Part I — Beyond the Artificial Breach
Darkness.
For a moment, there was nothing.
No sound.
No light.
No sensation of space beneath my feet.
Even my own body seemed to disappear.
Then—
Light.
My eyes snapped open.
The first thing I saw...
Was metal.
Not ordinary metal.
An enormous metallic floor stretched across my entire field of vision, polished so perfectly that it reflected the strange crimson light above.
I stood still.
My expression remained calm.
But inside...
I was stunned.
This wasn't what I had expected.
Not even remotely.
I had imagined Neraphyx as a wasteland.
A battlefield.
Perhaps an endless landscape filled with demons, corpses, ruined cities, and ancient remnants.
Instead—
I was standing inside a fortress.
A massive fortress.
And calling it a fortress felt almost insulting.
The structure before me was so enormous that my eyes couldn't immediately determine where it ended.
Towering buildings stretched into the distance.
Massive metallic walls surrounded the entire region.
Countless formations were carved directly into them.
Runes covered almost every available surface.
Some were simple.
Others were so complicated that even with my current understanding of runes, I couldn't immediately determine their purpose.
The architecture itself was strange.
Every structure looked as though it had been constructed with one purpose in mind.
Survival.
Not beauty.
Not comfort.
Survival.
The walls were thick enough to withstand an attack that could probably erase an ordinary city.
The buildings were reinforced with layers of formations.
Some structures had enormous barriers surrounding them.
Others had strange mechanisms built into their foundations.
Even the roads beneath my feet were made from an unknown alloy.
I slowly narrowed my eyes.
What is this place?
A calm voice suddenly sounded from somewhere nearby.
"Welcome..."
I looked up.
"To the Fortress of Neraphyx."
My eyes moved across the enormous city.
"...The Fortress?"
The elder responsible for guiding us nodded.
"A place where resources are stored, exchanged, and distributed."
He gestured toward the endless structures surrounding us.
"Research is conducted here."
"Techniques are developed here."
"Materials are refined here."
"Treasure is exchanged here."
"Warriors come here to rest, recover, and prepare for their next expedition."
His expression became slightly more serious.
"And when necessary..."
"This fortress becomes a battlefield."
I said nothing.
My gaze continued moving.
The more I looked...
The more ridiculous the fortress became.
It wasn't simply large.
It was enormous.
My mental energy slowly spread outward.
Like an invisible web.
It passed through the streets.
Across the buildings.
Over the walls.
Beyond the training grounds.
Across warehouses.
Research facilities.
Residential areas.
Trading districts.
Military zones.
And countless other structures.
My mental energy continued expanding.
Further.
Further.
Further.
Until—
I stopped.
My eyes narrowed.
How large...
The fortress was so enormous that comparing it to an ordinary city was meaningless.
It was large enough to accommodate what could almost be considered a small world.
A small planet could probably fit within its boundaries.
And yet...
This was only a fortress.
I slowly withdrew my mental energy.
For the first time since entering Neraphyx...
I understood something.
The information we had received before coming here hadn't been exaggerated.
If anything...
It had been understated.
The surrounding population was equally surprising.
Humans.
Demi-humans.
Elves.
Beast races.
Various humanoid species.
Some I recognized.
Others I had never seen before.
They walked through the streets.
Some carried weapons.
Others wore robes.
Some were covered in armor.
Others looked like ordinary merchants.
But there was one thing they all shared.
They weren't surprised to see us.
The arrival of another group through the Artificial Breach was apparently nothing unusual.
I glanced toward the others who had arrived with me.
Most were equally confused.
Some had already begun spreading their senses.
Others were staring at the fortress with open mouths.
A few were whispering among themselves.
I couldn't blame them.
Even after everything I had experienced...
I was still impressed.
Then—
I felt it.
Something faint.
Almost nonexistent.
My expression changed slightly.
Demonic energy.
It was present in the air.
Extremely faint.
So faint that an ordinary cultivator might mistake it for natural energy.
But I knew better.
I had spent years inside the Tower.
I had fought demons.
I had sensed their energy countless times.
This was unmistakable.
Demonic energy.
But the concentration...
Was incredibly low.
I slowly breathed in.
The energy entered my body.
My bloodline reacted.
Not violently.
Not immediately.
At first...
It was only a tremor.
A tiny vibration deep within my body.
I froze.
What...?
My heartbeat changed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
THUMP.
My left chest.
THUMP.
My right chest.
My eyes widened slightly.
That wasn't my imagination.
There were two heartbeats.
Two distinct rhythms.
Two different energies.
Something was happening inside me.
I lowered my gaze.
My hands remained perfectly still.
But beneath my skin...
Something was awakening.
The others continued exploring the fortress.
No one noticed.
Not yet.
The faint demonic energy in the atmosphere had triggered something buried deep within my bloodline.
My body suddenly became hot.
Then cold.
Then hot again.
My muscles tightened.
My blood began circulating at an impossible speed.
I felt something moving through my veins.
Not one force.
Two.
They were different.
Yet strangely familiar.
My breathing slowed.
I closed my eyes.
And suddenly—
I saw them.
Two hearts.
Inside me.
The first...
Was red.
Deep crimson.
It beat violently.
Each pulse released an explosive wave of violet energy.
It felt like a beast trapped inside a cage.
A beast that had spent eternity waiting for the door to open.
The second heart...
Was blue.
Calm.
Steady.
Its rhythm was slower.
More controlled.
Like a sleeping predator.
Not weak.
Not passive.
Simply waiting.
My expression remained emotionless.
But inside...
I was completely focused.
Two hearts...
Two energies...
Two bloodlines.
The realization slowly formed.
I had always known there was something strange about my bloodline.
But I had never seen it this clearly.
The demonic energy had exposed something that had been hidden within me.
Something that had been waiting.
Something that perhaps...
Had been waiting for Neraphyx.
My left eye suddenly burned.
I opened it.
The reflection in the metallic floor shocked even me.
My left iris...
Was red.
Not crimson like ordinary blood.
It was deeper.
Brighter.
Almost alive.
My right iris remained blue.
Two completely different colors.
Two completely different forces.
Then—
THUMP.
The red heart beat.
Violent violet energy exploded through the left side of my body.
Red stripes appeared across my skin.
They spread from my chest.
Across my arm.
Up my neck.
Across the left side of my face.
They resembled tiger markings.
But unlike my normal markings...
These seemed alive.
They flickered faintly.
Like flames beneath my skin.
My right side reacted immediately afterward.
THUMP.
Blue energy surged through my body.
Blue tiger stripes appeared across the right side of my body.
The two patterns stopped at the center of my chest.
Neither crossed into the other's territory.
Red on one side.
Blue on the other.
Two halves.
Two natures.
Two powers.
And somehow...
One body.
I slowly clenched my fist.
The surrounding space trembled.
My expression remained calm.
But my mind was already racing.
What exactly am I?
Then—
A strange sensation passed through my mind.
Like something had awakened.
Like something had been sleeping...
Waiting for me to reach this place.
Waiting for me to breathe the air of Neraphyx.
Waiting for the demonic energy to enter my body.
I looked toward the fortress.
Then back at my hands.
There was only one person who might know what was happening.
I opened my mouth.
"System—"
Before I could finish...
Something answered.
Not the voice I expected.
A familiar voice...
Yet completely unfamiliar.
Then—
DING!