Beneath the eerie, purplish-red sky, a silent sea of black irises surged like waves, offering a mute tribute to the impending slaughter. Lila stood quietly before the altar constructed of bones, her fingers—adorned with an ancient bone ring—slightly curled. Within her, a gentle yet immense power was achieving a delicate and perilous balance with her remaining human consciousness, the violent energy of the diamond heart, and the lurking will of the "Crown of Thorns."
Opposite her, the mobile abomination fortress—a grotesque amalgamation of corpses and machinery—slowly advanced. At its apex, Harlowe's remaining half-skull glared with a single, frenzied eye that burned with insatiable greed. From the base of his spine extended countless thick conduits—metallic and organic tubes resembling blood vessels—that pierced deep into the fortress, as if siphoning the strength of the dead. Beneath him, the monsters composed of bones and black iris vines emitted ear-piercing screeches, their empty eye sockets flickering with blue soulfire.
"The key… must be mine!" Harlowe's voice roared through the fortress' speakers, distorted and manic. "Generations of effort! Countless experiments! All for this moment! To fuse with the blue heart, master the thorn power, and become… eternal!"
"Your eternity is built upon the bones of countless lives," Lila replied, her voice calm but piercing with a timeless coldness. The bone ring seemed to amplify the energy within her while clarifying her will. She was no longer the avenger driven by hatred and despair, nor the vessel terrified of her own power. She was… a survivor who had witnessed too much death and betrayal.
"Life? Mere inferior organics!" Harlowe cackled madly. "Their sole purpose is to fuel my ascension to godhood! Like you, my dear 'daughter,' you and your foolish 'mother' (the guardian), and that abomination of a boy Weston I 'perfected'… all stepping stones in my grand design!"
Before his words faded, dozens of glowing red energy cannons suddenly extended from the sides of the abomination fortress! A high-pitched charging sound filled the air!
"The Crown of Thorns" instantly heightened its alert: "High energy reaction! Evade!"
But Lila did not move. She simply raised her hand, adorned with the bone ring. The moisture in the air condensed instantly, forming a massive, translucent wall of ice. Within it, countless tiny, thorn-like energy patterns swirled rapidly.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM—!" The energy cannons fired in unison! Beams capable of melting steel slammed into the ice wall!
The wall trembled violently, cracks forming on its surface—but it did not shatter! The swirling thorn-like energy patterns seemed to absorb and dissipate most of the impact! Lila let out a soft groan, a trickle of blood escaping the corner of her mouth, but her eyes grew even more resolute. The power of the bone ring was far greater and more esoteric than she had imagined.
"Interesting…" Harlowe seemed momentarily surprised, then grew even more deranged. "Then allow me to show you true… 'art'!"
From beneath the abomination fortress, the bone-iris monsters surged forward like a tide! Their movements were swift, their claws sharp, and their vines lashed out like venomous snakes!
Lila took a deep breath and ceased suppressing the surging power within her. Cold energy spread from her feet, freezing the black soil instantly. Countless sharp icicles erupted from the ground, impaling and freezing the first wave of dozens of monsters. Then, she formed two spheres of burning blue frost in her palms and hurled them into the monster horde!
"BOOM!" The explosion of ice and flame—or rather, extreme cold energy combined with blue diamond energy—ripped through the horde! Bones and burning vines scattered everywhere!
She moved like a Valkyrie of ice amidst the chaos. Her movements no longer relied on muscle strength but were lighter, faster, as if riding the wind. Each gesture unleashed blasts of frost or energy, tearing apart the grotesque creations with ease.
"The Crown of Thorns" buzzed excitedly in her mind, reveling in the pure release of power. But Lila's consciousness remained clear, anchored by the calming presence of the bone ring, preventing her from being consumed entirely by the force.
"Worthless! All worthless!" Harlowe roared in fury as his creations were effortlessly destroyed. Atop the fortress, his single eye blazed crimson! The fortress split open, revealing within… a pulsating biological core resembling a giant heart, composed of twisted veins and nerve bundles?!
Dozens of thick, semi-transparent "blood vessels" connected this core to Harlowe's spine! Within them flowed not blood, but a viscous, glowing blue… energy fluid?!
Lila's pupils contracted sharply! She recognized this fluid—it was strikingly similar to the energy extracted from fragments of the blue diamond heart she had seen in the ice cellar! Harlowe… had directly connected his life-support system to some… highly concentrated, extremely unstable energy source?!
"Finally noticed, have you?" Harlowe seemed pleased with Lila's shock. "This is true 'fusion'! I will not only merge with the blue heart but also claim all the power of the 'thorn' bloodlines for myself! Including you, the accursed 'origin sample,' and even the genetically 'optimized' fragments within the Weston men!"
He laughed maniacally as the biological core pulsed faster! The "blood vessels" connecting to his spine thickened abruptly, their blue glow intensifying! An overwhelming pressure radiated outward, suffocating Lila!
"See these 'vessels'?" Harlowe's voice dripped with arrogance and cruelty. "They connect every corner of this 'garden,' linking all my 'collected' failures and… nutrients! I drain life and energy from them to sustain my existence! Soon, I'll insert a 'straw' into your body and suck you dry!"
Blood vessels… connection… truth… A flash of insight struck Lila's mind! She suddenly recalled the forced information stream injected into her in Chapter Thirteen, within the wine cellar! It contained records of Harlowe's early experiments, detailing how he conducted numerous blood and tissue exchange experiments to overcome the rejection of the blue heart's energy, seeking a perfect "medium" to "harmonize" and "conduct" the energy! And the most successful "medium" was the bloodline carrying the "thorn" genetic marker!
Could it be… these so-called "blood vessels" were not just energy conduits but also… a forced, predatory system for transferring genetic information and life energy?! Harlowe wasn't merely siphoning energy—he was attempting to forcibly "absorb" all related genetic data into himself, completing some twisted form of "fusion"?!
This explained his obsession with the "origin sample" and Lila—they represented the purest form of the "thorn" gene and blue heart energy fragments! It also explained why Ethan's father had "voluntarily" sacrificed himself to retrieve the heart—likely, he had been modified and controlled by Harlowe in a similar manner beforehand!
"Your greed is your greatest weakness." A cold glint flashed in Lila's eyes. She understood. Harlowe appeared powerful, but his forced fusion was highly unstable. Those "blood vessels" were his most vulnerable point!
She stopped engaging the endless horde of bone-iris monsters and instead focused all her power directly on Harlowe's body and his pulsating biological core!
Extending her hand adorned with the bone ring, she gathered icy energy at her fingertips, forming a spear of shimmering blue frost! Its tip aimed directly at the thickest "blood vessels" connecting Harlowe's spine to the biological core!
"Never!" Harlowe clearly sensed the danger! The biological core contracted violently, and the corpse parts and mechanical components of the fortress reorganized into a thick, spike-covered, energy-laden bone shield! Simultaneously, his single eye flared red again, attempting to disrupt Lila's energy control with AI calculations!
"Too late!" Lila—or perhaps the temporary unity of her will with the bone ring and her complex inner powers—let out a sharp cry! The ice spear shot forward like a meteor slicing through the night sky, its resolve unyielding as it struck the bone shield!
"BOOM—!!!"
A deafening explosion erupted! The bone shield shattered! Though the spear lost much of its energy, its momentum carried it forward, piercing the thickest "blood vessels" with precision!
"SIZZLE—!!!"
The blue energy fluid gushed out like a breached dam! But strangely, what spewed forth wasn't just energy fluid—countless twisted, agonized souls made of pure energy emerged as well! These were the fragmented spirits of countless experimental subjects drained and imprisoned within the energy core!
"NO—!!! My energy! My reserves!!!" Harlowe screamed in terror! His mechanical half-skull convulsed violently, and the conduits connecting to his body withered and snapped like lifeless vines! The pulsating biological core deflated rapidly like a punctured balloon!
The abomination fortress began to disintegrate! The corpses and machinery composing it collapsed like a waterfall, losing energy support! The bone-iris monsters lost control, attacking and tearing at each other until they became piles of broken bones and withered vines.
Was it over? Lila watched Harlowe fall from the sky, reduced to half a skull and a section of spine, dragged down by a few broken conduits. A wave of exhaustion washed over her.
But then, Harlowe's remaining eye locked onto Lila, his face twisting into a malevolent and eerie grin.
"You think… it ends here? HAHAHAHA…" He laughed madly, his voice like a demon from hell. "I foresaw this day long ago… My true 'insurance'… was planted long before…"
"My 'blood'… has already flowed into… every 'container's' body…"
"These blood vessels… connect not just energy… but also… my will! My backup!"
Before his words finished, Lila suddenly felt an unprecedented, excruciating pain in her abdomen—far worse than during the forced separation! It was deeper, more penetrating!
She looked down to see the blood-red iris pattern glowing on her stomach begin to twist and distort! At its center, a tiny red dot identical to Harlowe's single eye slowly emerged, opening?!
"NO… NO!!!" Lila screamed in despair! Harlowe… had implanted not just the hybrid embryo but also a backup of his own consciousness into her during the procedure?! Through some… genetic-level "blood transfusion"?!
That so-called "hybrid" wasn't created to produce an heir—it was… the ultimate, perfect vessel for his eventual possession?!