Unholy Player

"Good choice, Thalira of the Lunari," Brakhtar commented when he saw her move, and he shifted all his focus and power toward the Serpent, intent on buying her the time she needed to absorb the crystal and finish her changes.

Maruun and the others realized at once what Thalira had consumed. Curiosity pulled them to watch every detail of her transformation process, yet they remained aware of the danger around them and did not let their attention drift from the fight.

"Turn back. Everyone with a binding skill, support the Gorathim."

A breath ago they had been ready to escape, not wanting to meddle with this any further. Now, seeing the front stabilize and the pressure ease, they steadied themselves and continued to help.

At once, the Aqualeth sent sheets of freezing power across the Serpent's massive body. Layer built upon layer until ice jacketed its coils, the cold biting into scale and sinew.

The Houndkin followed with ringing debuffs that dulled the creature's senses and pressed its will flat, tightening every bind so it would not easily break free.

The other Lunari Practitioners, with little else to add, held formation. Weapons and skills remained primed, spacing was clean, and every line of sight tracked the Spark in case it tore loose; if it did, they would strike to clip even a fraction of its movement.

Meanwhile, after briefly observing everything, Thalira inclined her head and closed her eyes, now focusing on her own body.

The Synergy Crystal's main function was balance. It refined the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects simultaneously. It also stabilized every evolution step a Practitioner had undergone, gathering those steps into a single, coherent culmination and supporting the body as it formed the final evolution.

The response was immediate. The Sparks she had used across her earlier evolutions rose within her like old chords returning to key, then sank deeper and blended with a cleaner fit into flesh and bone. She felt what she was meant to feel, and more; the body answered as if it had been waiting for this exact cue.

Muscles shifted beneath her skin, sliding into their exact anchors and lines of pull. Bones cracked and healed in quick succession, reshaping to carry the frame more efficiently. Even the skin renewed itself, shedding the tired outer layer and laying down a surface that matched the form she had pursued her entire life. Heat bled off her in slow waves; the air picked up a dry, metallic tang, like air after lightning.

Silver and blue currents began to skitter and crackle across her body.

The last Spark ability she had gained after completing her 3rd evolution step threaded through her entire being and settled into every cell like a live, unending stream. Fine filaments of energy traced her nerves, then brightened, each line answering the next until the pattern held without strain.

Her silver hair took on a faint bluish cast, as if charge had soaked into every strand. It read like a living battery, lightning coiled within, each subtle pulse answered by a distant, patient thunder. Strays of hair lifted and fell with the static, then settled as the charge found its channels.

Her silver eyes flashed silver and blue, the colors locking into a clean union. The lightning in them no longer resembled the heavy clouds of the mortal world; it carried the high, cold clarity of a heaven's sky, sharp enough to make the breath catch before it softened.

The gains did not stop at the surface.

Her innate abilities began to find each other and fuse, piece by precise piece, until the set felt like a single design.

Genes shifted their signals; her mind shifted with them, and new information filled her, calmly and completely. What the body could do now, how far it could reach, and where its limits had moved—each answer laid itself into place like tiles.

An innate ability from her 2nd evolution step, which made her faster as the number of onlookers increased, climbed to a new tier. It meshed with the lightning trait and became something else entirely, more useful, more powerful, and more deadly.

The very act of being seen promised speed, and now the electric currents crackling around her looked as if they had gained minds of their own, sentient threads giving their full attention to their wielder; with every flicker, they seemed to watch her in awe like a full audience fixated on the single figure on the stage.

Everyone felt the change, whether they watched her directly or wrestled the Serpent into stillness. The air seemed to shift around her, as if an army of silver-blue energy beings had formed at her back, keeping watch like royal guards.

When the last adjustments settled and her form held steady, her blood-red lips parted. Silver static threaded her voice under a low roll of thunder.

"With this, my evolution path has finally found its correct track."

These were not words said merely to describe her current form; she truly meant it. Every Spark she had chosen carried a purpose, each one selected to join the rest at the end. Now, at Rank 3 and under the Synergy Crystal's effect, the design had closed, and she stood at the peak within her rank.

"I need rest, Thalira." Brakhtar's whole body trembled on the verge of collapse. His second head flickered between death and life, the outline thinning and thickening, close to vanishing entirely.

The others did not look much better, as everyone was pouring their energy reserves into their skills and risking complete depletion; a few already looked out of energy and were slowly falling back, now useless for the moment.

"Go rest. Let me hold it until you are done with your own adjustments." Thalira's eyes remained fixed on the Serpent, as if she had locked the Rank 4 Spark inside a prison of her gaze.

Her words carried meaning beyond courtesy. Brakhtar understood, lowered his hands, and withdrew. "I will join soon." A Synergy Crystal appeared in his dark-green, long-nailed hand, and he gulped it down in one motion.

Thalira gave him only a fleeting look. She was genuinely curious whether someone with a bloodline talent could undergo another extra set of changes, but there was no time to watch or take note; the Serpent, finally free of its binds, began to move again.

"It's not my first time fighting a Rank 4 Spark, but it will be the first time where death is real." Her voice came out pleased and excited.

She had tried fighting many times with the Silver Whale her father possessed, a childish game every time; now, facing a wild one, she finally understood what that play had been missing, and the realization only heightened her thrill.

As the Serpent regained full motion, it writhed and rolled its length, cracking and shattering the ice that had crusted over its coils. It looked around with furious eyes until its gaze settled on Thalira's silhouette, the only figure radiating a truly formidable aura of threat.

The Serpent's primal eyes met hers, which were bright with silver lightning, and the lock between them held.

Thalira's lips parted; a deep smile colored them and drew her excited face even sharper. "Come, little snake, let's play."

All the Practitioners watching her, especially the Lunari, froze at that frightening, uncanny smile, and the same raw question surfaced everywhere at once.

"What the fuck?"

It was not only her power that had changed. Her nature had shifted with it, the thrill on her face belonging to a different Thalira entirely. That was the greatest change of all.