My Shard Bearer System - Elias's Legacy
Chapter 63: Power Play

Chapter 63: Power Play

Silas staggered back, his boots dragging against the dirt as he braced himself, the sharp clatter of metal hitting the ground filling the space. The extraction tool trembled in his grip, still locked around the shard.

Colby’s body convulsed, a ragged scream tearing from his throat.

His hand clutched his shoulder, fingers digging into the raw, open wound where the shard had been torn free. His breath came out uneven, his chest rising and falling in short, erratic bursts.

Kikaru and Paul shook, their muscles refusing to respond, their bodies still fighting off the lingering effects of whatever was coursing through them. They could only watch—trapped inside their own skin.

Silas exhaled, rolling his shoulder, before lifting the shard into the light.

The flesh and blood clung to its surface, streaking the crystalline structure in messy, uneven smears.

"Too bad," Silas muttered, tilting his head as he inspected it. "I was hoping for a cleaner extraction... I guess next time, I’ll need to coat the blade with a numbing agent. Keep them from wiggling so much."

Colby’s breath hitched, his vision blurring as he forced out a single, venom-laced response.

"You... bastard."

His limbs were weak, but the rage hadn’t left his voice.

Spock, still perched on his weakened frame, let out a shaky breath.

"I... I think I’m fading away."

The small creature’s voice was distant—fragments of speech broken apart by something deeper than exhaustion.

Colby’s fingers twitched toward him instinctively.

Spock’s ears twitched as he blinked—his expression momentarily lost in something else entirely.

"But... my memories... they’re coming back..."

Colby barely registered the words before Spock’s mind flooded with something he couldn’t stop.

Bodies.

Hundreds. Maybe thousands.

Flickering images of life after life ending, familiar yet unrecognizable. The sheer weight of the death that had passed through it’s existence, the things it had seen before but couldn’t recall, poured into his consciousness all at once.

Spock shuddered.

A single tear streaked down his furred cheek.

"I... I don’t understand what I’m seeing."

His voice wavered, small and fragile.

Spock nuzzled into Colby’s shoulder, his body barely holding its form.

"But I’m glad... you’re still alive."

Then—he vanished.

Colby felt the absence immediately.

The connection—the part of himself that had always been tethered to something greater—was gone.

Colby let out a dry chuckle, his breath uneven as blood continued to seep from his wound.

"I’ve had you for less than a few weeks..." he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper. "I’ve lost more in my life than I can count, and yet... why does this hurt more than anything?"

His chest felt hollow, but not in a way he could explain.

Silas took a slow step forward, turning the shard in his fingers. The crystalline surface flickered faintly, a faint blue film pulsing within it.

"Interesting," he murmured, resting a hand under his gas mask.

A moment passed before he let out a small exhale. "This will make for a good field study. If I can break this down, I will finally crack how this alien technology works."

Colby’s breath hitched at the word.

"A-alien?"

His senses were returning too quickly. The pain in his side was still fresh, but his mind was snapping back into clarity.

Silas tilted his head slightly. "I see you’re able to talk normally now that your shard has been removed. Though I wouldn’t push yourself too much—you’re probably still feeling the effects of blood loss."

His fingers curled around the shard, turning it over carefully as he examined its structure.

"I’m actually glad you didn’t die. You weren’t supposed to." He flicked his wrist dismissively. "But I think that’s only because your shard hadn’t fully fused with your body yet. The way it separated was... cleaner than expected."

His words were more intrigued than concerned.

"Then again, I suppose more tests are needed to confirm that. I do wonder if the military has been running their own trials on you all already. If so... then I might be falling behind in my research."

Colby’s body tensed.

His jaw clenched, his hands trembling at his sides before his fingers curled into a tight fist.

"Shut the hell up!"

His body moved on instinct.

Colby lunged forward, his left palm snapping upward.

The air shifted violently, the wind compressing at his fingertips before bursting outward in a concentrated blast.

A sharp red hue laced the gust, the sheer force of it slamming into Silas’ face before he could react.

The leather of his gas mask tore away, jagged slices cutting into its surface as pieces of it flew off.

Silas stumbled back a step, his fingers immediately touching what remained of the mask.

His eyes widened.

"What the hell?!"

His breath hitched, his mind racing as he stared at Colby.

"He still has access to his abilities? But the shard is gone—how is he still using it?"

His thoughts spiraled for half a second before realization struck.

"Residual infusion? Or... permanent biological alteration?"

His fingers twitched, but then another thought hit him—

His gas mask.

Half of it was gone.

And the air around them was still saturated with the lingering effects of the capsules.

"Damn it. I should knock him out before I start feeling the effects of the smoke."

"Oh well." Silas sighed, rolling his shoulders as he shifted his grip on the shard. "Maybe I’ll just bring you back with me. Then you can truly see the amazing things this world has to offer. Just sit still and—"

The words never finished.

A thunderous metallic roar erupted from his side, the ground quaking beneath the sudden shift in force.

The fire around them twisted violently before being extinguished in an instant, dispersing like it had been snuffed out by sheer power alone.

A shadow cut through the smoke.

Heavy footfalls tore across the battlefield.

A blur of steel and momentum shot past Rirana, the sheer velocity sending a blast of wind in her direction.

Her head snapped toward the figure, her eyes widening in realization.

"Shit! Their captain is already back!"

The realization hit like a hammer.

"He must have sprinted straight here from the contact site!"

Silas twisted mid-step, barely catching movement in his peripheral vision before—

Metal met flesh.

A brutal impact cracked through the air as Jiece’s exo-clad fist connected, the force behind it sending shockwaves through the ground.

The remains of Silas’ mask tore away, scattering in jagged strips.

His body lurched backward, boots dragging furrows into the dirt as he skidded across the field.

But instead of a fractured jaw or crushed cheekbone—

Something unnatural slithered over his skin.

A viscous layer of deep purple shifted, absorbing the blow like water swallowing a stone.

The force bled away into nothing.

Silas straightened, rolling his shoulders as the slime recoiled, shifting back into place.

His lips curled slightly.

"Tch."

Captain Jiece stood in front of him now, fully encased in the exo-suit, steam venting from the hydraulics along his back.

His fists clenched, mechanical components flexing with the movement.

Silas exhaled slowly, rolling his jaw as if he had just been mildly inconvenienced.