My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy
Chapter 160: Feathered Feelings

Chapter 160: Feathered Feelings

Vira stepped forward again. The blood from her coat soaked into the metal floor, trailing behind her.

"You’re leashed," she said. "Just like them."

She gestured with one hand toward the guards. Their movements shifted again—another inch, another twitch. Elias could see it clearly now. Their fingers didn’t grip with purpose. Their stance didn’t carry intent. Something else had taken over, and whatever it was didn’t care how much flesh was left holding them upright.

Magma hissed once on Asurik’s shoulder. The sound was low. Just steam meeting cold air.

Asurik spoke again.

"Back off, Vira."

Elias didn’t move.

His hands stayed raised, elbows tense. The question still sat between them—What’s your play?—echoing softer now, but no lighter. The words hadn’t left the air yet. They pressed against the walls, held in by the low hum of Cube X’s systems.

Vira stood with one boot still inside the hall. Her crimson serpent Ikona coiled tighter around her arm. Blood trailed from its mouth in slow lines, thick and quiet. She didn’t wipe it away. The smile she wore didn’t shift—it just stayed there, thin and sharp, like it didn’t need to grow to cut.

Asurik hadn’t moved either. His magma Ikona curled low across his shoulder, the red lines along its body glowing slightly brighter now, painting the cracks in the pod screen with faint, uneven color. Behind her, the guards still stood in place. Blood had soaked down past their boots. It followed the tile seams, pooling in slow, sticky patches across the floor. Their eyes streamed red without blinking.

Elias’s shard gave another pulse in his chest—slower than before, but deeper. He could feel the weight of it pushing against his ribs. Dot stayed close, her glow low but steady. The soft hum beneath her light gave him something to hold onto. The air felt heavier now. Not just from the blood—but from the sensors embedded in the walls, still humming. Somewhere nearby, PP 72554. Cube X’s surveillance didn’t blink either.

Kikaru’s orb burned brighter a few feet away. Faye’s music Ikona hovered at her shoulder, the vibration of it faint, but uneven. Tidwell’s knife stayed low, half-shadowed by his stance. Paul’s eyes kept moving. Junjio’s hands wouldn’t stay still. Wes hadn’t said a word. He just held position—feet locked, gaze fixed past the serpent.

The night beyond the open door didn’t offer silence. Vardency’s dark was still out there. Waiting.

Elias shifted his gaze to the guards.

Their rifles hadn’t dropped.

They held steady—arms loose, heads tilted slightly, blood coating their uniforms, but none of it fresh. It was the kind of stillness that made him feel like they weren’t really there anymore. Just frames. Just holders.

He swallowed.

His throat scratched against the air.

"So you killed them," he said, voice even, not raised. "And hijacked their bodies... or what?"

He didn’t put edge on it. Didn’t try to accuse. He asked the question like it was a line that hadn’t been crossed yet—like maybe it still mattered.

The air tasted stale again. Too many filters between him and real oxygen. He could feel the vibration in the wall near the door—conduits humming just under the surface. The kind of sound that usually disappeared into the background, but now pressed against his senses like it meant something. A faint glint cut across the edge of the corridor—pipes catching what little light reached through the open door, the lines clean, undisturbed. Still active.

Vira’s serpent Ikona let out a low hiss. Blood slipped from its fangs, striking the floor with soft, wet taps. She didn’t blink. The smirk she wore stayed in place—cold and sure. Her eyes caught the light as they shifted, just enough to show what sat behind them. There was nothing abstract about it. The same kind of zeal that had driven the Epics through Vardency’s ruins now stared back at him from ten feet away.

"They’re alive," she said.

Her voice wasn’t raised. Just smooth. Almost amused.

"For a few moments, anyway. Until the blood cools. Until it clots."

The serpent coiled tighter along her arm as she stepped forward. The motion dragged red streaks across her sleeve.

"Never tested it beyond dummies. And Yui. She punched me in the face."

She tilted her head, the smile sharpening.

"That bastard thinks he’s better than everyone. I’ll wring him dry."

Her shard pulsed bright. A fast flare. The glow cut sideways across the guards’ soaked uniforms as the blood inside them stirred again. Tendrils coiled up their arms and necks, winding through torn muscle and exposed seams. The rifles jerked slightly in their hands.

It didn’t look like movement.

It looked like they were being moved.

Elias’s chest tightened.

The words were still sinking in. The tone she’d used—casual. Playful. There was no weight behind what she said, no pause where someone might hesitate before admitting they’d turned people into meat puppets. His breath stayed shallow, but his body trembled. Hands still raised. Arms locked in place, but shaking.

He forced the words out.

"Why act like this?"

His voice cracked halfway through it.

"You’re talking about killing people like it doesn’t matter."

He glanced to the side, jaw clenched.

"And you. Asurik. What the hell’s going on? I thought we were on the same side."

Asurik didn’t look away. His magma Ikona shifted slightly on his shoulder. The heat rolling off it pushed faint waves through the pod’s dim light, distorting the air near the ceiling. The shadow on his face deepened as he stepped forward. Elias could still hear that last warning—about betrayal—still fresh in his head.

Asurik’s grip shifted on the blade.

His Ikona flared brighter, the veins of molten red glowing thicker through its skin. He didn’t raise his voice.

"Hey. I get it."

The words came slow, like he was choosing each one with care.

"A lot of shit’s going down."

He shot Vira a brief look, then brought his eyes back to Elias.

"I’m sticking with the ones not trying to rip my head off right now."

His tone didn’t harden—but there was weight in it. Enough to press into the silence between them.