CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 79: UNCONTROLLABLE

The air in the chamber was different again. The ritual circle pulsed with unstable light, and the last echoes of the wild aura still vibrated faintly in the walls. Richard lay motionless on the stone floor, his chest rising only slightly-anything more, it seemed, required too much strength. The cracks across his skin faded slowly but never disappeared completely, like scars of a battle he had been too weak to survive alone.

Raviel stood stock-still for several seconds, the weight of it all heavy upon his chest. Then he finally turned toward Akumo, who looked worse than Richard. His aura flickered in uneven shadows, his once-stable presence dimmed to a thinning pulse of black and gray.

"Lord Akumo..." Raviel’s voice was lower than usual. "What are you thinking of doing now? His body—look at it. It is not capable of handling this much spirit force. He contains parts of your soul and his own unstable spirit. That is already impossible to balance. And worst of all..." He hesitated, jaw clenching. "He is dead, my lord. He is a reanimated body. A vessel that should never carry such power."

Akumo didn’t blink. He looked down at Richard as though staring at something irreplaceable, something he could not lose no matter what the cost. "I know what he is," he said quietly. "I brought him back. He is here because of me."

Raviel stepped closer, placing a steadying hand against the shaking aura in the air. "Then you should also understand—if his reanimated body collapses again, this time there will be no bringing him back. His spirit will break entirely. There will be nothing left to even summon."

Akumo’s expression hardened though his voice remained calm. "That is why I will heal him myself."

Raviel’s eyes widened. "You cannot be serious."

"I am," Akumo said. "There is no other way."

Raviel shook his head in incredulity. "Lord, listen to me. Your ventilation system-the only thing keeping you alive after all these centuries-will collapse if you use healing magic on this scale. You will lose your protective guard. You will lose the power connection that absorbs energy from nature. You might lose everything you still have left."

Akumo shut his eyes briefly. His aura fluttered once more, weaker this time. "If it costs me, then so be it."

Raviel stared at him. "Why risk death for him? Why now? Why him?"

Akumo opened his eyes again; his gaze was sharp and didn’t waver. "Because I chose him. Because I see myself in him. And because if he dies, the future I want dies with him."

Raviel said nothing more. No argument remained that could stand against such resolve. He hung his head low. "Then do as you wish, Lord Akumo... but be cautious. You’re not in your prime. You’re not even in half your strength. One error, and it won’t just be Richard that falls."

Akumo nodded once. "I understand.

He moved to Richard’s side, slowly lowering himself to the ground. The motion alone seemed to strain him; his limbs trembled slightly. His aura pulsed irregularly, no longer the steady storm of an onceinvincible warrior, but the unbalanced flicker of someone holding on with sheer force of will.

Raviel watched anxiously as Akumo’s hands hovered over Richard’s shoulders. He wanted to warn him once more, but he knew it would not matter; when Akumo made up his mind, the world itself could not change it.

Akumo finally placed both hands firmly onto Richard’s body.

The chamber responded immediately. Light burst outward, swirling around them, and the rupture of energy was so sharp that instinctively Raviel stepped back, shielding his face.

Akumo’s voice emerged strained, as if he were forcing each word against the weight of centuries. "Guard down... ritual mode... release."

His own protective field crackled and dissolved. The ventilation energy that fed him stopped, its glow fading to nothing. For the first time in hundreds of years, Akumo was on his own without the invisible structure that kept him alive.

Raviel felt it. His eyes widened in fear. "Lord... your guard—"

"I know," Akumo muttered. "Let me work."

His palms shone with deep black energy that slowly shifted into pale white—a healing form that only the ancient generation of warriors had once mastered. Threads of light weaved into his broken cells, wrapping around Richard and mending the cracks to strengthen the fragile body.

But Raviel saw what this technique was doing to Akumo.

Every second drained him further.

His aura dimmed.

His stance wavered.

His breathing grew shallower.

"Lord Akumo, stop," Raviel urged. "Your body cannot take this; you will collapse before he stabilizes.

Akumo didn’t look away from Richard. "I told you, I’ll save him."

A pulse of bright light enveloped Richard’s chest, and the cracks in his skin began to close even faster. The unstable spirit energy coursing through him became a little milder and less frantic. This was working.

Akumo’s healing was working.

Raviel watched in awe and fear both at the same time. "Incredible," he whispered. "Even now... even like this... Lord Akumo still heals like a prime-era warrior."

Akumo’s voice came through rough and low: "I survived eras... because I learned to never give up. Even now... I will not let him go."

Another flash of light burst outward as Akumo transferred more power. His body shook violently at the effort, but he held steady. His fingers dug into Richard’s shoulders, knuckles turning pale.

Raviel could bear no more in silence. He took an urgent step forward. "Enough! Lord Akumo-you will die! Your ventilation system is gone, your guard is gone, and your spirit is half-divided from the earlier ritual. If you keep pouring energy like this, you’ll tear your own core apart!"

Akumo gritted his teeth. "Then let it tear!

Richard twitched. A soft breath escaped his lips. His eyes flickered slightly beneath the closed lids.

The healing was now going faster; the once-shattered body becoming steadier. Cracks sealed up completely with no trace of damage left. His aura, still unstable, did not surge violently anymore.

Akumo breathed a weak breath. "Good... good... just a little more...

Raviel shook his head in incredulity. "Lord... you really want to destroy yourself just to keep him alive?"

Akumo whispered, "If I must."

Another wave of healing energy pulsed.

Another flash of blinding white light burst through the chamber.

The stone beneath them shook again-not out of any kind of peril, but from the pure scale of the ritual being conducted.

Akumo’s aura dulled, almost to the point of transparency. Raviel’s heart dropped.

"Lord Akumo... you cannot continue... please..."

But Akumo said nothing. He had slipped into complete focus, every fragment of his power being poured into Richard, his mind locked in the ancient technique of restoration.

Then, finally-after a long minute that felt like an eternity-the healing light faded slowly. The chamber stilled. The symbols on the floor ceased their maddening flicker.

Akumo’s hands fell from Richard’s body. His arms dropped limply to his sides. His aura had almost vanished.

But Richard—

Richard was healed.

He was breathing steadily, his body whole, his presence stabilized.

Raviel stared at him, dumbfounded. "He... he did it..."

But the triumph was short-lived.

Richard did not wake.

He remained in place.

His body, though healed, had gone completely limp, completely still.

Raviel rushed to his side, placing a hand over Richard’s forehead. His face twisted in confusion and fear. "Lord Akumo... there is a new problem."

Akumo strained, trying to raise his head. "What... now...?" Raviel swallowed hard. "His senses... they are gone. His awareness, his consciousness... everything is sealed. The double-spirit force inside him has closed him off. He is healed physically but mentally... he is lost." Akumo’s eyes widened just slightly, exhaustion clouding them. He whispered, barely audible: "...Richard... why now...?" Raviel lowered his voice, the words heavy in his tone. "It’s worse than before. A body can be healed. But the soul... lost inside two auras... we cannot reach him so easily. Akumo’s weak aura flickered one last time and disappeared. And Richard sat-alive, healed... but trapped somewhere no hand could reach.

Then Richard’s breathing warped into a ragged, animalistic rasp. The air around him vibrated—first like a tremor... then like a violent quake. Akumo and Raviel exchanged a sharp glance as the stone floor beneath Richard’s feet cracked in spiraling lines.

"Lord Akumo... his aura isn’t stabilizing," Raviel whispered, backing a step as the pressure doubled. "He’s losing control!"

A thunderous pulse blasted outward. Rocks split from the cavern walls, dust raining like a storm. Richard’s eyes snapped open—glowing, unfocused, wild. A distorted scream tore out of him, echoing in the deepest chambers of the cave.

Akumo stepped forward immediately. "Richard! Listen to my voice—control your breath, your center—"

But Richard didn’t hear anything now.

In a blur, he lunged.

His hand—wrapped in raw, blazing aura—swiped across the space where Akumo had just been standing. The impact hit the cave wall instead, carving a deep, smoking gouge into solid stone.

"Stop him before he collapses the entire place!" Raviel shouted, forming a barrier of spirit energy.

Richard smashed through it like it was paper.

Akumo gritted his teeth. "He’s fighting instinctively... not as Richard. He’s become a vessel overflowing with two spirits!"

Richard spun toward them with a broken roar, his face contorted between agony and fury. The aura around him sparked violently—silver from Raviel’s line, black-crimson from Akumo’s ancient power—twisting together into something unstable, something neither of them had ever seen.

"He will destroy himself," Raviel warned. "And everything around him!"

But...