a mixture of curiosity and threat.

The tentacles moved slowly, but each movement was calculated and lethal.

There was no rush, no fear. Only the certainty of a predator who knows its prey is exhausted.

Eva clutched Bridal Chest with both hands, electricity coursing through her body in nervous waves.

The pain was still present, but her determination was stronger.

With a roar, she launched a direct attack, seeking to break the tentacle barrier.

Ra'el responded with a swift sideways strike, a giant pincer that sliced ​​through the air inches from her face.

Eva rolled backward, dodging nimbly despite the aftereffects of the previous fight.

Each attempt to close in was thwarted. The tentacles blocked, trapped, and pushed. It was a game of patience, of attrition.

She knew she couldn't afford to fail.

However, Ra'el gave no respite.

Its tentacles moved like liquid serpents, lashing out, throwing debris and chimera remains in all directions.

The pincers closed with a menacing crunch, attempting to crush Eve whenever she managed to get close.

The other chimeras, drawn by the chaos, joined the fray with bestial screams, attacking from the flanks.

The workshop had become a hellish battlefield, with dust and pieces of metal flying, electrical sparks leaping, and the constant sound of thumps and grunts.

But amid the maelstrom, Eve didn't lose focus.

Her eyes remained fixed on the monstrosity before her.

She searched carefully, studying every movement, every gesture.

And then, finally, she understood.

The eyes.

They were her Achilles' heel.

That was her vulnerability.

But how could she get close enough to damage them? Ra'el was always one step ahead, blocking any attempt with his tentacles or pincers.

Eve quickly looked at the ground and around her.

Pieces of debris, fragments of shattered chimeras, rusted tools, and pieces of twisted, sharp metal were scattered throughout the workshop.

A plan formed in her mind.

A risky idea.

One that might give her the opportunity she needed.

She glanced around quickly, searching for something she could use.

Her hand tightened around the hilt of the Bridal Chest.

With a spark of determination in her eyes, she ripped a sharp piece of metal from a nearby piece of debris.

Once again, Ra'el swung one of his tentacles toward her, but this time Eva rolled to the side, dodging the attack.

With a swift movement, she threw the metal fragment like a javelin.

It was wrapped in electricity before being thrown, to increase the damage.

The fragment flew low, zigzagging between the tentacles and pincers, until it impacted with one of Ra'el's eyes.

A high-pitched, shrill screech reverberated throughout the workshop.

A high-pitched, shrill screech reverberated throughout the workshop.

Ra'el staggered back a little, his movements frantic for a moment.

Eva took advantage of the opening, dashed to the side, picked up a piece of broken glass from a shattered vial, and held it up with Bridal Chest in her other hand.

Ra'el's other tentacles swung, but Eva blocked with her mace and nimbly dodged.

She approached cautiously, searching for another eye.

She aimed the glass, and on cue, delivered a precise slash at the monster's multiple eyes.

The creature's face twisted in pain, and the intensity of its attacks began to diminish.

With each damaged eye, Ra'el lost coordination and speed.

Eva remained focused, feeling the electricity enveloping her body intensify.

Finally, she leaped forward and, using all her pent-up strength and energy, brought the Bridal Chest down with a brutal blow directly on Ra'el's head.

The thunder echoed throughout the workshop.

Ra'el fell to the ground, convulsing, stunned, and roaring.

He soon got back up, but unsteadily.

Nothing like the imposing beast he had been a few minutes ago.

Eva, exhausted but steadfast, took a deep breath.

She had found his weakness and survived the storm.

"Now!" Eva shouted, taking advantage of the opening she had created.

She felt electricity crackle in her legs, building up, ready to unleash its full power.

With a powerful leap, she launched herself, discharging all her pent-up energy.

Ra'el, partially blinded and disoriented, reacted with unbridled fury.

Not only did he throw his tentacles in all directions, but in a fit of rage, he charged directly at Eva.

But Eva didn't wait for his attack. She rolled to the side with feline agility, dodging the monstrous body that was coming straight for her.

At the same time, the two remaining chimeras, alerted by the commotion, lunged at her.

Without wasting a second, Eva launched herself and rolled, precisely avoiding the simultaneous attacks.

Ra'el, with no time to slow down, rammed the other two chimeras hard.

The crash was deafening as they were crushed against the workshop wall.

The bodies of the two chimeras collapsed, lifeless.

Ra'el staggered, his tentacles drooping and his pincers motionless.

Momentarily defeated.

Eva took a deep breath, her body thrumming with electricity, her gaze fixed on the fallen creature.

She knew the battle wasn't over yet, but this victory gave her a much-needed respite.

"But it was better to take precautions."

Without wasting a second, Eva turned toward the tunnel.

She knew she had to move quickly and without distractions.

But first, she needed to make sure no one was following her.

She raised Bridal Chest and, with all her remaining strength, struck the wall just inside the tunnel entrance.

A dry rumble echoed.

She struck again.

This time, the cracks began to open, deep and angular.

Without hesitation, she struck a third blow.

The ceiling and wall gave way with a deafening crack.

A pile of rubble fell, forming an impenetrable wall that blocked the way behind her.

With that settled,

Her eyes stared into the darkness of the tunnel.

With her guard up and Bridal Chest firmly in her hands, she moved forward without looking back.

It didn't take long for her to emerge from the other end.

The exit led to a vast underground cavern, so wide that the echo of her footsteps seemed to be lost in the darkness.

The air was thick with humidity and a heavy, vibrant energy that made Eva's skin tingle.In front of her, illuminated by soft pulses of bluish light, rose the core.

It was smaller than the first one she had seen, but no less imposing.

Suspended on a circular pedestal, it beat like a living heart.

Beams of magical energy flowed from its base to the floor, where a ritual formula covered a large expanse of smooth rock.

The lines were carved directly into the stone and glowed with a faint silvery glow.

The formula wasn't as intricate as those in the workshop above, but its proportions and arrangement were eerily precise.

Concentric circles, straight lines, symmetrical patterns—everything converged in the center, where the core pulsed with an unnatural light.

Around that central circle, at eight clearly marked points, were glass capsules.

Each contained a young girl.

Their bodies floated in suspension, eyes closed, faces serene.

Some still had remnants of children's clothing.

Others, bandages. The liquid inside the capsules glowed softly, and each container was connected to the core by translucent tubes that pulsed with energy.

Eva stopped.

"This was what they were protecting?"

For a moment, everything inside seemed to freeze.

The formula stretched out before her like a scar etched into the world.

End of Chapter 5.

__________________________________________

Done. I hope you liked it, sorry for the delay.