Chapter 24: Convincing the crowd
"Me next!" Sol exclaimed, placing the crown on her head.
The reaction was immediate. The central jewel ignited like the sun, momentarily blinding everyone in the room.
"Slow down, Sol," Nioh instructed, shielding his eyes. "Control your light and focus it on the target point." He gestured toward a marked target on the far wall.
Following his command, Sol focused, and a beam of concentrated light shot from the crown, striking the target and reducing it to ashes.
"Whoa," Nioh murmured, admiration evident as he jotted notes. "Your power is stronger than I anticipated."
Cryo, ever the skeptic, couldn't hold back. "Impressive, but her core energy is already drained. On the battlefield, she'd be useless after one shot."
Nioh ignored him, turning to Kol. "What do you feel?"
Kol placed a hand on the cloak's edge as if testing its presence. "I can sense Sol, like... she's a part of me."
"Me too," Sol chimed in, her eyes wide with wonder.
"Good," Nioh said, a grin creeping across his face. "The connection between your weapons is working. I got the idea for these paired weapons from the night you two sneaked into my lab. Since your shadow has the power to absorb matter, it should absorb energy too. With the Nightlight Biocore following similar principles, you should be able to provide Sol with near-unlimited energy."
He turned to X. "Let's test it. Attack the twins with 50% of your power."