I Received System to Become Dragonborn

Chapter 703 He Showed Up

The group stepped into a huge chamber behind the room, the darkness swallowing them as the door sealed behind them again with a quiet hiss. The air was filled with the scent of metal and something faintly burnt. There are residual energy of some Magic happened and long lingered in this place.

The only light came from flickering panels scattered along the walls that pulsing erratically. But their glow were too weak to properly illuminate the room.

"This room seems important," Arlyn murmured.

No one responded. They were all too focused and too tense to muttered a reply.

The silence here pressing against their senses. Every step they took echoed faintly agaitns the metal wall like a reminder of how large the space around them was.

Aerchon took the lead, his eyes scanning for anything that might hint at the purpose of this chamber.

Saeldir walked close behind him, his fingers twitching as he maintained the invisibility spell that had kept them undetected so far. It wouldn't hold forever and they all knew it.

"Sylra," Saeldir whispered, barely turning his head. "Extend your senses. See if anything is near us."

Sylra gave a small nod and closed her eyes, focusing. The moment stretched and tension thick in the air as they all stood still and just waiting for her to finish her job.

Minutes passed before she finally spoke.

"I sense a few energy sources," she said with careful voice. "Scattered around here. And they are not moving."

Saeldir's eyes narrowed. "What are they?"

Sylra shook her head. "I can't tell. They're strange. They don't feel natural but they also don't feel entirely foreing either."

Aerchon exhaled sharply, thinking. "Then we search the area carefully. We need to know what are these things."

The others nodded. Slowly, they spread out and begin moving through the dark chamber.

Vael and Arlyn examined the nearest set of panels, their fingers brushing against the cool metal. The symbols etched onto them pulsed. They can see glowing inscriptions written in the runic language of their own world.

"This is our Magic," Arlyn muttered. "This is some kind of Magic runes."

Vael who standing not far from him nodded, his brow furrowed. "But why is it here? And this is feel altered."

"What else? Must be Laston's doing," Arlyn said.

Saeldir and Aerchon approached another set of panels across the chamber. These were larger and positioned at an angle as if forming part of a greater structure they can't tell.

The runes here were even more intricate, shifting slightly as if alive beneath the surface of the metal.

"This isn't just our usual Magic. It's been fused with something else," Aerchon murmured, running his fingers along the markings. "The metal working of Laston's doing."

Sylra moved further ahead toward the center of the chamber, alone. The floor was different here. Its smoothe and almost polished, and in the dim light she could see the faint outline of something embedded into the ground. A circular design, lines spreading outward like veins, pulsing with a faint blue glow.

"This place feels like a core. Maybe a power source," she thought with a concerned feeling. She gulped and swallowed her saliva hard.

She go back to Saeldir and Aerchon and told what she had saw. As soon as she spoke, the flickering lights around them shifted and growing stronger.

The room responded to their presence. A low hum vibrated beneath their feet.

Then, from the darkness, something stirred.

The sensation hit them all at once. A ripple in the air happened and an unseen force pressing against their Magic senses. Their sharp reflexes took over and they moved immediately.

Vael pulled his bow free and an arrow already nocked in the blink of an eye. Arlyn's hands found the hilts of his dual swords, drawing them with a quiet hiss.

Sylra twirled her poisoned dagger into a ready grip, her stance low and poised. Aerchon's sword gleamed faintly under the flickering lights as he stepped forward. Saeldir unsheathed his own blade.

Their gazes snapped to the center of the room, where the disturbance had emerged.

Then, the chamber flooded with light. Bright and harsh, cutting through the dimness in an instant.

They all squinted, their eyes adjusting, and when their vision cleared they saw him.

Standing in the middle of the room, clad in deep red robes lined with glowing circuits of energy, was Laston.

His once-silver hair had faded further, now an almost ghostly gray. His expression was calm, composed, his hands clasped behind his back as though he had been expecting them all along.

And then he smiled.

"Ah… at last," Laston mused, his voice smooth and filled with something between amusement and anticipation. "I was wondering how long it would take before you found your way here."

Saeldir's grip on his sword tightened, his Magic still pulsing beneath his fingers. "Laston."

They should've been invisible but Laston actually manage to see them. There's no point on holding the spell anymore so he let it go.

Aerchon took a step forward. "You knew we were coming."

Laston's smile didn't fade. "Of course. I was waiting for you. You should know by now that nothing moves through my city without my awareness."

Sylra's dagger twitched in her grasp, her instincts screaming at her. "Then why didn't you stop us?"

Laston exhaled slowly, almost as if he pitied them.

"Because I wanted you to come. You've seen what I've built, haven't you?" He gestured subtly to the walls, the pulsing runes, the fusion of Magic and technology all around them. "This world with its power and its endless possibilities. And now, you stand in its beating heart. But you only saw a fraction of it."

He spread his arms slightly, as if welcoming them. "Tell me… What do you think of it?"

Silence stretched between them, thick with tension.

Then Aerchon shifted his stance. "We're not here to admire your work."

"Ah," Laston sighed, shaking his head with feigned disappointment. "Always so serious, my dear niece Aerchon. So stubbornly loyal to that kingdom and your father."

Aerchon's jaw tightened, but he didn't take the bait.

Saeldir's voice was sharp. "This—" he gestured at the room around them, at the twisted fusion of their Magic and this world's technology, "—this isn't power. It's corruption. You had corrupted our pure Magic."

Laston's smile widened, but there was something darker behind it now. "Corruption? No, Saeldir. This is evolution."

The pulsing veins of energy beneath their feet brightened. The air in the room grew heavier. Something unseen stirred once more.

And Laston, still smiling, lowered his hands from behind his back.

"Now… let me show you some of it."

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