[Critical Warning: Target lock confirmed. Probability of surviving a direct physical strike without mana reinforcement: 0%.]

"I know that," Zen mentally gritted his teeth. "Where are the Vanguard cameras?"

[Scanning... Three active surveillance lenses are currently locked onto your position from the upper observation deck.]

Zen knew if he used his ancient magic right now, the Inquisitor would record it in high-definition. His cover would be permanently blown. The entire Vanguard military would descend on him before he could even limp out of the dungeon.

"Zen, run!" Jax screamed from the other side of the twenty-foot chasm, slamming his fists against his heavy shield in a desperate attempt to draw the monster’s attention. "Hey! Ugly! Look over here!"

The beast completely ignored Jax. It let out a low, guttural growl, purple Void smoke dripping from its jagged jaws as it raised a massive claw to crush Zen into the earth.

"I can’t run, Jax!" Zen yelled back, his eyes darting across the ground. He spotted a heavy, jagged piece of steel rebar lying in the rubble near his boots.

"System," Zen commanded. "Hpw possible is it to blind those lenses using this rebar?"

[Calculating variables... Striking the primary dome at a 72-degree upward angle yields a 99.7% probability that the resulting glass shrapnel will critically blind the two secondary lenses.]

Zen didn’t hesitate. He kicked the steel rebar into the air, gripped his combat knife with both hands, and swung it like a baseball bat.

CLANG.

The heavy rebar shot upward like a bullet, shattering the primary camera dome. A split second later, a shower of razor-sharp glass exploded outward, perfectly shredding the secondary lenses in a shower of sparks.

"What did you just do?!" Valeria screamed from across the chasm, her voice shaking with panic.

"I bought a blind spot!" Zen shouted back.

The Void Beast lunged, its massive shadow-claw swiping down to tear Zen in half.

Zen didn’t brace. He didn’t try to block. He planted his feet into the cracked concrete and forcefully drew in a massive, ragged breath.

Primordial Void Breathing.

He bypassed his inverted, useless mana core entirely. He violently inhaled the thick, corrupted ambient mana leaking off the beast itself, forcing the raw, toxic energy directly into his bloodstream and muscle tissues.

His veins instantly bulged against his skin, glowing with a terrifying, blinding white light. The pain was instant. It felt like his blood had been replaced with liquid fire.

"Die," Zen whispered coldly.

Using the Emperor’s Stride, Zen blurred out of existence for a fraction of a millisecond. He slipped flawlessly inside the beast’s guard.

Before the massive claw could hit the ground, Zen drove his standard-issue combat knife directly upward, aiming for the exact harmonic weak point beneath the monster’s heavily armored ribcage.

The borrowed S-Rank ancient mana exploded from the tip of the blade.

It wasn’t a physical cut. It was total erasure.

A pillar of blinding white light erupted from the beast’s chest, shooting straight up into the ceiling. The monster didn’t even have time to roar. The S-Rank spatial energy violently tore the Void corruption apart at the molecular level.

The beast completely disintegrated, turning into a cloud of harmless gray ash that rained down over the plaza.

[Critical Warning: Probability of catastrophic physical backlash: 100%. Probability of immediate muscle rupture and skeletal fracturing: 99.9%.]

Zen had no time to process the System’s warning. The massive recoil of channeling S-Rank magic through an unreinforced, F-Rank body slammed into him like a freight train.

CRACK.

Three of his already fractured ribs snapped completely.

Zen gasped, his eyes rolling back as the blinding white light faded from his veins. He violently coughed up a thick mouthful of dark blood and collapsed hard onto his side. The combat knife slipped from his fingers, clattering uselessly across the concrete.

"Zen!" Jax screamed, dropping his shield and rushing to the edge of the chasm. "No! Zen!"

On the other side of the gap, Valeria completely lost her mind.

Spider-cracks spread across her thick glasses, but her sheer willpower kept them from shattering. Behind the fractured lenses, her crimson eyes burned like twin suns.

She could not use her S-Rank aura without blowing her cover, but the suppressed, possessive pressure leaking from her body was intense enough to make the concrete dust violently swirl around her boots.

She didn’t hesitate. She grabbed the back of Maya’s tactical vest with one hand.

"Hey! Wait! I can’t jump that..." Maya shrieked in terror.

Valeria leaped. Carrying the terrified healer like she weighed absolutely nothing, she pushed her physical output to the absolute limit of what a low-rank student could fake. In a single bound, the Goddess of War cleared the twenty-foot chasm.

Zen’s vision swam, but his tactical mind cursed. A twenty-foot standing jump with a passenger. That was borderline C-Rank physical output. She’s slipping...

They crashed down onto the concrete next to Zen.

Valeria immediately dropped to her knees, pulling Zen’s bleeding head into her lap. Her hands were shaking violently as she smeared his blood across her academy uniform.

"Zen... Zen, look at me," Valeria pleaded in a cracked voice, her cold facade entirely gone. "Do not close your eyes."

"Val..." Zen choked out, tasting copper in his mouth. "The camera... is it..."

"I don’t care about them!" Valeria screamed at him, tears welling in her glowing red eyes. She turned and glared at Maya with murderous intent. "Fix him! Fix him right now, or I will peel your skin off!"

Maya scrambled to her knees, sobbing in pure terror. She raised her glowing green staff and pressed her hands desperately against Zen’s bleeding chest.

"Vitality Surge! Healing Aura!" Maya chanted rapidly.

Bright green light washed over Zen’s body, but it didn’t sink in. The moment the healing magic touched his skin, it violently sparked and bounced off, fizzling into nothing in the air.

"It’s not working!" Maya cried, frantically trying to cast the spell again. "Why isn’t it working?!"

"Make it work!" Valeria roared, her fangs fully extending. She drew her combat knife and pressed it directly against Maya’s throat. "I swear to the Gods, healer, if his heart stops, yours stops next!"

"I can’t!" Maya sobbed, shrinking back from the blade. "His mana core is twisted! It’s completely inverted! My spells can’t find a pathway into his system. His body is actively repelling my mana!"

"Val. Stop," Zen gasped, weakly raising his bloodstained hand to push Valeria’s knife away from Maya’s neck.

"Zen, please," Valeria begged, pulling him tighter against her chest, rocking him slightly. "Just let me give you my mana. Let me force my aura into your chest. It will stabilize you. I can save you."

"No," Zen wheezed, his vision swimming. "If you do that here... the Vanguard will track your signature. You will be exposed. My cover... will be ruined."

"I don’t care about your cover! You are dying!"

"I won’t die," Zen forced out, his Emperor persona bleeding through the pain. He turned his head toward the terrified healer. "Maya, listen to me."

"I’m trying, Zen! Just stay awake! Please!" Maya cried.

"You can’t heal my core," Zen whispered, every word sending spikes of agony through his broken ribs. "But you can heal my physical body. You need to bypass the core completely."

"How?!" Maya asked frantically. "Medical magic requires a core connection to circulate!"

"You have to bind your mana directly to my blood," Zen told her.

Maya froze, her eyes going wide. "A blood pact? Zen, that’s... that’s ancient magic! It’s a highly illegal dark art! The academy strictly forbids it, and only high-ranks even have the soul-strength to pull it off!"

"You aren’t pulling it off. I am pulling you," Zen stated coldly, his eyes locking onto hers with a terrifying, ancient intensity. "Do it, or I bleed out in two minutes. Do it, or she slashes your throat in one. Make your choice, Maya."

Maya looked at Valeria. The Goddess of War wasn’t bluffing. Valeria’s knife was still hovering inches from Maya’s neck, and her crimson eyes promised slow, agonizing torture.

"Okay! Okay, what do I do?!" Maya sobbed, dropping her staff.