Shadows and Schemes in the Ruins

A blood-red warning suddenly flashed across Lin Xiu's goggles, and the Oracle System's mechanical voice exploded against his eardrums. "Detected magical energy concentration exceeding the limit by 237%. Tactical-form environmental reconstruction is recommended."

His fingertips pressed the armor control node on his wrist almost by reflex.

A swarm of nanobots surged from the core along his spine like a black stream, slipping through the gaps in his arm guards and into the walls of the ruins.

The slick stone walls gave off a faint, sizzling hiss as the swarm gnawed through them—this was an improved infiltration method based on the "rune resonance frequency" recorded in Balder's Diary, which he had deciphered three days earlier.

While studying Balder's Diary, he had noticed mention of a peculiar energy fluctuation within the Balder Core. The crystal would occasionally flash with a strange glimmer, but he had not paid it much attention at the time.

"Stop!" Icarus's voice finally carried a hint of urgency.

The hand hanging at his side suddenly clenched his gray cloak, revealing the tome at his waist, its cover embedded with a star-shaped gem.

From the corner of his eye, Lin Xiu caught the purple stream of light bursting from Icarus's fingertips. It was the precursor to a Binding Spell, but the instant it touched the armor, it was deflected by a pale blue barrier—the Anti-Mental Force Field, an unexpected gain from analyzing the Mind Stone's energy during the Battle of New York.

"Looks like Master The Ancient One never told you about my armor's properties." Lin Xiu's voice turned cold and hard through the speakers.

He could feel the Oracle System rapidly comparing the rune patterns within the walls. The golden lines that had been simulated countless times in three-dimensional models in the laboratory were now forming a stereoscopic projection across his goggles at a visible speed.

"The core node is behind the third load-bearing pillar. Swarm, high-frequency vibration."

The instant the final word left his mouth, the entire ruin suddenly rumbled like muffled thunder.

The rumble boomed beside his ears like rolling spring thunder, making his eardrums ache. Even the surrounding air seemed to tremble beneath the deafening sound.

Icarus's silver-white pupils contracted sharply—he could clearly see the ancient runes carved into the stone walls twisting like parchment crumpled by an invisible hand.

It was the first time he had shown panic before a mortal. "You have no idea what you're destroying! What is sealed in there is—"

"Asgard's secret?" Lin Xiu cut him off as the membrane wings unfurled behind his back.

The blue glow on the armor's surface condensed into sharper lines, and the boosters of its basic combat form spewed pale blue flames as he leaped upward.

The flames roared as they erupted, heat rushing toward his face and scorching his cheeks.

He could clearly hear Icarus gritting his teeth, mixed with the rustling fall of rubble as the runes on the stone walls collapsed.

The instant his toes touched the top of the stone monument, the air suddenly froze.

The phantom appeared without warning.

Its golden armor was more dazzling than the noon sun, its blazing radiance piercing straight into Lin Xiu's eyes like a blade and forcing him to squint.

Its hanging beard seemed cast from molten gold. Those eyes, which had witnessed the rise and fall of the Nine Realms, were fixed on Lin Xiu as though looking at an insect that had flown into a spiderweb. "Mortal, if you insist on acting recklessly, you will bear the consequences."

Before the words had faded, a thumb-thick beam of golden energy tore through the air.

The beam gave off a sharp hiss as it sliced through the air, as if the very atmosphere had been cut apart.

Lin Xiu did not even have time to turn before a dynamic shield unfolded over his chest.

The instant blue and gold collided, he nearly crushed his back teeth—this force far surpassed the Chitauri Legion's heavy weapons. The armor's joints groaned as metal twisted, and he was blasted into the stone wall, the goggles at his temple cracking in spiderweb patterns.

The stone wall was cold and hard. When he struck it, a chill spread through his body along with a burst of intense pain.

"Warning! Core energy remaining: 37%." The Oracle System's alert carried a static hiss.

Lin Xiu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but froze the instant his fingers touched the crystal—the blue light had somehow become scorching hot and was burrowing from his fingertips into his veins.

The burning sensation spread rapidly from his fingertips like lava, making his fingers tremble involuntarily.

"Absorption recommendation confirmed." The system suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice unlike its usual tone. "The Origin Fragment Echo and the Balder Core possess quantum entanglement. Fusion success rate: 92.7%."

Lin Xiu gritted his teeth and pressed his palm fully against the crystal.

A searing pain exploded from his palm, only to turn icy cold in an instant.

The coldness spread through his entire body like a frigid current, making him shiver.

His consciousness was dragged into a blood-red battlefield. Armored warriors fought across an ice field, while a blond young man at their head drove a spear into the throat of a colossal monster.

The icy wind howled across the frozen plain, cutting into his body with the pain of blades.

That was Balder—the portrait he had seen in the diary.

But in the next second, blood blossomed across the young man's chest. A deep-blue core flew from his shattered armor, glowing faintly one last time before it fell.

"So... this is how you came to be." Lin Xiu's throat tightened.

When his consciousness returned to the ruins, the crystal before him had completely dimmed. The nanobot swarm was injecting the final trace of blue light into the core along his spine.

"Ding—"

The Oracle System's prompt finally became clear again, though it now carried a faint metallic tremor. "[Balder Armor: Oracle Analysis Form] unlocked. Current quantum entanglement range: radius 50 kilometers."

Lin Xiu lowered his head and saw a faint strand of golden light lingering in his palm.

The ruins had fallen silent at some point. Lin Xiu looked toward the direction Icarus had vanished, wondering whether he had fled because Lin Xiu had successfully unlocked a new form, or for some other reason.

Icarus's gray cloak had left only a pale purple afterimage in the corner of the wall, while not even a fragment remained of Odin's phantom.

He reached for the armor over his chest. At some point, its patterns had gained a ring of dark-gold trim, like an ancient medal.

The dark-gold edging was smooth and substantial to the touch, carrying an air of mystery.

"Looks like I still underestimated this core's ambition," Lin Xiu said softly.

Lin Xiu stood amid the ruins that had just endured a fierce battle, feeling his newly acquired power flowing through his body.

He took a deep breath and was about to leave this mysterious place when the Oracle System suddenly reported that it had detected tremors on the surface.

His voice echoed through the empty ruins, only to be cut off by the system prompt that suddenly sounded. "Surface tremors detected. Source: Brooklyn."

When Lin Xiu emerged from the ruins, the first light of dawn was climbing the smokestacks of the abandoned factory.

That ray of light was like a golden blade slicing through the dark horizon.

He stood on a rusted iron platform at the top level and looked up at the sky shrouded in smog.

The iron platform was thick with rust, creaking beneath his feet as the smell of iron oxide filled the air.

The Oracle System projected a string of jumping numbers across his retina—an energy fluctuation unlike anything he had ever seen was seeping from the northern clouds, like an invisible thread tethered to his newly awakened core.

"Asgard..." Lin Xiu narrowed his eyes and lightly tapped the armor over his chest with his knuckles.

The wind lifted the loose strands of hair over his forehead, revealing pupils glowing faintly beneath his goggles.

Some things needed to be clarified.