Unholy Player Chapter 514 Awakening the Unknown (Part 1)

A persistent, warm radiance bathed Rhys's form, making the surrounding chamber appear shadowy by comparison. Bit by bit, the dark blemishes marring his skin retreated until the final mark vanished completely.

His complexion returned to a state of robust health, appearing smoother and more pristine than it had ever been before.

The light of Grace began to fade, the shimmering essence thinning as it receded back into Adyr. Pulling his hand away, Adyr flexed his fingers with a sluggish motion, as if he had been gripping something with intense tension for days on end.

"You old man made me waste my precious time," he grumbled, a faint chuckle escaping his lips. Though the humor remained, it carried a heavy weight of fatigue, struggling to surface through his exhaustion.

His crimson eyes appeared heavily strained. Perspiration matted his disheveled red hair, and slow droplets continued to track down his brow.

Nearly a full week had passed since he commenced the healing of Rhys's physical form. To ensure the boy could endure the process and achieve a total recovery, he had strained his bloodline talent, Grace, to its absolute breaking point. Day after day, he had sacrificed more of his own vitality than he cared to acknowledge.

"Mr. Adyr, you should rest now." Dr. Mara stepped forward with soft footfalls. Her voice was laced with concern and kept at a low volume, as if she feared a single loud noise might shatter the room's delicate equilibrium.

From the periphery, the other researchers kept their distance, hovering near their equipment while they watched.

Adyr looked depleted in a manner that was impossible to ignore; the subtle shaking in his limbs was the unmistakable signature of someone who had pushed far beyond their natural limits.

They were well aware of his nature: a being possessing a body powerful enough to reduce skyscrapers to rubble and resilient enough to survive the heart of a nuclear blast.

That was precisely why his current state was so disturbing to them. It felt unnatural, as if something had finally appeared that was capable of making even him buckle.

Holding a silver tray lined with vibrant capsules in metallic containers, Dr. Mara offered them with a gentle tone. "Take these pills. They'll help you recover your energy"

Adyr accepted without protest. He took the containers and emptied the capsules into his mouth, swallowing them whole without bothering to use water.

While they lacked the satisfaction of a real meal, they provided the dense, efficient nutrition that only laboratory-grade supplements could offer, designed for immediate replenishment.

He calculated that if he relied on standard food to replace the energy he had expended, it would likely take another week to recover. He possessed neither the time nor the patience for such a delay.

"Thank you," he replied, forcing a brief smile as he placed the empty vials back onto the tray.

Dr. Mara offered a polite smile in return. Her gaze then drifted toward the monitors displaying Rhys's vital signs—steady, rhythmic lines that felt frustratingly incomplete, as they revealed nothing of what was occurring within his mind.

"Do you think he will succeed?" she inquired.

Rhys appeared physically perfect now. His vitals were constant and his wounds were gone, yet he remained trapped in a deep, comatose slumber upon the table. This stillness caused them to worry that he might have failed his awakening, his consciousness lost in some unreachable void.

Adyr offered a slow, outwardly calm shrug. "I don't know what he's going through in his head." For the first time, a hint of doubt colored his words.

He could still perceive the crimson aura condensing over Rhys's limp body. Wisps of red gathered and swirled in the air like fog, clinging to his skin before spiraling upward. Aside from that, there was no movement or clear indication of whether the process was progressing or nearing its end.

In this state, Rhys bore a striking resemblance to the Lunari Ancestors. He shared that same eerie stillness and impenetrable sleep. It made Adyr question if failure had truly occurred. If the boy had slipped into a true coma, he might never open his eyes again.

Adyr had attempted to mend his mind using Grace, only to discover that the talent’s reach ended at the physical shell. It could repair the flesh, but it was powerless against the internal conflicts raging within the psyche.

The only remaining option was to wait. Rhys had to reclaim his own consciousness through sheer will, whether it took a few moments or several days.

What Adyr failed to realize was that Grace had not been the only force at work during the healing process.

His secondary bloodline talent, Nihil, had been functioning in a quiet, invisible capacity.

Because of this, Rhys's mind had been shielded, allowed to retreat and hide from the Scarlet Sea before his identity was erased—like an unseen hand pulling him back from the edge of an abyss.

"I'm taking my leave now. If he awakens, inform me, please," Adyr stated, seeing no further way to assist. He cast one final look at Rhys's face before turning to depart.

He had barely moved a step when a subtle shift caught his attention.

It began as a mere sensation. When he looked back, he witnessed a faint tremor ripple through the red aura enveloping Rhys. The surface shuddered for a brief second before becoming still again. It seemed like something that barely warranted notice.

"Is something wrong?" Dr. Mara asked, noticing his focus return to the body.

Adyr waited for several heartbeats. When nothing else happened, he started to turn away to dismiss her concern, but the word died in his throat as his instincts flared.

"Evacuate the room... Now."

The small ripple from moments before had suddenly transformed into a violent surge. Rapid waves pulsed through the aura as the energy, which had been tightly condensing around Rhys, suddenly began to swell outward with explosive force.

The researchers, accustomed to working in high-risk environments, were always prepared for disaster. Without a moment's hesitation or a single question, they abandoned their equipment and sprinted from the laboratory.

"Seal the door," Adyr commanded, sensing that the aura was on the verge of spiraling out of control.

The heavy laboratory door slammed shut. The glass observation window was instantly obscured as a thick metal plate descended with a mechanical thud, hermetically sealing the chamber. The light from the hallway was cut off in a single motion.

This room had been engineered specifically to house and study the monsters they sought to create. Safety and durability were its primary design tenets. Layers of reinforced materials were embedded beneath every surface, allowing it to transition from a standard medical suite into a containment cell capable of withstanding radioactive leaks and high-pressure blasts.

Adyr had no time to contemplate the researchers' preparation or the room's high-tech defenses. His focus remained locked on the red aura, which continued to intensify and expand, exerting a physical pressure against the very air.

The phenomenon was no longer merely a visual effect; it had gained physical substance, becoming thick enough to feel against the skin.

Rhys's body showed no outward signs of change, yet the table beneath him began to groan under an invisible, staggering weight, its metal joints screaming under the strain.

Then, touched by the influence of the aura, the metal began to oxidize at an impossible speed, with orange-brown rust spreading across the surface like a living thing.

The decay did not stop with the table. The surrounding electronic devices began to fail, one by one, succumbing to the overwhelming pressure.