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Chapter 26 - Sabotage And Cascade

Arin pressed his back against the cold stone, the buzzing hum of the Formation Core a constant pressure in the air. He had mere minutes before the guards cycled. The threat had to be eliminated silently, contained within the basement level.

He pulled a small, tightly wrapped packet from his pouch a volatile powder he had gathered from a thermal vent near the Shadow Wolf territory. It was highly reactive to refined spiritual Qi. He aimed for a disused ventilation duct leading to the servant quarters opposite the core room.

Using a burst of focused, active Qi from his Marrow-Sealed core a rare expenditure of his internal reserve, Arin superheated the powder and flung it into the duct. The reaction was instantaneous: a controlled, localised pop of raw, disorganised Qi and heat. It was enough to trigger a minor panic alarm in the opposite wing.

"What was that?" the guard closest to the door, a sturdy man named Velos, snapped. His two companions exchanged glances.

"Sounded like a thermal spike in the West Vent. Go check it out, Jorin, Kess. It's probably just a faulty regulator," Velos commanded, his focus still lazily on the azure liquid. The other two guards, eager to escape the stifling heat of the core room, rushed out immediately.

Arin moved the moment the heavy stone door sealed behind the retreating guards.

Velos, now alone, turned his back to the grate, pouring a sample of the spiritual liquid into a maintenance flask.

Arin burst through the grate, a blur of dark fabric and focused killing intent.

Velos spun instantly, his experience overriding his surprise. A wave of focused Qi slammed into Arin's chest, aimed to stun and subdue.

Arin let the Qi wash over his Bone-Forged frame. The refined energy did nothing but press him backwards slightly. He ignored the blow, and the Shadow-Weave Steps flashed.

He flickered into a non-existent space, using the momentary distortion of light to create a blind spot. Velos gasped, his eyes losing track of the intruder.

In that fraction of a second, Arin closed the distance. He aimed not for the head or the core, but to disable the hands the tools of a cultivator.

His Bone-Forged fist, an instrument of crushing density, shot out and clipped Velos's forearm. The impact's area was minimal, but its concussive force was massive. Velos's arm fractured instantly, the shock paralysing the limb up to his shoulder and causing him to drop his Qi-stabilised maintenance flask.

Velos cried out, but Arin was already moving. He pinned the man against the stone wall with a Bone-Forged pressure point lock, pressing the point of his stolen utility knife against Velos's carotid artery.

"Wards," Arin hissed, his voice rough. "Tell me how to cut the main flow. Now."

Velos, realising he was facing an enemy who defied his understanding of spiritual power, choked out the instructions: a small, concealed runic panel near the base of the pool, activated by a sequential Qi key.

Arin immediately delivered a non-lethal, focused strike to the side of Velos's neck the same move he'd perfected in the Labourer Corps rendering the cultivator instantly unconscious. He secured the man against the wall, silent and immobilised.

The window was closing. Arin rushed to the pool.

He located the runic panel and pressed the sequence Velos had provided. A small, protective seal over the pool flickered open, revealing the raw, bubbling azure liquid.

Arin pulled out a crystallised sliver of his most potent Shadow Wolf core the last remains of the spiritual beast's power. This core was incompatible with Malachi's refined liquid oil and fire.

He dropped the shard into the azure pool.

The liquid hissed violently. For a moment, the spiritual energy intensified, then the incompatible energies began to clash in a massive internal pressure wave. The pool convulsed violently, churning into a frothing, explosive vortex of blue and black Qi.

Arin didn't wait. He used a burst of Shadow-Weave Steps to cover the twenty feet to the chamber door, sealing himself out just as the reaction reached its critical point.

The Formation Core detonated.

It was not a physical explosion of fire and shrapnel, but a catastrophic implosion of spiritual energy. The entire basement shuddered. The protective stone of the chamber cracked, and a massive, deafening Wail of spiritual power, the sound of an entire defensive network dying shot up through the estate.

Above Arin, the entire fortress plunged into chaos. The lights flickered and died. The oppressive hum of the Sensing Array vanished, leaving behind a jarring, unnatural silence. The inner wards were dead.

A moment later, a terrifyingly potent wave of spiritual raw sense , unfiltered, and furious slammed down from the central spire. It was Lord Malachi, awakened and enraged, his power far exceeding the Core-Formation stage.

"INTRUDER! I WILL TEAR YOU APART PIECE BY PIECE!" The massive spiritual shout reverberated through the stone, filled with murderous intent.

Arin ignored the warning. He knew he had only seconds before the full might of the estate descended upon the basement. The fear in the air was palpable, but Arin felt only the cold, clear mandate of the Mark.

He raced through the darkened service tunnels, ignoring the sounds of returning guards and the shouts of the newly alerted patrols. His focus was singular: the Central Spire.

He burst into the ground floor, now utterly exposed, moving with the blistering speed of the Blood-Engraved stage. The path to the spire was now open, the sophisticated inner wards silent and powerless.

Arin sprinted toward the vault door, fueled by the stable power of his Marrow-Sealed core and the adrenaline of total defiance. The climactic theft was about to begin

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