Chapter 193: Five Cores

The five circles began rotating faster. Their lights started overlapping. Fire and lightning merged into a brilliant radiance. The silhouettes of beasts moved through it. The distant stars stretched into long trails. All five patterns drew toward each other and for one moment the entire diagram collapsed into a single blinding sphere.

Then Planner closed his hand and the image vanished.

"Now imagine what would happen if all five authorities were brought together under a single strong capable wielder."

Silence filled the laboratory.

Zeus didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. His mind was already running the calculation.

Fire and lightning. Command over beasts. Three other domains powerful enough that they had been separated from the rest and scattered across the world.

If one person possessed all five.

What could stand against them.

The humans and vampires themselves.

His thoughts reached further than that.

The Asuras and Primordials

Zeus’s expression stayed composed but his fingers tightened slowly against the armrest.

’Could something like that rival even them?’

The idea was absurd. And yet the gap between the strongest and the second strongest was always larger than it looked from the outside. If the five Cores represented absolute authority over their domains then combining them might create something that existed outside the normal hierarchy entirely.

Something that could change the balance of the entire world.

He exhaled slowly. "So that’s why you’ve been so focused on them."

Planner tilted his head slightly. "Focused is fine. Obsessed is such an ugly word."

"What would you prefer."

"Interested."

Zeus glanced at the experimental table. "You’ve spent years pursuing something you admit you don’t fully understand. Conducting experiments. Searching for the Helion Core. Gathering information about the remaining three."

He looked back at Planner. "Forgive me if I find obsessed accurate."

Planner was quiet for a moment. Then the amusement came through in his voice again. "You’re free to call it whatever you like." He turned back to his table. "But if you want to understand why I’m interested you should ask yourself a different question."

Zeus waited.

Planner picked up a small glass vial and held it to the light. The pale pink liquid inside swirled slowly as he tilted it. "Why would something possess this kind of authority if the world had no use for it. Nature doesn’t distribute power according to what makes people comfortable. Some things exist to survive. Some exist to destroy. And some exist because the world has not yet reached the point where it needs them."

He placed the vial on the table. "Perhaps the five Cores are simply powerful artifacts. Perhaps they are remnants of something ancient. Or perhaps they are the foundation of something that hasn’t come into existence yet." A small shrug. "Until we have all five any conclusion would be premature."

Zeus studied him.

There it was again. That habit of speaking like he knew something no one else did and then stopping exactly where the explanation became useful. Planner never lied when he could avoid it. He simply chose which truths to reveal.

That was somehow worse than lying.

Zeus leaned back. "You’re asking me to believe that collecting five artifacts could give someone the power to challenge beings who stand at the summit of existence."

"I’m asking you to consider the possibility."

"And if the possibility is wrong."

"Then we’ll have wasted time collecting five exceptionally interesting artifacts." Planner picked up another vial without looking at him. "Either way I intend to find out."

Zeus stared at him.

Then he laughed. More openly this time. "You’re insane."

"Possibly." Planner held the vial to the light. "But insanity is a rather subjective diagnosis when the results are still pending."

Zeus shook his head.

He watched the man work in silence for a moment. Then his expression settled into something more serious. "One more question."

"You’re becoming quite demanding."

"Shut up. It’s about the Helion Core. We can’t afford to fail again. I won’t stay here for a full week while the others struggle to retrieve it."

Planner glanced at the artificial arm. Then at Zeus.

"I see."

He crossed the room to the couch and leaned down to examine the joint where the artificial flesh met Zeus’s shoulder. A thin thread of mana extended from his fingers and brushed against the limb. A faint ripple moved beneath its surface.

"Move your fingers. Slowly. Don’t force the joints and don’t push your full mana through it yet."

Zeus opened the hand. Closed it. Rotated the wrist.

The delay was still there but slightly less noticeable than before.

Planner observed the movement. "Better."

"How long until I can fight."

"Depends on how quickly your body adapts and how carefully you follow my instructions."

"Give me an estimate."

"Three to five days if you’re exceptionally fortunate."

"And if I’m not."

"A week. Impossible if you insist on treating medical recovery as a personal challenge."

Zeus’s lips curved. "Three to five days then."

He stood from the couch slowly and tested the balance of the new arm. Unfamiliar but still obeying well enough to be workable. He had fought with worse disadvantages and in worse conditions.

He straightened his coat.

Planner returned to his table. "Try not to do anything foolish while I’m away."

Zeus looked toward the door. "Where are you going."

"I have to check if the Core could radiate it’s full powers after activating it..."

Planner walked to the towering doors. Just before reaching them he paused with his hand on the frame.

"Oh. And Zeus."

"Yes."

"Don’t remove the bandages."

Zeus looked at his arm. "I wasn’t planning to."

Planner opened the door. The corridor beyond was dark and empty and the crimson lantern light barely reached past the threshold.

"Rest well, Zeus."

He stepped out.

The doors closed.

The laboratory was quiet again.

Zeus stood in the middle of it and looked at his artificial hand one more time.

He let out a quiet sigh.

"I guess I have no choice but to wai—"

BANG!

The laboratory doors flew open as though someone had kicked them off their hinges.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, ZEUS?!"

Zeus slowly turned his head toward the entrance.

His expression remained perfectly composed.

"Nivara?"