CHAPTER 111: START INTO THE RESEARCH HOLE

The research wing of Vaingall stretched before Oizys and Samael like a cathedral of secrets, its walls adorned with Claturian sigils that pulsed faintly with violet light.

Even with the advancement in terms of development in terms of infrastructure and method, the Claturian definitely couldn’t part ways with their sigils adorning every place they encountered.

Because at this point, the majority of the sigils they crafted into place barely had any function or purpose, making them somewhat of an aesthetic decoration with tiny itty bits of warding property for evils.

In a way, it was just like a statement saying, "I’m here!" or "We built this!" and many more sentiments behind their additions.

Not to mention, they also started to carry Kivas’ faith in them, so there was not a single complaint coming from the governing side of the Consortium.

"For Kivas to begin the research alone without waiting for us."

"The conceptual schematic must’ve some kind of diabolical secret for her to act like that."

Conduits of crystalline energy snaked through the stone, their hum a constant undertone to the stillness.

The two stood just outside Kivas’s personal chamber, a barrier spell shimmering around them—a delicate weave of spell concoction that shielded their words from prying ears, especially Kivas’ herself. The air felt thick, charged with the gravity of their discussion.

Oizys shifted, hands at her sides as she fixed Samael with a piercing gaze. "So, is that why you and Kivas refused the Antihetero Core project? Because of the Genesis Core—and your status as a Divine Hive?"

Samael inclined her head, her expression steady, though a shadow of unease flickered in her eyes. "Yes. Vaingall already has one Divine Hive—me—and a premature one in you. The Divine Constructs we carry interact with the Well of the Soul in ways that are... distinct. Similar to what the Karasu Association might be chasing with their Antihetero Core, yet vastly different in execution.

"In a way, if we joined them in their development to perfect the Antihetero Core, our biased and unbiased input would eventually lead them prying upon the nature of Kivas and us more than they already did."

Oizys tilted her head, her voice dropping lower. "You’re worried they’ll uncover the Genesis Core’s nature?"

"Precisely," Samael replied, her tone calm but firm. "So far, the Genesis Core’s intrinsic traits remain obscured to outsiders—and it’s better that way. The Antihetero Core project is ambitious.

"To put it simply, if the Karasu dig too deeply, they might stumble onto something they’re not prepared to handle. That could be dangerous, for us and for them."

Oizys crossed her arms, her violet halo stilling as she processed the words. "My Genesis Core hasn’t activated yet, so I don’t fully understand the risk of it being exposed. But I get the gist. Still, how did Kivas spot the danger so fast when Cayame pitched the collaboration?"

Samael’s lips curved into a faint, knowing smile. "It’s surprisingly simple. Ever since the Second Apotheosis, Kivas has felt the weight of the future more keenly than ever. She’s been forcing herself to be cautious, to question every angle.

"It’s sharpened her instincts—she saw the threat the moment Cayame opened her mouth." There was a hint of worry in Samael’s eyes. "In a way, I felt rather bad that she needs to change this much when we’re here to support her fully."

Oizys’s gaze drifted toward the chamber door, her voice softening. "She’s changed a lot since then, hasn’t she?"

"She has," Samael said, her tone gentler now. "But that’s what drives her to become more reliable and magnanimous than ever...

"An Angel who flies even without her wings."

The barrier spell glimmered faintly, and Oizys sighed, a sign of her shifting mood. "Well, we’ve lingered out here long enough. Let’s see what she’s cooking up inside."

With a subtle gesture, Samael unraveled the barrier, the spell dissipating like mist in sunlight.

The two stepped forward, the chamber door sliding open with a whisper of sigil-activated mechanisms.

Inside, the space was the usual marvel of the Claturian and the Divine Construct collaborative design—walls inscribed with glowing runes, crystalline conduits weaving through the ceiling like veins of light.

At the center stood Kivas, her halo casting an otherworldly glow across her sharp features.

Her eyes burned with a fervor that bordered on madness, and in her hands, she held two crystals—pure black, their surfaces alive with pulsing outlines that shimmered like the neon grids of a synthwave landscape.

Samael arched an eyebrow, her voice was dry enough to mask her intrigue. "You look like you’ve been having fun."

Kivas’s grin was wide and unsettling, her excitement barely contained. "You two are late. I’ve already cracked the Living Black Cloud schematic—and taken it somewhere new."

Oizys’s gaze locked onto the crystals, her tendrils flexing with curiosity. "What are those?"

Kivas lifted the crystals higher, their dark surfaces seeming to drink in the light. "I call them Living Dark Matter~! A rather major project I whipped up using the schematic and a touch of my own miracles."

Oizys blinked, her voice edged with intrigue. "Living Dark Matter, huh? Well, you’re going to have to break that down for us. We essentially haven’t even looked at the schematic yet."

Kivas’s grin softened into something more focused, her tone slipping into the rhythm of a teacher addressing eager students. "To start off, the conceptual schematic isn’t just about the Black Living Cloud—it’s a blueprint for making matter alive, even without a soul.

"Just like how the Karasu is able to infuse intelligence and purpose into something as intangible as a cloud. I took that idea and ran with it, applying it to dark matter instead."

Samael’s eyes narrowed, her curiosity piqued. "Why dark matter?"

Kivas’s gaze grew distant, her voice quiet yet resonant. "I’ve always had a connection to emptiness—to the vast, ever-expanding void. In a way, it has become a part of me." Her words hung in the air, heavy with unspoken history. "I felt more familiar with it, so it is definitely something that I can manifest with my miracles despite the opposing divine portfolio."

Oizys, a version of Kivas from another timeline, understood the depth of that statement more than most. She nodded slowly.

"I should’ve expected that," Oizys murmured, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

"After all, you don’t want to make a Living Grain," Samael jested.

"Don’t remind me of those time..."

Samael stepped closer, her gaze fixed on the crystals. "So, what’s the endgame? What does it do?"

Kivas set the crystals down on the table, their pulsing outlines casting faint shadows across the sigil-etched surface. "It’s still early days, but the potential is staggering. If developed right, Living Dark Matter could assist us manipulate space, gravity—maybe even time. Just like how the Living Black Cloud acts more so as a vessel of purpose, ours dark matter underpins reality itself. If we can shape it, and control it, there’s no limit to what we could build."

Oizys’s eyes witched with excitement, her voice rising. "You mean we could craft things that bend reality itself?"

Kivas’s grin returned, sharp and ambitious. "Exactly. Think of defenses that warp space around Vaingall, weapons that crush enemies under artificial gravity, or scouts that slip between dimensions! In any way, those are just hypotheses. Even I don’t exactly know its capabilities without testing further, heh."

Hypothetical biochemistries, such as silicon-based life, propose organisms using silicon instead of carbon, potentially thriving in high-temperature environments. While not proven, this expands possibilities for living creatures in alien worlds.

Dark matter, making up about 27% of Kivas’ former universe’s mass-energy, has been hypothesized to form complex structures or even life-like entities.

Though purely speculative, it could inspire creatures existing in dimensions beyond our perception, interacting with gravity or other forces. Quantum mechanics offers another avenue, with concepts like entanglement, particles linked across distances, or superposition, as in existing in multiple states, theorized about beings that defy classical physics, existing in multiple locations simultaneously.

The science facts that Kivas learned back on Earth turned out to be useful when she pondered about it in this life, and the thought about utilizing all of those knowledge in tandem with the conceptual schematic of the Black Living Cloud was enough to put Kivas’ mind into an overdrive.

Samael’s smirk reappeared, her tone laced with approval. "You’ve outdone yourself this time."

Kivas’s halo flared brighter, her enthusiasm spilling over. "And we’re nowhere near done. These crystals are a proof of concept—we need to test them, refine them. Which is why I need you both in the lab, right now."

Oizys laughed as she got dragged. "You don’t have to twist my arm."

Samael’s gaze lingered on the crystals, her mind already spinning with possibilities. "Let’s move, then. The faster we harness this, the stronger Vaingall becomes."

Kivas’s eyes gleamed with fierce determination. "Good. Let’s turn this into something the Karasu will never see coming."

The three of them turned as one, their footsteps echoing in unison as they left the chamber for the lab.

On the table, the Living Dark Matter crystals pulsed quietly, their black surfaces shimmering like fragments of the void—silent harbingers of a power yet to be unleashed.