CHAPTER 128: SUBJECT #009 NEXT MISSION 2

~Back on the battlefield.

Screech!

The monsters screeched, their roars drowned beneath the screaming wind. Their bodies lifted, twisted, and shredded—torn by thousands of invisible blades.

Blood sprayed across the arena.

Flesh hit stone.

She landed gracefully in the eye of her own storm.

Silence fell.

Only three monsters remained, their bodies battered, skin ripped open, two of them crawling.

The mage panted, chest rising and falling, but her eyes—those savage, golden-reptilian eyes—burned brighter.

Above, one scientist whispered with reverence, "This is no longer merely a wind spell... she’s touching the elemental consciousness of the wind itself."

Back below, one of the crawling monsters roared defiantly.

She didn’t move.

Instead, her mouth curled upward.

Then, she spread her wings again—broken as they were—and raised one arm toward the high ceiling.

"Final symphony of the storm—Howl of the Skies."

It wasn’t a spell.

It was an invocation.

The chamber’s temperature dropped instantly.

The air thickened. It churned.

Lightning danced around her body, interwoven with green wind lines. The energy she called upon coalesced not into a blade, nor a sphere—but into a roaring, screaming wind beast, shaped like a great eagle forged from storm and lightning.

It opened its beak—then screamed.

The sound shattered the nearby obsidian walls. The remaining monsters didn’t even have time to react.

BOOOOOOM!

The eagle dived. Wind howled.

The entire chamber exploded into chaos.

The wave of destruction carved a crater where the monsters had stood. Smoke, blood, and stone scattered.

When the wind died down, the chamber was nothing but ruin. A crater smoldered where the monsters had once been.

And at the edge of it—stood Subject #009.

Kneeling.

Blood dripping from her mouth, her claws burned and cracked, one wing completely destroyed.

She trembled.

But she smiled.

"I did it... I’m stronger."

From above, silence reigned.

Then the scientists all stood at once.

"She has achieved Phase Two of Demonized Evolution."

"Send word to the Overseer."

"And prepare the next level."

As Subject #009’s body collapsed to one knee, the walls shifted once again, revealing a descending staircase.

The next trial awaited.

But the wind around her whispered gently—carrying her forward.

•••

The stone gate ahead groaned open, ancient and reluctant, as if even the dungeon itself feared what waited beyond. A wave of rancid air burst out like a whisper from the underworld—thick with the scent of blood, rotting flesh, and something else... something ancient.

Subject #009, the demonized Mage, stepped into the abyss.

Her steps were uneven. Her talons clicked softly against the metal-etched stone. Blood painted her arms, soaking into the black, chitinous scales that fused with her skin. Her tattered wings dragged behind her, clawed edges torn from countless evasions. Yet, amid all that—she smiled.

Not with arrogance.

But defiance.

"She should’ve collapsed after the last fight."

Inside the laboratory above, ghost-like scientists observed her from behind crystalline surveillance runes. Their white robes reflected the pulsing lights of the lab, and their faces were unreadable behind transparent visors enchanted with detection magic.

"She’s not collapsing," murmured another.

"She’s ascending."

All eyes watched as Subject #009 walked into the next chamber. Unlike the twisted, rocky terrains of the earlier floor, this room was artificially constructed—symmetrical, sterile, and vast, the ceiling lined with spell-enhanced lights that hummed with oppressive mana.

This was no dungeon floor.

This was a testing arena.

The ground pulsed beneath her feet—arcane glyphs etched into the metal flickered to life, reacting to her presence.

Then it came.

From the far wall, an enormous gate rose. Chains rattled. A hiss of pressurized steam.

Then... it emerged.

A monster born from madness. A chimera beast, an amalgamation of a dozen monsters. A serpent’s body slithered out first, dark green scales gleaming with poison. The upper torso of a mutated minotaur followed, arms bulging with unnatural muscle, bone protruding from the elbows like weapons. Four heads crowned its thick neck: one draconic, one wolf-like, one crowned with curled ram horns, and the last... a human face, twisted in pain and insanity.

Its eyes pulsed with chaotic prana, the air around it crackling with disrupted Law—a corrupted hybrid of Lightning. Each step reverberated through the chamber like thunder.

Subject #009 narrowed her eyes.

This time, brute strength wouldn’t be enough.

It was time.

She raised her hand—and the air shifted.

The wind, always lingering around her like a silent partner, began to stir.

"Tempest Veil."

The air shimmered. An invisible sphere of compressed currents erupted from her body, shielding her form and distorting her presence. She vanished—just as the beast lunged.

WHAM!

A claw missed her by a breath.

She reappeared behind it and unleashed a spinning kick infused with compressed wind. The impact created a pressure wave so strong it hurled the chimera across the chamber, carving a path in the steel floor.

The battle had begun.

From above, the scientists leaned closer.

"She’s invoking higher-level concepts now," one of them murmured. "Layered wind compression, advanced pressure control... she’s evolving."

"Piercing Gale!"

Subject #009 extended both arms—blades of wind magic formed at her fingertips, sharp enough to slice steel. She hurled dozens of translucent, spinning projectiles, each honing in on the chimera’s exposed joints and vitals.

The chimera roared.

Its draconic head retaliated—Lightning Howl!

Crackling arcs of magic lightning burst forth, colliding mid-air with the wind blades. Sparks rained. Explosions shook the room. The pressure turned deafening as two raw elemental forces clashed.

She ducked beneath a wild tail swipe and unleashed a secondary spell—

"Gale Step."

The world slowed as she blinked through compressed wind platforms, dancing between strikes. Her claws ripped through the beast’s scales, leaving glowing gashes behind.

But the chimera adapted quickly.

Its ram head opened its mouth wide—"Sound Burst!"

A concussive wave detonated in all directions.

Subject #009 was caught mid-step—thrown like a ragdoll, crashing into the wall hard enough to leave a crater. Her wings cracked. Blood gushed from her mouth. She slid down in a heap.

The lab fell silent.

"Is that it?" one voice asked.

But then—

She laughed.

Coughing blood, she pushed herself up.

"Turbulent Collapse."

With a whisper, the air around the chimera’s core imploded. A vacuum formed at its heart—suddenly all pressure collapsed in, crushing part of its shoulder inward. It screeched, staggering in pain.

Time to end for all.