Chapter 64: Emperor Insight

The notification remained in front of Reinhard for several seconds.

[Reward Calculation Complete.]

[Legendary Reward Granted: Emperor’s Insight.]

His attention shifted as the details appeared.

[Effect: When magical perception is activated, the surrounding environment is mapped within the user’s mind.]

[Additional Effect: Hostile entities detected within the perception range are represented as distinct hostile energy signatures.]

[Duration: 30 seconds per activation.]

Reinhard’s eyes narrowed slightly. That was useful. Very useful.

He looked toward the ruined headquarters ahead of them and activated his magical perception. The world changed immediately. The darkness surrounding Helios didn’t disappear, but something else took its place inside his mind.

The building unfolded around him as a three-dimensional structure, with corridors, rooms, collapsed sections, stairways, and underground spaces forming a complete map. He could see the structure without physically seeing it.

Then red points began appearing throughout the map, one, then three, then seven, more continuing to appear, each one representing a hostile presence somewhere inside Helios.

Reinhard slowly looked toward the others. The ability wasn’t limited to the environment. Four more notifications appeared.

[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Danger Intuition.]

[Effect: Incoming attacks can be perceived as predicted attack vectors up to three seconds before they occur.]

[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Predator Analysis.]

[Effect: Hostile intent can be detected even when the target suppresses its presence. Enhanced perception can detect living entities through physical barriers.]

[Additional Reward Granted: Enhanced Combat Analysis.]

[Effect: Rapidly analyzes combat patterns, defensive habits, ability interactions, and exploitable weaknesses.]

[Legendary Additional Reward Granted: Spatial Step.]

[Effect: Allows the user to instantly shift a short distance through compressed space.]

Reinhard looked over the new abilities with growing interest. Emperor’s Insight, in particular, was exactly the kind of ability that could change how he approached an unknown environment. And that was exactly what he needed.

A much larger red signal suddenly appeared beneath the others. Reinhard’s expression changed. That wasn’t an ordinary Abomination. The signal was enormous, and it was moving. A low vibration passed through the floor beneath their feet.

Rhea stopped eating. "Did you feel that?"

Another vibration followed, stronger than the first.

Adrian looked around nervously. "What was that?"

Reinhard dismissed the notifications and looked toward the others. "I found something."

Seraphine immediately stepped closer. "With your relic?"

Reinhard nodded. It was the easiest explanation. "Yes. It maps the area when I activate my magic sensing, and it can identify hostile energy."

Seraphine’s eyes sharpened. "That’s extremely useful."

"It is."

He activated Emperor’s Insight again. The map returned, and this time he could see even more clearly. "There’s a large number of Abominations throughout the building. Some are moving, others are stationary. There are several groups spread across different floors."

"How many?" Mara asked.

"I can’t give you an exact number yet." Reinhard studied the map. "But there are enough that we shouldn’t move carelessly."

Mara nodded. "Then we’ll stay together."

"That would be wise," Seraphine agreed.

Reinhard looked deeper into the map. There was another problem. Something enormous was moving beneath them. He couldn’t see its exact shape, but its energy signature was far larger than anything else inside Helios. "There’s something below us."

Rika rested a hand on her weapon. "How strong?"

"I don’t know."

"That’s reassuring," she muttered.

Rhea looked toward Reinhard. "You really know how to make people feel safe."

"I’m still learning."

They moved deeper into Helios. The building became stranger the farther they went. Old desks remained exactly where employees had abandoned them. Identification cards were scattered across the floor, and faded blood marked sections of the walls.

Emergency notices hung beside sealed containment doors, while deep claw marks crossed the concrete. The place had once been an ordinary headquarters. Now it looked like something that had been abandoned halfway through becoming a nightmare.

Seraphine stopped near an old terminal. "This may still work." She connected a small device and waited. The screen flickered several times before finally displaying a corrupted archive.

PROJECT ARCHIVE

LIGHTNING EMPEROR PROJECT

Reinhard immediately moved closer. "Can you access it?"

"Some of it."

Seraphine worked through the damaged files while Mara kept watch. Several minutes later, a partial report appeared.

Project Status: Transferred.

"Transferred where?" Reinhard asked.

Seraphine tried to access the next section. The terminal froze, then the screen went black.

Rika sighed. "Of course."

"Can you recover anything else?" Mara asked.

"Not from this terminal."

Reinhard looked toward the surrounding corridor. "There may be another archive."

They continued. A few corridors later, Emperor’s Insight revealed a concealed space behind a collapsed section of wall. Reinhard stopped. "There’s something behind there."

Mara and Adrian moved the debris aside. Behind it was a small compartment containing several damaged documents and a set of technical schematics. Seraphine carefully picked them up, her expression changing. "This is it."

"The Key?" Reinhard asked.

"The blueprint."

Everyone gathered around her. She studied the documents carefully before nodding. "The Lightning Emperor Key."

Reinhard looked at the schematic. The device wasn’t a weapon in the traditional sense. It was connected directly to Gnosis theory. "What’s it supposed to do?" Adrian asked.

Seraphine continued reading. "It forcibly opens a Gnosis and restores access to dormant power."

Reinhard’s eyes narrowed. Emily. That was exactly what she needed. For the first time since entering Helios, the danger around them felt completely worth it. "Can it restore a damaged Gnosis?"

"Potentially," Seraphine said. "But this document warns against activating it without a compatible Gnosis."

"Why?"

"Because forcing open the wrong Gnosis could cause catastrophic damage."

Reinhard looked at the schematic again. The Lightning Emperor Key wasn’t simply something that could help Emily.

It was something that could potentially destroy someone who wasn’t compatible with it.

"We’ll be careful," Mara said.

Reinhard nodded.

Then Emperor’s Insight showed him something else, a faint anomaly beneath the floor. He turned toward it. "There’s another passage."

They followed the hidden route and eventually found a second set of documents, a facility map, three marked locations, and one section labeled CORE CONTAINMENT.

Seraphine compared the map with the schematic. "The Key should be here." She pointed toward the location. "Below us."

Reinhard activated Emperor’s Insight again. The massive red signal shifted. It was moving upward. His expression tightened. "Everyone." The others turned. "The large one is moving."

"Toward us?" Adrian asked.

Reinhard watched the signal for another second. "Not yet."

The old lights suddenly flickered, one after another coming alive throughout the corridor. A broken speaker crackled overhead.

[Warning.]

[Core containment failure detected.]

Everyone froze.

The announcement repeated.

[Warning.]

[Containment protocols have failed.]

Rhea slowly lowered the food she was still carrying. "That sounds bad."

"It is," Rika said.

Another announcement followed.

Secondary containment released.

Seraphine’s expression changed. "Secondary containment?"

Reinhard activated Emperor’s Insight. The map inside his mind changed instantly, one red signal becoming five, five becoming twenty, twenty becoming dozens, then more, spreading throughout Helios.

Adrian stared at Reinhard’s expression. "How many?"

Reinhard watched the signals multiply. "Too many."

"How many is too many?" Rhea asked.

He looked toward the corridors surrounding them. "For this building?" He paused. "All of them."

A scraping sound came from the darkness.

Everyone turned.

An Abomination stepped into view, its body horribly distorted, limbs bending at impossible angles, remnants of an old laboratory uniform fused into its flesh. Then another pair of eyes opened behind it. Then another.

Rhea took a step backward. "There are more."

The floor suddenly shook, and a support column cracked.

"Move!" Mara shouted.

The group reacted immediately, turning toward the eastern corridor. Reinhard activated Emperor’s Insight. "Blocked."

"West," Mara ordered.

He checked again. "Also blocked."

A massive explosion tore through the corridor before anyone could respond, and the ceiling collapsed between them. Mara grabbed Adrian and pulled him away from the falling debris. Rika and Kael were pushed backward, while Seraphine barely slipped through the opening.

Reinhard and Archon were forced into another corridor. The rubble crashed down behind them.

"Reinhard!" Mara’s voice came from the other side.

"We’re fine! We’ll find another route!"

Reinhard looked at the collapsed passage, then at Archon. Another roar echoed through the building.

"They’re coming," Archon said.

Reinhard tightened his grip on Heavenpiercer. "Then we move."

They continued through the new corridor, the map from Emperor’s Insight remaining active in his mind, red signals surrounding them from almost every direction.

Archon glanced toward him. "Your relic really works."

"Better than expected."

"How many?"

"Dozens nearby."

She nodded. "Then stay close."

Reinhard smiled. "You’re saying that like I’m the one who needs protecting."

"You are."

"I’ll remember that."

They moved forward. The first Abomination rushed toward them. Archon stepped forward, and she didn’t use a spell, didn’t activate a relic.

She simply moved, her body accelerating so suddenly that Reinhard almost lost sight of her. Her sword flashed once, and the Abomination’s head separated from its body.

Another attacked from the side.

She turned and cut through it before it could reach her.

Three more dropped from the ceiling, and Archon jumped, twisting through the air before cutting one across the neck, turning into a second slash against another, then driving her blade through the third. She landed without slowing down.

More Abominations appeared, and Archon advanced, her movements becoming faster as she continued fighting, each strike flowing naturally into the next.

She didn’t pause between attacks, and the longer the battle continued, the harder it became for Reinhard to follow her movements even with his enhanced perception.

She wasn’t simply strong. She understood exactly how to move.

An Abomination suddenly broke away from the group and charged toward Reinhard. He raised Heavenpiercer, and when the creature struck he stepped aside and drove the spear through its core.

Another attacked from his right, and he opened a Space Tear and redirected the claw into the wall before finishing it with Heavenpiercer.

"Two," he said.

Archon glanced at him. "Counting?"

"You started it."

"Then catch up."

She disappeared forward again. Reinhard laughed quietly and followed.

A larger Abomination eventually emerged from the darkness. Archon stepped in front of him. "Stay back."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

The creature charged, and Archon disappeared, reappearing behind it and striking, then again, then again.

The creature tried to turn, but she continued moving around it, attacking from different angles until she finally planted her foot and delivered one final sweeping slash.

The Abomination fell apart.

Reinhard stared at the remains. "You didn’t use anything."

"I didn’t need to."

She cleaned her blade. Reinhard smiled slightly. Interesting.

They continued deeper into Helios. A few minutes later, Emperor’s Insight detected three familiar signals. Reinhard stopped. "Wait."

Archon turned. "What?"

"I found them."

"The others?"

"Three of them."

They changed direction, the sounds of combat growing louder as they moved through the corridors. When they finally reached the room, they found three of the Nephilim standing among several dead Abominations.

Rhea had blood running down one arm. Adrian’s gauntlets were damaged. Mara was leaning against a wall, breathing heavily.

Reinhard walked toward them at once. "Are you three alright?"

"We’re alive," Rhea said.

"That’s not what I asked."

She gave him a tired smile. "We’re mostly alright."

He noticed that she was still holding her snack, which was now flattened but intact. "You kept the snack through all of that?"

"Priorities."

Reinhard looked at her injured arm. "Let me see that."

"It’s nothing."

"You’re bleeding."

"I’ve had worse."

"That’s not a good argument."

He examined the injury and began using Mia to heal them, and all three of them blinked in surprise while Archon watched in silence. "You three are supposed to keep me alive," Reinhard said. "I can at least make sure you’re still in one piece."

Rhea looked at him for a moment. "You’re actually worried about us?"

Reinhard looked genuinely confused. "Of course."

Rhea smiled. "You’re strange."

"I’ve heard that before."

Mara nodded toward him. "Your concern is appreciated."

"You’re welcome."

Adrian looked at him carefully. "You’re really not what I expected."

"What did you expect?"

Adrian hesitated. "Someone weaker."

Reinhard laughed. "Fair. I have a very trustworthy face, and it doesn’t do me any favors."

Before anyone could say anything else, Emperor’s Insight changed. Dozens of red signals appeared across the map, and Reinhard’s expression sharpened. "We need to move."

Mara immediately stood straighter. "What’s wrong?"

"The other three."

Archon looked toward him. "Their position?"

"They’re surrounded."

Rhea’s expression changed. "How many?"

Reinhard studied the map. "Dozens." He paused. "More."

They moved immediately, the sounds of battle growing louder with every corridor they passed.

Boom. Clang.

A roar echoed through the building. They reached a large laboratory, and through the broken entrance Reinhard could see the remaining three Nephilim fighting in the center of the room. They were working together, one holding the center, another attacking exposed weak points, the third controlling their retreat. Their formation was good. But there were simply too many Abominations.

One creature broke through and slammed into one of them, sending them crashing against the wall. Another immediately moved to protect them. More creatures rushed forward, and the formation began to collapse.

Reinhard stepped forward. "We need to help."

Archon’s hand caught his shoulder. "Wait."

He looked at her. "They’re about to be overwhelmed."

"I know."

"Then why are we standing here?"

Archon continued watching the fight. "Because if I save them every time they’re in danger, they won’t learn."

Reinhard looked back at the battlefield. "They’re Nephilim."

"They won’t always have me."

Another Abomination attacked, and one of the three barely avoided it. Archon didn’t move. "If I save them every time, they’ll never learn what to do when I’m not there."

Reinhard was silent. "But they might die."

"Yes." She paused. "That’s why they need to learn."

Reinhard looked at the battlefield again. Then he activated Emperor’s Insight, and the room unfolded inside his mind. Every Abomination became a red point. Every Nephilim became a distinct position. The pillars, broken machinery, corridors, blocked exits, enemy movements, and possible routes all appeared together.

He watched. One Abomination moved left. Another followed. A third broke away from the group. Reinhard’s eyes narrowed.

The battlefield suddenly looked different. It wasn’t chaos. It was movement, patterns, relationships.

He could see where the Abominations would move before they reached their targets, and he could see how the three Nephilim were responding to each attack.

His Enhanced Combat Analysis began to connect the information, and Emperor’s Insight ran out and he reactivated it without looking away. One opening appeared. Then another. Then another. Reinhard’s expression slowly changed.

Archon noticed. "You found something."

"Maybe."

"What?"

He watched another Abomination attack the formation. "I don’t need to fight for them."

Archon raised an eyebrow. "Then what are you going to do?"

Reinhard looked at the battlefield again. "I can tell them how to fight."

She studied him for a moment. "You think they’ll listen?"

A small smile appeared on Reinhard’s face. "They’d better."