Here is the edited text with only spelling, punctuation, and grammatical corrections. The word count remains the same:
—
Silva slashed down with his full strength; his sword ripped through the space inside the labyrinth. The force of the attack tore through the walls and caused them to shatter.
The shockwave created a powerful chain reaction that led to the collapse of the first floor, killing all the Maglendons inside.
The chain reaction continued, moving down to several floors below. Silva levitated in the air using his wings while watching the entire labyrinth collapse.
The collapse caused the entire academy to shake violently, and after the labyrinth fully collapsed, the core of the labyrinth was exposed for Silva to attack.
He didn’t even hesitate. He took out one of his normal swords and threw it with all his might at the core. The sword stabbed into the core and caused it to explode, destroying everything and killing the remaining Maglendons.
When he was done, the entire place was now rubble inside a very large hole. The hole itself was larger than the labyrinth.
It made him wonder why they would dig a large hole like this yet only use a smaller part to build the artificial labyrinth.
He decided to take a look around the labyrinth with his dragon eyes, and that was when he saw a small wisp of energy coming from a spot.
He decided to check it out. He covered his sword with abyssal flames for light, and then he fell downward.
When he got there, he noticed a cave big enough for a full human to walk in, so he walked in without hesitation.
He kept going for minutes until finally, he came to a split road. He used his dragon eyes again to check, and he saw that the energy flowed into the left path.
So he took that path and walked while paying good attention to his surroundings. After walking for some more minutes, he saw some light.
When he got to where the light was, it was a small crystal illuminating a cave room. He could see that there was a trap formation in this room; you would have to move correctly to avoid activating the trap.
But Silva just walked in, and when the formation was about to activate, he stomped the ground and destroyed the entire formation.
After leaving that room, he entered the next passageway and into the next room, and he was stunned by what he saw.
There were canisters filled with liquid and Maglendons suspended inside.
“Is this where they make them?” he asked, looking around in surprise.
“So this is how the artificial Maglendons are made, but if they are still in production, shouldn’t there be someone making them?”
As he thought about that, he heard a plea for help.
“Help me.” It was subtle, weak, and quiet, but it also sounded pained.
Silva immediately dashed into the next cave room when he heard that voice, and there he saw it, a massive red dragon chained to the ground.
With multiple sharp lances pierced into the dragon’s body to keep it stuck to the ground, a tube was connected to one large wound on her body and was sucking out her blood.
“Who are you?” Silva asked.
The dragon moved her head to look at Silva, ready to get mad at a child for being here and talking to her like that.
But when she looked at him, she could sense the power of dragons inside him. She thought for a bit before responding.
“I am Agler,” the dragon spoke.
Silva immediately began to wonder about this academy and this kingdom in general—how they were able to get their hands on so many things like this.
He had a feeling that this kingdom was not as it seemed; there was something that he didn’t know yet, and he was sure of it.
There had to be a secret in this kingdom that would explain how they were able to take the abyssal sword and also capture a dragon.
No matter how weak this dragon could be, capturing it would be ten times harder than killing it.
—
The king took his youngest son, the one who would inherit his throne after his elder brother committed some crime.
The youngest son was only eleven and was hailed as a magical prodigy.
They walked through a dim corridor with torches at the sides of the walls.
“Father, where are we going?” he asked.
“To awaken the Zero code,” his father replied.
“What’s the Zero code, Dad?” the son asked again, as this was the first time he had heard of it.
“Hmm, you’ll be king soon, so I can tell you about the Zero code.
Our kingdom had always been among the normal kingdoms, with nothing special and no power. One of our ancient ancestors, a master in biological magic, decided to change this.
He wanted the kingdom to become the most well-known, even above the empire and the holy kingdom.
And for this purpose, he began experimenting, trying to find a way to create the most powerful being that would walk the earth.
And he actually succeeded; he made Code Zero. Code Zero is the reason this kingdom is still alive, carrying out the most dangerous missions for the kingdom.
But that wasn’t the best part of Code Zero; the best part was the fact that he could evolve to get stronger by merging stronger genes into his body.
Because of that, we created the elite competition to groom the best and most talented youngsters for Code Zero. Normally, it would be at least five years after the competition, and the winners would begin to vanish with a ten-year interval, or seven years, or even twenty.
Anything to ensure no one suspected. The winners who grew to be great would die in service to the kingdom. But all that is a setup; we created the false danger scenario that kills them.
And when they die, a fake is buried, and Code Zero can easily consume the body and become stronger. It’s been so for long, and you will also continue it in your turn.
The goal is to evolve Code Zero to make him into a being stronger than heroes and demon kings. Code Zero once captured a dragon, and with the merge of Code Zero’s genes and the dragon’s blood, we created a new race called Maglendons and stored them in a labyrinth for future purposes.
Now, as to the reason you and I are going to awaken Code Zero, that is because it seems a mysterious enemy has come to attack our kingdom.
I have sent a massive force against them, but I have to be careful, so I’ll unleash Code Zero as well, and if the enemy defeats our forces, we will have Code Zero take care of them,” the king explained.
The prince didn’t react to all his father said because, from a young age, he had already known about the dark side of ruling. He was only curious about certain things concerning what his father said.
“Dad, how exactly was Code Zero created?” he asked.
“Through the mutilation and death of many races—humans, elves, fairies, and lots more. Their eyes were stolen and merged into the creation of Code Zero.
According to the records passed down from king to king, it has cost over seven thousand lives to make Code Zero as strong as it is.
An investment that is constantly made by every king in every generation, our secret weapon.”
They finally arrived at a massive door. The king took out a large key and put it into the keyhole before twisting.
The door made a loud ping noise before finally opening. The king walked in, followed closely by the prince, and torches on the wall came on.
There was a human-sized box at the center of the room made from very good wood. The king went over there and pushed the cover off, revealing a being that was completely black, with no eyes or nose, only a mouth.
Not even an ear; its body was slender, and though it was naked, there were no genitals on its body.
The king took out a knife and cut his palm, allowing a drop of blood to fall from his palm onto the mouth of the creature.
After a few seconds, its tongue came out and licked up the blood, then it sat up in the box.
“Son, this is Code Zero, the greatest weapon our kingdom has, something that will tear through all our enemies,” the king said.
Code Zero suddenly looked up and opened its mouth, a black fluid pouring out as if forced out with high propulsion.
—
Inside Blacklight City, Drake paused and looked up, frowning deeply.
Elsa teleported out of the labyrinth into the sky; she flew so high, her eyes looking toward the capital. And so did all the Guardians.
Silva, who was underground with the dragon, turned around when he felt something, something would be coming soon.