Damian’s body twisted mid-air, his attacking leg bending at an angle that shattered bone.

CRACK

And his other leg came around immediately, launching another kick powered by his full strength.

Icarus ducked, the strike missing his head by centimetres.

CRASH

The kick hit the reinforced wall behind him, punching completely through steel and Aura-reinforced concrete.

Debris scattered as the wall collapsed outward.

Icarus’s hand moved, palm open.

SLAP

And the strike caught Damian across the face with enough force to send his body flying backward.

BAM

Damian hit the opposite wall and dropped to the floor, completely unconscious.

Whoosh

Zara appeared beside him instantly, the treasure pill already in her hand.

She forced it between his lips, her other hand glowing with healing Aura as she worked on his shattered leg.

"Reckless... insane... both of you..."

The words came out muttered, more for herself than anyone else.

"I knew he would lose control! What an idiot! Trying to get himself killed before he even reaches the battlefield!"

She kept healing, kept working, her hands moving with practiced efficiency despite the trembling in her fingers.

Then she noticed Icarus hadn’t responded to any of her muttering.

Her head turned, looking back toward where he stood.

And he was staring at his hand, the one that had blocked Damian’s first kick.

Blood dripped from his palm, crimson drops hitting the floor in steady rhythm.

"Did he–"

Her voice cut off, the implication too large to finish.

"Yes, Zara."

Icarus’s voice came out quiet, carrying something between shock and satisfaction.

"Somehow, an A rank awakener managed to make me bleed with a single kick."

His eyes found the unconscious boy being healed by Zara’s Aura.

"While completely overtaken by a principle he couldn’t control and deteriorating consciousness..."

He closed his hand slowly, watching blood squeeze between his fingers.

"He still hit hard enough to wound an S rank."

****

Damian’s awareness returned slowly, consciousness dragging itself out of darkness.

His eyes opened, taking in the chamber ceiling above him.

’What... happened?’

Memory flooded back immediately.

The devouring, the loss of control, attacking Zara, the kick aimed at Icarus’s head.

’I... remember everything.’

His thoughts came clear despite the headache pounding behind his eyes.

’I knew what I was doing, could see myself moving, hear myself speaking...’

But something had been controlling him, overriding his intentions while leaving his awareness intact.

’That hunger, that desperate need to consume everything...’

His hands opened and closed, testing his control.

"Candidate Damian."

Icarus’s voice cut through his processing.

"Are you back in control?"

Damian sat up slowly, his eyes finding both Generals watching him with careful expressions.

"Sorry about that, Generals."

His voice came out hoarse but steady.

"It seems the backlash from devouring an S rank being was greater than I expected..."

Icarus nodded once, his expression unreadable.

"I already expected something similar based on your history with this art and the previous incidents mentioned in your records."

His eyes tracked Damian’s movements, cataloging his current state.

"Can you check your status screen? I need to know if the risk was actually worth what you gained."

Damian pulled up his interface, pushing aside the lingering questions about what had possessed him.

His eyes scanned the changes, widening slightly at what he found.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Vitality: 800 → 866

Perception: 410 → 463

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

’Vitality stat broke past the natural limits? And so much increase in perception as well...’

But the real change sat below that.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Obsidian Hide: C → S

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

’My first S rank skill...’

He activated it without speaking, Aura flowing through new pathways the skill had carved into his system.

Black liquid emerged from his pores, but this time it looked different from the rough leathery coating before.

The substance hardened into gleaming black metal, smooth and seamless as it spread across his skin.

His arms, legs, torso, everything became encased in armor that looked forged rather than grown.

And unlike before, the coverage didn’t stop at his neck.

The metal flowed over his face, creating a helmet that sealed completely.

And two large curved horns grew from the top, extending backward and up like a crown of darkness.

Pressure radiated outward from his armored form, making the air itself feel heavier.

Zara took an involuntary step backward, her hand rising defensively.

"What kind of transformation–"

Icarus’s eyes narrowed, his Aura flaring slightly in automatic response to the pressure.

"That’s S rank defensive capability. The resonance matches the Broodmother’s natural armor almost perfectly."

Damian deactivated the skill, black metal dissolving back into his body.

But his expression remained somber, eyes distant despite the improvement in his strength.

’All this power mean nothing if I can’t control–’

Before he could think further, Icarus’s voice resonated carrying concern.

"Is there still backlash affecting your mental state?"

His hand moved toward his spatial storage.

"I can provide additional treasures if your mind isn’t–"

"Say, Generals..."

Damian’s whisper cut through the offer.

His crimson eyes lifted, finding both their faces.

"I’ve been wondering about something for a while now."

His voice carried weight that made both S ranks pause.

"If the Laws of the universe are conscious, if they have awareness and will of their own..."

He paused, the question forming with terrible clarity.

"Then by mastering them, are we really becoming more powerful?"

His hands opened, staring at his palms.

"Or are we just becoming their vessels? Tools for them to act through, wearing our faces while we convince ourselves we’re in control?"

The question hung in the chamber, carrying implications that made both Generals go still.

Zara’s mouth opened, then closed without speaking.

Icarus’s expression became distant, like the question had touched something deeper in his mind.

But before either could formulate a response–

Their heads snapped up simultaneously, eyes tracking toward something beyond the chamber walls.

"They’re here faster than I expected."

Icarus’s whisper emerged tense.

Zara’s hand settled on Damian’s shoulder.

Whoosh

The world twisted.

One moment they stood in the containment facility.

The next, they materialized on the training field beside the assembled candidates.

Every head turned toward them, then immediately snapped upward.

Following their gazes to the sky above.

A massive ship hung in the air, descending slowly toward the training center grounds.

Its hull was constructed from black metal, edges sharp and angular in ways that suggested function over aesthetics.

And painted across its side in blood-red letters: MP

Whispers exploded through the assembled candidates immediately.

"That’s a Military Police transport..."

"I’ve only seen those in combat footage..."

"Why are they here so fast? The war just started..."

"We haven’t even gotten the time to learn their skills..."

"Look at the size of it... How many people can that thing carry?"

"We’re really being deployed this fast?"

The ship’s engines hummed, a deep vibration that made the ground tremble as it settled into a hover above the field.

And watching it descend, Damian stood among his new squad, his mind still turning over the question neither General had been able to answer.