Unholy Player Chapter 545: Catastrophic Failure

Hours dragged on, and the golden metal platform supporting Adyr even started to yield to the unceasing blaze. Its top surface lost its gleam and twisted along the borders, gradually buckling from the intense pressure.

The nearby scientists had to pull back further to avoid the waves of heat expanding outward. They snatched up their equipment and fell toward the shelter of far-off trees. The guards stationed close by retreated alongside them, upholding their boundaries despite the distance.

"How much longer is this going to last?" Henry inquired, his jacket already discarded, his shirt soaked and sticking to his skin while perspiration trickled from his forehead and gathered at his neckline.

From this range, the warmth still bore down on him, dense enough to burn his lungs with each inhale. But gazing at Adyr, whose flesh had reddened and was emitting smoke, he persisted without apparent blisters or wounds, his form sustained by extraordinary toughness alone.

"We'll push on until sunset," Dr. Mara responded. Her focus remained glued to the monitors, compelling her to track every fluctuating reading. "If my theory holds, we'll extend into the night too, to finish a complete day-night rotation."

Their goal was to infuse Dark Radiation while maintaining its equilibrium trait. Just the daylight phase wouldn't suffice. The darkness phase needed fulfillment as well.

Upon hearing that, Henry grumbled in resignation, "Well, the night won't be quite so fierce," as he swiped his brow with his hand's back, the moisture unrelenting.

He figured that surviving the daylight's scorch would make the evening seem tame in contrast, perhaps allowing his frame some chance to heal.

Dr. Mara offered a vague grin in reply. "I'm not convinced of that." Her voice carried a casual note, yet her watchful stare offered little comfort.

Henry grasped her implication only as dusk arrived and the Sun's golden rays shifted once more to shades of white and black.

As the initial beams of colorless light struck the enormous antenna and the focused rays beamed onto Adyr's form, it plunged down like a dense gray pillar.

Adyr's scorched body and the golden base below it cooled swiftly, vapor trails rising from his skin while the warmth inverted in seconds.

The flush on his skin drained away rapidly, and aided by his healing ability, it restored to its usual hue. Then, as full night descended, it unveiled a peril utterly reversed from the daytime.

This light wasn't just chilly; it was icy beyond measure.

Merely a few hours into the night, Adyr's whole body commenced total freezing. His skin dimmed and hardened, icing over from within. Before long, his entire structure resembled a sculpture hewn from solid ice, pallid and crystalline under the achromatic illumination.

It was alarming to behold. One solid blow appeared capable of splintering him into fragments.

His breathing rhythm ceased entirely. The heave and drop of his torso halted, erasing any trace of breath. His mouth stayed motionless, his neck still, making him seem utterly lifeless.

Dr. Mara at last displayed a sign of concern, which crept across her features as she hunched over her device, her grip clenching around it.

"Blood flow has halted entirely. The vital organs are beginning to fail," she relayed the details from her screen to the surrounding experts, her phrasing detached even as the consequences screamed otherwise.

They knew that pressing forward would end Adyr this time, not via injury, but via complete cessation.

"You have to admit it's a bust. End it right now," Henry urged.

He'd resolved himself. Should these lab-coated folks demand to proceed, he was prepared to direct his troops to step in. He'd resort to smashing the gear himself if needed.

Thankfully, it didn't reach that point, for Dr. Mara conceded at last. "I pronounce the test unsuccessful. Cut the energy supply."

Sensing the downfall of their plans and hypotheses, the rest of the team complied obediently, methodically powering off the apparatus to wrap up the trial.

Yet in that instant, an alteration stirred. Everyone halted in place, the atmosphere abruptly turning eerie.

"This isn't right." Dr. Mara spotted the anomaly first, as the data stream on her device displayed erratic signals, figures leaping in illogical sequences.

The Dark Radiation levels in the metrics surged to impossible heights. This occurred despite their ongoing deactivation of the sunlight broadcaster. The setup refused to behave as expected.

Then, sequentially, every electronic tool faltered. Screens blinked out, machines went silent, and ultimately the huge antenna jerked and quit. The power grid began to falter, warnings fading midway.

Even the area floods extinguished gradually, casting the vicinity into gloom, with just the Sun's stark white-and-black glow softly bathing the earth and bleaching visages into ghostly visages.

Before Henry could issue the command, the squad leaders directed a shift to emergency illumination, tones barking sharply in the shadows with practiced haste.

But the handhelds failed too. The powered armor on the STF members ceased operating. They turned into mere heavy shells, motors silent and screens void, as if innovation itself had been choked out.

"Head to Adyr. Get his form out of harm's way," Henry commanded, aware that an unexpected glitch was unfolding.

Regrettably, the persistent frost emanating from the golden platform made nearing his body and extracting it challenging, the nearby air laden with a piercing, creeping numbness.

Lacking energized suits, the standard STF members proved ineffective here. Even the troops in fresh white outfits attempted an advance, but retreated short of the spot. Their limbs began to lock up, digits numbing and legs seizing during motion, escalating to a point where blackout loomed.

This wasn't ordinary chilliness aimed at mere icing. It was the Dark Radiation's force. Its potency made the freeze grip their cognition and psyche too.

"Allow us a shot."

Out from the woodland's shadows, three shapes dashed into view. Each donned the identical white outfits as the elite unit, their forms slicing through the faint colorless haze with abrupt fervor.

Leading the trio was a male with a blond tail of hair streaming as he sprinted, scarlet eyes gleaming amid the nocturnal veil. It was Victor, his face contorted in unease prior to entering the open space.

Trailing him, a touch behind, was Dalin Ravencourt. Her auburn locks snagged the rays, lending them a fiery sheen. After her came Eren, hulking in stature, his coppery, metallic hide gleaming, pressing toward the stand.

They'd been posted amid the woods encircling the test zone to monitor the edges. Their duty involved securing the area against outsiders, observing from the foliage as the scientists focused elsewhere.

But once they sensed the issue and their comms went dead, they charged over. Witnessing the disorder, they instantly knew disaster had struck.

Spotting the three leaders, all Rank 3 Practitioners, the guards eased up. Henry and the experts unwound too. They hoped these mightier forms could breach what weaker ones couldn't.

"What the hell were you idiots attempting?" Victor bellowed while charging the platform and beholding Adyr's form utterly encased, his hide nearly see-through, like he'd morphed wholly to frost, the contours of sinew and skeleton dimly traceable under the gloss.

Viewing his companion sprawled there still, as though perished, he drove every ounce of vigor ahead, yet even that couldn't withstand the chill battering his frame.

He was a Practitioner emphasizing [Will] as primary and [Physique] as secondary, so the icing slowed his strides progressively nearer the origin.

Dalin fared similarly. Lacking [Resilience] to shield her psyche and form, her inhales grew shallow and biting as her tissues rigidified beyond control.

The pair attempted invoking their Spark abilities for aid. Right then, they discovered this chill disrupted their manifestations. No Spark within their Sanctuaries heeded.

The one resisting most effectively was Eren. With balanced [Resilience] and [Physique] attributes, he overtook the others swiftly and took point. His build withstood the frost longer before it infiltrated his limbs.

With mere paces remaining to the form, his systems started waning too. His sight constricted, his cognition lagged, and obscurity invaded his awareness.