Chapter 616: Bell
The Well’s energy crossed the cup in the opposite direction.
Kael expected resistance, but the first impact was completely different. There was not a single source of mana on the other side. There were hundreds, perhaps thousands of fragments mixed together, pressed against one another inside the structure. Memories, instincts, voices, remnants of personality, and ancient commands entered through his marked arm at the same time, striking his mind with enough force to make him lose his balance.
He saw a woman running through a forest he had never known. He felt the fear of a man trapped inside a mine. He heard a child calling for her mother. Immediately afterward, an order cut through all of it like a red blade.
Obey.
The word was not spoken, but it existed inside every memory. It repeated itself beneath different voices, in different languages, and with different intensities. Some of the trapped consciousnesses had resisted for months. Others seemed to have been broken within hours. All of them were connected to the same command structure.
Kael clenched his teeth and kept his hand closed around the cup.
The figure in white tried to pull it away.
"Let go."
"You first."
"You do not understand what you are receiving."
"I am beginning to."
The mark advanced across his chest and reached the center of his mana. Sylphie seized his shoulder from behind, pouring natural energy over the red lines. Their advance slowed, but did not stop. The connection to the Well was stronger than the containment created outside.
"Kael, cut the connection," she ordered.
"No."
"It is entering your mind."
"I know."
"Then release the cup."
Kael closed his eyes for an instant. Within the disorganized flow, he began to perceive two different currents. The first was clear, formed by the stolen consciousnesses and memories. The second was red, thinner, but present inside all of them. It was the command. The part created to transform every victim into obedient fuel for whatever existed at the bottom.
He did not need to pull everything.
He needed to separate the two.
"Elion," Kael called.
His mother was already watching the lines across the platform.
"Speak."
"There are two currents inside the connection. One clear and one red."
"The clear one must be consciousness. The red one is the domination structure."
"How do I separate them?"
Elion threw three instruments near the cup. Small crystal blades remained suspended around Kael’s hands and the figure in white, measuring the energy fluctuations.
"Do not separate them inside the Well. It is too large. Make the separation pass through you."
Sylphie looked at her.
"That could destroy his channels."
"It could."
"Find another way."
"There is no time for another way."
Kael breathed deeply, ignoring the argument.
"What do I need?"
Elion studied the instruments.
"A stable reference for each current. Something that recognizes life to hold the consciousnesses. Something that recognizes command to pull the red structure."
Kael opened his eyes.
"Sylphie holds the life."
She understood immediately, although she did not look pleased.
"And the command?"
Kael looked at his own mark.
"I hold it."
Eleonor approached the edge of the platform, keeping the rows of vessels fixed in space.
"The mark was created by the same structure. It will recognize the order."
"Exactly."
"It may also recognize you as part of it."
Kael gave a small smile.
"Then I will have to convince it otherwise."
The figure in white tried to retreat again. Kael held the cup with both hands and pulled the man closer, preventing him from breaking contact. The hood fell partially away, revealing an aged male face, skin almost gray, and dark veins crossing his jaw.
Violet recognized him first.
"Alaric Dalmor."
The man turned his eyes toward her.
The name also caught Kael’s attention.
"Serena’s uncle."
"Serena was weak," Alaric replied.
Umbra appeared behind him and extended one hand toward his shadow, but retreated the instant she touched it.
"He does not have a shadow of his own."
Alaric smiled.
"I gave away everything that was small."
Kael tightened his grip around the cup.
"And what did you keep?"
"Purpose."
"A pretty word for saying you became a vessel."
Alaric’s expression changed. Not much, only a brief contraction at the side of his face, but Kael noticed that he had struck the truth. That man did not control the Well. Nor was he a leader of the organization. He was merely a more conscious part of the same structure.
"Begin," Kael said.
Sylphie placed her hand against his back and allowed natural energy to enter his channels. The sensation was different from containment. Instead of blocking the connection, she created a direction for the clear current, wrapping every memory in a thin layer of vitality before it reached the center of Kael’s mana.
Eleonor fixed the space around the two men, preventing the pressure from the Well from dragging them toward the opening.
Elion adjusted the instruments.
"When I tell you, pull only the red current. Do not allow the clear one into your center."
"Easy."
"It is not."
"That was sarcasm."
"Now."
Kael pulled.
The mark on his arm opened like a channel.
The red lines spread through the consciousnesses responded to the similar structure and advanced toward him. The clear current came with them, but Sylphie held it before it crossed his chest. For several seconds, Kael stood between two opposing forces, feeling thousands of memories press against his back while the ancient command crossed his arm.
The pain came immediately afterward.
The veins in his neck lit red. His chest seemed to close, and the center of his mana reacted as though being compressed by an enormous hand. Kael did not let go. He allowed the command to enter to a specific point, then surrounded it with his own mana.
Scarlet first.
Celestial afterward.
Light emerged from inside his body, golden at the edges and red at the center. The First Blood structure tried to envelop that energy and classify it within some hierarchy, but found no compatible bloodline. Kael was not a vampire. He did not belong to the network. The mark was an incomplete connection, an open door to a place that could not be commanded by the same rules.
He closed his hand.
The red current began to burn.
The Well roared.
The chamber walls trembled, and several blocks broke loose from the ceiling. Violet cut the first before it struck Sylphie. Eleonor redirected the others with magic without abandoning the chains supporting the vessels.
Alaric tried to release the cup.
Kael pulled the man closer and headbutted him in the face. Alaric’s nose broke, but his hand remained attached to the object.
"You are burning centuries of work," he said, blood running from his mouth.
"Good."
"You will not be able to free them."
"I will figure that out afterward."
"The memories have no bodies."
"They still do not belong to you."
Kael increased the flow.
The surrounding vessels began to react. The clear lights inside them, previously being pulled toward the Well, slowly reversed direction. The faces appeared more clearly. Some consciousnesses still seemed confused, but they were no longer being drained.
Elion observed the instruments.
"It is working."
Sylphie breathed with difficulty.
"For a short time."
The red current was being destroyed, but not quickly enough. The command came from hundreds of levels below the platform and renewed itself with every pulse from the creature. Kael could continue burning it, but his body would be consumed before the entire structure disappeared.
He looked toward the six circles beneath the platform.
"They do not control only the chains."
Elion followed his gaze.
"They are main conductors."
"If we break them..."
"The vessels may fall."
"What if we keep the rows suspended?"
Eleonor answered:
"I can sustain three."
"Sylphie?"
"Two more."
"Umbra holds the last."
Umbra evaluated the distance.
"I can."
Kael removed one hand from the cup.
Alaric tried to take advantage, but Kael tightened his grip around the man’s wrist and twisted until the bone gave way. Alaric’s hand remained attached to the object, now without enough strength to move it away.
"Violet, cut the six circles when I reach them."
The commander raised her sword.
"You cannot abandon the connection."
"I will not."
Kael wrapped the red current from the cup around his own arm. The contact remained active, keeping the network open. When he released the object, the line stretched between him and Alaric like a chain made of blood and shadow.
Celestial Step circulated through his body.
Sylphie noticed.
"Kael, your channels are overloaded."
"Then I need to finish quickly."
He disappeared.
The red chain followed the movement, crossing the platform behind him. Kael appeared in front of the first circle, placed a hand over the seal, and felt its connection to the corresponding row of vessels.
"Now."
Violet cut.
The circle split, but the vessels did not fall. Eleonor fixed them in space at the same instant.
Kael was already at the second.
Another cut.
Another row stopped beneath Eleonor’s control.
At the third, the floor tried to seize his shadow. Umbra broke the seal before it closed. Kael crossed the interference, positioned his hand, and gave the signal.
The third circle fell.
The Well’s pressure decreased for the first time.
Alaric realized what they were doing.
"Stop!"
Kael used the fourth step.
Pain climbed from his ankle into his leg, but he corrected his position before reappearing. Sylphie sustained the fourth row, wrapping the vessels in roots of natural energy. The fifth circle fell immediately afterward.
Only the last remained.
The entire platform tilted.
The Well opened its eyes at the bottom.
Two red lights grew in the darkness, and something enormous began climbing the walls. It was impossible to distinguish a complete body. There were too many arms, fused faces, and a mass of ancient blood bound together by threads of memory. Every movement tore vessels from the lower levels and absorbed them before they could reach the surface.
Umbra looked down.
"It is climbing."
"Hold the last row."
"Kael."
"Now."
She opened her entire shadow beneath the vessels. Kael reached the sixth circle.
Violet prepared the sword.
Alaric screamed.
"If you cut it, it will be free!"
Kael stopped for a fraction of a second.
Not because he believed him.
Because he felt the truth crossing the connection.
The circles did not only feed the Well. They also limited how far the creature could climb. Destroying the final one would stop the draining of the consciousnesses, but remove the last barrier between it and the platform.
Violet looked at Kael.
"Order?"
The creature climbed several more meters. An enormous hand formed from fused human arms seized one of the stone rings. The impact tilted the entire chamber.
Kael looked toward the vessels.
Then toward the creature.
"Protect the consciousnesses."
He closed his fist around the red chain.
"I will handle whatever comes up."
Violet cut the sixth circle.
The seal exploded.
Umbra held the final row while the command network broke throughout the chamber. The clear lights inside the vessels stopped being pulled downward. Thousands of red lines broke free at the same time and surged through the chain connected to Kael.
He took the impact head-on.
His entire body was dragged several meters, but he planted his feet and burned the command with everything he possessed. Celestial light crossed his chest, spread through his arm, and traveled down the chain to the cup.
The object cracked.
Alaric widened his eyes.
"No."
Kael pulled.
Alaric was dragged across the platform and fell at his feet. The cup slipped from the broken hand, but Kael caught it before it touched the ground.
The creature roared.
The final containment ring collapsed, and the enormous hand rose above the edge of the Well. Its fingers closed over the platform, crushing stone and rails. Human faces opened their eyes along the skin, all speaking at the same time.
"Door."
Kael handed the cup to Elion.
"Find out how to close this."
She held the object carefully.
"That may take time."
"Then begin now."
The creature’s hand advanced.
Violet tried to intercept it, but Kael was already moving. He used Celestial Step to cross the platform and appeared in front of the fingers before they reached the vessels. He did not attack with broad mana. He concentrated everything in his right fist and struck the central joint.
BOOM!
The impact traveled through the creature’s entire arm.
The mass of blood and memories was deflected to the side, destroying part of the platform’s edge instead of striking the suspended rows. Kael was thrown backward by the reaction, slid across the stone, and stopped only a few centimeters from the Well.
He looked at his own fist.
The skin was open.
Two fingers were probably broken.
Even so, the creature had recoiled.
Kael raised his eyes.
"So you can feel."
The faces along the hand twisted.
The creature pulled the rest of its body upward.
Eleonor observed the size of the emerging mass.
"Kael, that is not the complete body."
"I noticed."
"It is only what managed to cross the rings."
"Better."
Sylphie ran toward him.
"Better?"
Kael stood, ignoring the blood running from his hand.
"If this is only one part..."
The creature placed its second arm on the edge.
"...I can send it back before the rest comes out."
He looked toward the cup in Elion’s hands.
"How long?"
"I need to reach the internal inscription."
"How long?"
"Three minutes."
Kael opened and closed his injured hand. The pain confirmed the broken fingers, but he could still move his wrist.
The creature began to rise.
"I will give you three."
Eleonor stepped forward.
"We will."
Kael looked at everyone around him. Eleonor still sustained three rows. Sylphie held two more while keeping the mark contained. Umbra supported the last and prevented the creature’s shadows from reaching the vessels. Violet protected Elion.
They were already at their limit.
That part belonged to him.
Kael walked to the edge of the Well.
The creature turned its countless faces toward him. At the center of the mass, a larger mouth began to form, made of overlapping jaws and teeth that resembled shards of crystal.
"Sun," it said.
Kael allowed mana to circulate through his body.
"My name is Kael."
The creature attacked.
The arm came upward from below, large enough to destroy the entire platform. Kael waited until the final instant and used Celestial Step. He appeared on the creature’s forearm, ran across the unstable surface, and avoided the faces trying to bite him.
The mass changed shape beneath his feet.
Kael did not stop.
Each Celestial Step carried him closer to the central head. One short displacement to avoid a hand. Another to cross a cluster of mouths. The third placed him on the creature’s shoulder while it was still trying to understand how he had advanced so quickly.
Kael looked toward the bottom of the Well.
The creature was connected to a greater structure through dozens of red cords.
Command roots.
The part that had climbed was not merely an extension.
It was a head trying to be born.
Kael smiled.
"I found where to cut."
He jumped from the creature’s shoulder and descended along the side of its body, using Celestial Step against the mass itself to change direction in the air. With every movement, he approached the cords connected to the neck.
The creature realized too late.
Kael gathered scarlet mana in his injured hand.
He did not need to destroy the entire body.
He needed to stop it from continuing to emerge.
He struck the first cord.
The connection broke with a sound like thousands of people breathing at the same time.
The creature roared.
Kael reached the second.
Then the third.
The enormous hands began closing around him.
Above, Elion opened the cup and found the inscription.
"Kael!"
He cut the fourth cord.
"What?"
"It is not a seal for closing the Well."
The fifth broke.
"Then what is it?"
Elion looked inside the object, and her expression changed.
"It is a bell."
Kael stopped on one of the remaining cords.
"A bell?"
"It did not awaken the creature."
The cup began vibrating in her hands.
"It called something that was much deeper."
Kael looked downward.
Beyond the mass trying to climb, beyond the rings, the walls covered in vessels, and the rivers of dark mana, a light appeared at the true bottom of the Well.
It was not red.
It was white.
An enormous eye opened beneath everything.
The creature Kael was fighting froze.
The countless faces along its body stopped looking at him.
All of them looked downward.
And for the first time, they showed fear.
Kael closed his hand around the final cord.
The voice rising from the depths did not say "Sun."
It said only:
"I found you."
Kael felt the mark disappear from his arm.
Not retreat.
Disappear, as though something below had collected it.
He raised his face toward Elion.
"How long until we close it?"
She held the vibrating cup.
"We cannot."
The white light began rising.
Kael tore away the final cord.
The creature lost its connection to the depths and began falling, carrying him with it.
Sylphie screamed.
Umbra released part of the row to throw a shadow toward him.
Kael did not try to reach the platform.
He looked toward the eye below.
If that thing was searching for him, there was no point in continuing to fight extensions and messengers.
It was time to find the source.
Kael seized the falling creature’s body and used Celestial Step to propel himself downward.
Instead of escaping the Well, he accelerated toward the bottom.
"KAEL!"
Sylphie’s voice echoed throughout the chamber.
He did not look back.
"Three minutes," he replied, although he did not know whether she could hear him.
The white light grew.
The eye closed.
And something far larger began moving in the darkness to receive him.