Unholy Player Chapter 544: Enduring the Heat

The chill of morning gradually dissipated as the Sun's hue transformed, the air's crisp edge softening bit by bit.

Its pale glow gradually sharpened, evolving into warm golden tones as it geared up to touch the ground with a fresh dawn and another task ahead.

On this occasion, the task extended beyond merely heating the earth; it also aimed to awaken a dormant man from his extended months of sleep.

Away from the bustling human settlement, on a lofty mountain summit, within a spacious glade encircled by thick woods, a sizable assembly of individuals bustled with haste around a colossal metal framework.

'Raise it further. We must harness the energy correctly,' Dr. Mara called out, gazing upward at the immense metallic edifice while positioned amid the scurrying staff in white lab coats.

It looked akin to a huge aerial designed to detect signals from above, yet now its purpose had shifted to gathering solar radiation, compressing it, and channeling it toward one specific point.

Under this imposing framework rested a broad bed of golden-hued metal, upon which a man with fiery red hair and impeccable skin reclined shirtless, unmoving atop the chilly metallic surface.

His wings, striped in black and white, extended along the sides of the platform, their plumage draped over the borders like meticulously arranged flags, giving him the appearance of a sculpted figure rather than a breathing person—save for the rhythmic heave of his chest confirming life.

After depleting his vital essence and slipping into slumber, Adyr’s form appeared to have regained much of its vigor. The creases in his flesh had almost disappeared, and a good portion of his shine had come back. Nevertheless, he displayed no immediate hints of stirring awake.

'Dr. Mara, are you certain this will succeed?' Henry inquired from close by, his tone laced with anxiety as he observed the still form on the bed.

The gigantic antenna operated on a simple concept. It would boost the solar energy it absorbed and direct it to a focal point, specifically Adyr’s physique.

Yet, it would also deliver fierce heat, and similar to a focusing glass, it might set ablaze anything in its path if the intensity grew excessive.

Dr. Mara grasped his apprehension. 'No need to fret, Mr. Henry. We’re well aware of Mr. Adyr’s limits. Given his present resilience and recovery rate, this degree of heat won’t injure him.'

She directed her attention back to the prone figure and softened her voice. 'Moreover, if we remain idle, his revival might drag on for months longer. Do we truly have the luxury to wait?'

A full month had passed since the Blood Path adherents entered the city.

During that time, Henry had been delaying them, offering evasive discussions and guarded commitments, though their tolerance was wearing away.

Henry had few strategies remaining. Arvyn especially pressed relentlessly, seeking greater concessions daily, her demands mounting like an unspoken ultimatum.

She held no interest in technology, forcing humans to offer alternative demonstrations to hold her at bay.

Attempting a surprise attack to eliminate her was impossible. Over the recent month, humans had discovered her true might. In a so-called 'friendly' bout, even Zephan, Liora, and Throgar combined couldn’t endure beyond 10 seconds against her. Their joint assault concluded without forming a proper clash.

That display alone revealed the extent of her elevated attributes and the volume of blood she had ingested to attain such power.

Without Kaelor’s proximity to curb her tendencies, positioned near enough to curb her urges, she would have escalated beyond mere trials and begun slaying indiscriminately.

At minimum, awakening Adyr could potentially narrow the strength disparity between the sides, or at least halt its further expansion.

'You’re not intending to halt us, right, Mr. Henry?' Dr. Mara questioned, her voice tinged with doubt as she scrutinized him, as if assessing his loyalties amid the risks.

The site teemed not just with lab-coated scientists. STF members in armored suits posted rigidly on guard, while elite squads in white attire patrolled the area, monitoring all activity under vigilant surveillance.

The soldiers in white scrutinized the scientists with extra focus. Their eyes tracked hands and instruments, hinting at an underlying strain between the groups, poised to erupt into disorder at the faintest trigger.

These white-clad troops were selected to receive Adyr’s initial awakening via his Path, once he devised the method.

Their regimen had emphasized not just skills but also perpetual readiness, molding them for devotion to a deity, with their minds forged by the fresh doctrines of an emerging faith, ingrained until habitual.

Similar groundwork unfolded globally, preparing all humankind for Adyr’s resurgence with a Path.

Every broadcast, network, and publication proclaimed an era of equilibrium as the core tenet, positioning the Beyond as humanity’s fresh domain. Adyr featured prominently as the guide to this hopeful existence and realm, his identity echoed until it seemed predestined.

The white-uniformed forces, now fervent devotees, harbored rising resentment toward the scientists for clinging to empirical methods over divine will, convinced they were engineering a deity via their experiments. Thus, a brewing conflict between devotion and reason was emerging.

Henry exhaled deeply, weariness evident. 'Rest assured. Provided you rouse him, I hold no further objections.'

Henry found himself in an odd predicament. He championed a faith for mankind on one side, while overseeing scientists attempting to revive the destined deity of that faith through technical means. This paradox stirred odd reflections he couldn’t easily shake.

he pondered, recalling boyhood trips to worship with his father and grandfather, those bygone, serene times that now seemed alien.

'It’s commencing,' Dr. Mara announced, raising her face to the Sun as the initial golden beams arrived.

Henry traced her look and felt the sun’s embrace on his lined features, letting it soothe him and fade recollections of that pure youth.

—

'Activate the power,' Dr. Mara commanded upon completing her last verifications on the handheld device.

With approval granted, the technicians at the consoles struck their keys, sparking the current surge through wires that snaked toward the framework like arteries to a vital organ.

The enormous antenna emitted a deep drone and quivered subtly.

The illumination hitting its frame morphed, fragmenting into minuscule, mote-resembling specks like glowing insects, all funneling to the antenna’s core in a compact, spiraling rush.

'Is it functioning?' Henry queried while eyeing the light’s peculiar formations.

'We’ll know in a moment,' Dr. Mara answered, keeping her focus on the device, then issued her follow-up directive. 'Begin the boosting and refining.'

The antenna’s drone climbed higher, its tremors growing stronger, dispatching mild ripples across the soil and causing the ground to quiver underfoot.

The compact, orb-like light motes converging at the midpoint drew tighter, threading through the base apparatus and flooding into the lens-like chamber below, igniting with a searing brilliance that forced onlookers to avert their eyes briefly.

Observing this, Dr. Mara issued the subsequent commands. 'Unseal the conduit. Allow the release.'

The amassed light in the lens burst forth instantly, propelled downward onto the golden metal dais where Adyr rested, forming a dense ray that appeared tangible midair.

In that instant, all present suspended breathing and observed the intensified light contact skin.

Adyr showed no response. His form stayed inert, yet at the impact site, his flesh flushed crimson, and faint vapors ascended, twisting skyward before the breeze dispersed them.

'The thermal level exceeds my projections,' Dr. Mara scowled, noting his body searing as the device’s data scrolled rapidly.

What they directed wasn’t plain sunlight. It constituted heightened and compacted pure Dark Radiation.

Though non-ionizing, at such potency, it struck like a magical oven, inflicting a relentless, scorching assault on the targeted area.

'What’s next?' Henry’s concern etched his expression as he saw Adyr roasting alive, certain the trial had gone awry.

Dr. Mara fixed on the metrics. 'We press on. He merely has to withstand it.'

The blaze was ferocious, but Adyr differed from ordinary mortals. This shouldn’t suffice to incinerate him fatally.