Lost City

"I am still the one in control. You should know better." Heima said, stopping all means of struggle, no longer showing concern to the state of her body.

"Deific Inference, an Unranked Skill I created just to monitor your existence." Rhachis Ancestor Light smiled, taking out an item from his pocket. It was a crystal lens; its edges were shaped into a pentagon that emitted a yellow hue. The lens had mysterious symbols flashing across it, occasionally forming patterns that resembled a torch or a lantern.

"Unranked Skills cannot be extracted after death, they dissipate with the owner," Heima spoke, the shock paralysing her mind, her gaze lingering on the item in his hand.

"From today onwards, it is possible, thanks to the man behind you." Rhachis Ancestor Light held the crystal lens on his palm, making it stand on its edges, its curved surface facing Heima. A gentle light appeared from his hand, entering the lens and emerging on the other, its convergence focusing on the forehead of Heima.

"Kyaak," Heima screamed; pale blue light appeared behind her, forming into her. It soon branched into many figures, each breaking down and creating new faces. To the very end, the corporal form of a lady appeared, one that barely resembled a human.

Possessing 10 heads and a body composed of 10 spines, it was an unbalanced figure; fat at the centre and lean at the bottom, making her two legs look like twigs. Of the 10 heads, 6 were composed of Frenzy Beasts, their sizes huge as compared to the human heads.

Of the 10 spines, one was at the centre, resembling the traits of a human, surrounded by 5 other human-sized spines. To the end were four spines, their sizes dwarfing her entire body, creating huge arcs that protruded her body, joining below her neck.

The head of what had once been a beautiful woman was affixed in the middle, connected to the spine that ran along the centre. She blinked her eyes, her gaze penetrating through the corporal form, falling on Rhachis Ancestor Light.

Except for the area on the floor where his foot rested, the rest began to crack, showing signs of melting. They decomposed, emitting a putrid stench, seeping further into the building.

Jyovic Bone waved his hands, his energy seeping into the floor, controlling the bones that made up the entirety of the underground structure. He hurriedly reconstructed the damaged parts, making the surrounding healthy counterparts occupy the region, offsetting the corrosion.

"The fact that you can display your presence through her soul," Rhachis Ancestor Light smiled, his eyes flashing with a cunning gaze, "Implies that you are quite close to my city."

The corporeal figure turned silent, gazing at the figure of Rhachis Ancestor Light with seriousness. She then noticed him looking at the ceiling, a calm expression plastered on his face.

"Marble," His voice, carrying with it a tone of authority resounded, making her heart palpitate for reasons unknown, "Do it!"

…

Sector 3, Ring 4; a man dressed in military uniform walked towards a conference room, planning to deliver a lecture. Held in his hands was a stack of paper, filled with information that documented efficient ways to counter the Frenzy Beasts.

He had just pushed the double door leading to the conference room when a faint magenta formed on the skin of his right hand. Shocked, he raised his left, noticing it suffer the same; his skin turned magenta, its surface hardening, turning tougher than any material he had encountered to date.

'No, this looks just like the material that makes up the city walls.' He screamed, revealing his aura in full intensity. Five psychic arms appeared around him, showcasing his powers as a Sky Controller. They immediately turned yellow, resisting the invasion of the magenta, showing signs of stopping it.

An oppressive aura, filled with a terrifying might entered his body, breaking past all the psychic barriers he had erected, destroying his five arms that had turned yellow.

"Ancestor Marble!" He screamed, his expression one of despair, turning into a sculpture in the next second. With a thud, he fell on the floor, creating small cracks on it. A team of soldiers, dressed in civilian clothes hurriedly approached the sculpture, retrieving it without any commotion.

In another part of the city, atop the city walls, a Tier 4 Shifter jumped over the city walls, proceeding to intercept a Frenzy Beast that approached through the air. Just when he was about to clash with it, his body turned into a sculpture, crashing into the beast, and dying without a sound.

A team of soldiers hurriedly intercepted the Frenzy Beast, allocating another team to retrieve the sculpture that had fallen on the ground, having not suffered a single crack.

A formless wave erupted from Central Command, spreading until the outermost city walls—the 10th Ring. It even expanded a kilometre into the Wild Zone, encompassing the entire area where humans moved about, creating situations like above all across the city.

…

"Y-You…You…" The corporeal figure behind Heima stuttered, her eyes spewing venom, mimicked by her other nine heads.

"Y-You what? Please speak human." Rhachis Ancestor Light mocked, imitating her voice. "This is just the beginning. It took me many decades after creating Deific Inference and cultivating a Sky Controller, retrieving the Unranked Skill cultivated to Tier 5 from his body after death. Thanks to Jyovic Bone here, I could move it forward by a decade."

"The others will not leave this alone." The corporeal figure said, regaining her composure. "They will pursue this matter. Without me around, contact with the other cities will become impossible. Humanity will become cornered, vanishing one after the other like snuffed out candles."

"We are aware." Rhachis Ancestor Light shook his head, letting out a sigh, feeling a formless pressure fill the hallways. "If you had only fused your body with humans, we would have turned a blind eye to your existence, giving tacit approval to your deeds like how we did over the decades. But, you had to pull the Frenzy Beasts into it. The moment you did was when we stopped tolerating your existence."

Rhachis Ancestor Light waved his hands, producing formless energy, condensed into a blade, thin enough to sever any matter, down to its atomic bonds. The blade flew towards Heima, entering her forehead, flashing all across her body. Immediately, a change occurred in the projection behind her.

Except for the projection that looked like her, the rest were severed, their connection to her disrupted, completely cut off. The other projections were shattered into the tiniest of particles, until they lost their cohesiveness, dissipating into energy.

The corporeal figure was the last to suffer the brunt of the force, shrieking as she retreated, abandoning the rest of the projections she had carried with her, making them act as her shield, trying to buy time.

Seeing her dissipating figure, just before she had completely disappeared, Rhachis Ancestor Light opened his mouth, looking like he wanted her to escape in the first place. "It wasn't me who proposed this plan in the first place."

A confused expression appeared on her face as she gazed at his smile, one that sent chills creep up her spine. The moment she disappeared, Heima began gasping for air, her body soaked with sweat, feeling a sense of exhaustion stemming from deep within her.

"As you wanted, I severed Heima's connection with her. Though, it was only possible since she had been parasitized just recently, making the invasion over her soul only being of the surface level. Any later, and she would have lost her ego, completely assimilated into the collective subconscious of that lady."

"The price for this will be deducted from your contributions. I hope you are ready to accept the outcome." Rhachis Ancestor Light said, a smile etched on his face.

"I accept it," Jyovic Bone bowed, his eyes red. He hugged a dazed Heima, pulling her into his embrace, a relieved expression flashing across his face. "The least I could do is reclaim her child."

"She should have no abnormalities starting today. I have perfectly severed her connection." Rhachis Ancestor Light said with a laugh, "This is good though. In order to deepen the connection, she had approached our city in close proximity. I should go and personally greet her."

With a flash of light, Rhachis Ancestor Light disappeared from the hallway. Even with his heightened senses, he couldn't detect his movement speed. "As expected of the fastest human," He mumbled.

"What…happened?" Heima regained consciousness, confusion evident in her expression. She blinked at him, etching his face to memory, the change in her expression bringing a smile to his face.

"How much do you remember?" Jyovic Bone inquired, gazing at Heima's face with scrutiny, trying to sense her emotional upheavals.

"…everything. I remember everything I did in the past few months. I also remember strange facts originating from 'Them' about the plans they were devising." Heima replied.

"Tell me more about it. You regaining your sense of self is a joyous occasion but, we need to know the plans of that person so that we can warn Ancestor Light. Tell me everything you know." Jyovic Bone said.

"Okay," Heima replied, beginning to recount all the bits and pieces of information she had received from when she had been a subsoul.

…

10th Ring, Sector 7; soldiers were stationed on the city walls, defending against the waves of Frenzy Beasts consisting of Tier 2 Frenzy Beasts, occasionally spotting a Tier 3 Frenzy Beast in the mix. Since the strength and number of Frenzy Beasts were relatively lower than the average, the soldiers were relaxed, throwing out attacks only when necessary.

"It would be nice if I could nab a Tier 4 Frenzy Beast and get promoted." An Esper said, controlling a chakram to sever the head of a Tier 2 Beast. Spinning the sharp-edged chakram, he sent it through the waves of Beasts, severing their bodies like a meat grinder.

"Tier 4 Frenzy Beasts are on a whole different level. It would be a wonder if your attacks can make it sneeze." Another Esper replied, followed by raucous laughter from the nearby soldiers. They passed the time by making fun of each other.

Suddenly, an enormous floating city appeared a kilometre away from the city walls, floating in the air. Its enormous figure cast a long shadow on the ground below, darkening the entire region, making it seem as if night had approached unannounced.

The appearance of the floating city made the hearts of the soldiers lurch, prompting them to enact a battle-ready stance, sending distress signals to Central Command, reporting the situation.

One of the soldiers gazed at the floating city, seemingly recalling something from his memories. He suddenly shouted, "Isn't that the Lost City? Why is it here?"

"Lost City?"

"That is Lost City? One of the six strongholds of humanity?"

The surrounding soldiers discussed, some displaying a relieved expression. If the city spanning a radius of 10 kilometres turned out to be a Frenzy Beast, they would probably be doomed.

The air stirred as a suffocating feeling permeated through the surroundings; a massive arm—formed from psychic energy, magenta in colour—appeared over Central Command. In the next second, it appeared before the Lost City, slamming against it.