CHAPTER 199: SEAL BROKEN

Adam stood beneath a tall tree, a wide smile spreading across his face as he watched the Golden Group team flee in terror. He knew he had just accomplished something significant.

An investigation team would surely arrive later, but that didn’t matter to him. The Phoenix, a blazing comet of fire, continued its pursuit, herding the panicked students through the forest.

One of the third-years risked a glance back. Seeing the fiery beast still gaining on them, their desperate sprint turned into a frantic, chaotic scramble.

Then Adam saw it. Through his enhanced vision, he noticed Alina falling behind. Her stamina was not on par with the upperclassmen or the princess. She was stumbling, her face pale with exhaustion. The smile instantly vanished from Adam’s face. He raised a hand, his expression hardening into a mask of cold command.

"Return," he ordered.

The Phoenix, still streaking through the air after the fleeing students, simply vanished. One moment it was there, a terrifying spectacle of flame, and the next, it was gone.

Adam stared at the empty sky, surprised. His summoning had been reversed. He looked down at his own hands, a frown creasing his brow. I didn’t send it back, he thought. I just called it to me. How did it get unsummoned?

He was still pondering this anomaly when the System Window materialized before him. This time, it was not its usual serene blue. It was a deep, alarming crimson, flashing like a warning beacon.

[Master! A magical barrier has been erected in the surrounding area! My contact with all other students has been severed. I am unable to utilize any magical abilities outside of this immediate vicinity!]

The words hit Adam with the force of a physical blow. He froze, his mind racing. Could it be? he wondered, a knot of unease tightening in his stomach. Did my summoning of the Phoenix trigger an alert? Have the Empire’s elite soldiers already arrived?

He was still processing this terrifying possibility when he felt a new, even more disturbing sensation. The immense magical energy that constantly radiated from his being, the power he fought to suppress within Eric’s body, was being drained.

Not just contained, but actively siphoned away into the atmosphere. He looked at his hands and saw it. The faint blue aura that always clung to him was being pulled outwards, stretching and thinning like smoke sucked into a vacuum. The barrier was acting like a sponge, soaking up his power at an alarming rate.

A sliver of genuine concern, an emotion he rarely felt, flickered across his features. If what he was seeing was true, then his time in Eric’s body was about to be cut drastically short. He was about to call up the System Window again when a sudden, prickling sensation of extreme danger washed over him. He spun around, and just as he turned, a searing bolt of black lightning materialized and struck at his chest.

Adam reacted with pure, honed instinct. He twisted his body, dodging the attack by a hair’s breadth. He didn’t have time to reposition himself properly. The explosive force of the near-miss sent him tumbling to the ground.

Every second, he could feel his power draining away faster and faster. He pushed himself up from the dirt, his eyes scanning the trees, searching for his attacker. But his enhanced senses were blunted, weakened by the energy-draining barrier. Every spell, every pulse of perception he sent out cost him ten times the normal amount of energy.

The red System Window flickered in front of him again. [Master! You can only maintain control of Eric’s body for a few more seconds!]

This was bad. Very bad. Who is attacking me? he thought, his mind working furiously. This is the worst possible time for me to be forced back. He knew this was the longest he had ever possessed Eric’s body. He had pushed the limits, and now, someone was exploiting that weakness.

As he was thinking, two more lightning bolts shot out from the trees behind him. He jumped to the side, dodging the first. He caught the second one barehanded, the dark energy crackling and dissipating against his palm. But he didn’t know another attack was coming from a different direction. His senses flared just in time. He spun around and threw up a magical barrier just as a fist slammed into it.

The impact was solid. The attack had been a punch, delivered with incredible speed right at his face. The barrier shattered, and the force of the blow pushed Adam back a step. The fist retreated, and its owner, a figure wreathed in shadows, leaped back a few feet. The figure stepped into a sliver of light, a mocking grin on his face.

"I finished my mission," the attacker said, his voice laced with amusement. "So I came to finish my other mission."

Adam stared, his surprise evident. Standing before him was not an Imperial soldier.

It was Void.

Before Adam could even open his mouth, two more lightning bolts shot from the trees. He instinctively threw up another barrier, the drain on his power immense. He blocked them and looked back at where Void had been standing.

The spot was empty. Adam’s eyes darted to the side. Void was there, right beside him, having moved with impossible speed. His hand was open, swinging in a wide arc, aiming to slap Adam across the face.

Adam reacted, reinforcing his barrier, but he could feel the seal, the metaphysical prison that held him within Eric’s body, strengthening. It was pulling him back, dragging him away from the physical world. He focused on Void’s hand as it touched the barrier. And then something happened that Adam had not expected at all.

As Void’s hand made contact, a black light erupted from his palm. It wasn’t an attack. It was an absorption. The black light spread across Adam’s barrier like a disease, and in a few seconds, it had completely consumed it, sucking the energy dry.

Adam leaped backward, stunned, just as two more arrows came at him from the trees. He twisted in mid-air, dodging them both, but two more followed, then two more after that. A continuous volley of lightning arrows rained down on him.

The seal finally won. The pulling sensation became an irresistible force, yanking his consciousness inward. He was still in mid-air, arrows screaming towards him from all directions, his eyes growing heavy. He fought against it, refusing to be pulled back. He swept his arm out, a final act of defiance. A last, desperate lightning strike of his own shot from his hand, fanning out and intercepting the incoming arrows just before they could pierce his body.

But that final attack cost him everything. The last of his resistance to the seal crumbled. The world went black. He was still in mid-air, a few feet from the ground, when his body went limp. He was unconscious before he hit the dirt.

As Eric’s unconscious body fell, Void appeared beside him in a flicker of shadow. In his hands were two square, black devices. With a grim smile, he slapped them onto Eric’s chest. "I was waiting for this moment," he said.

He balled his hand into a fist and slammed it down onto the devices. They pulsed with a violent violet light. The light didn’t just shine on the surface; it pierced through Eric’s skin, burrowing deep into his chest, a tool designed to capture a spiritual entity.

Adam found himself back in his domain. The familiar, infinite black space with the single, comfortable sofa lit by his own power. But something was wrong. He saw cracks spreading across the blackness, lines of brilliant, alien light shattering the perfect void he had created.

The System Window appeared before him, flickering violently. [Master! Your seal is being broken by an outside force!]

A surprised expression crossed Adam’s face. "Is this Void’s doing?" he asked.

The System Window gave no answer. The domain began to crumble. The infinite blackness shattered like glass, falling away into the brilliant light. Adam, standing in the center of the collapsing dimension, felt an irresistible magnetic pull. He fought against it, trying to hold his ground, but he was being dragged towards the light, towards the breach in his own soul.

In the forest, Void stood over Eric’s unconscious body. Eric’s face was twisted in a mask of pure agony. The two black devices on his chest still pulsed with that violent, violet light, drawing something out of him, a spirit being captured against its will.

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A massive thank you to every single one of you for joining the adventure! Your support means the world. If you’re enjoying the story, your Power Stones are like mana potions that keep me writing, so thank you for every single one!

Now, for a bit of fun! I want YOU to be a part of this world. Our hero is about to name their new signature technique. What should it be called?

Drop your most creative ideas in the comments! I’ll pick my favorite, and it will become canon in the story, with a special shout-out to you.

Can’t wait to read your brilliant suggestions!

Alphaboss

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