The smell of smoke came before the sight. Thick, bitter, mixed with the metallic pheromone of corrupted magic.
Lysa emerged from the underbrush, her steps still unsteady after days of recovery with the Silenced. The new dagger — Veyla’s gift — tapped rhythmically against her thigh. Her breath quickened as she saw flames licking the sky above the next ridge.
A village was burning.
The first structure she spotted was a stone mill, collapsed in on itself. Then, wooden houses amid chaos. Screams. Cracking sounds. It was happening now.
She ran.
The ground trembled beneath her feet. At the village center, a creature shifted between solid and liquid form — a gray mass wrapped in dark runes. It had four legs, two disproportionate arms, and a single blazing eye at the center of its head. It was made of molten metal and poisoned flesh.
Entity: Czhal
Class: Essence Predator
Value: 61
Status: Active Parasite
Czhal drained the villagers' Values directly — not killing them by force, but by unraveling their existence. Its own code vibrated in conflict with the surrounding reality.
Lysa charged forward. Then she saw him.
Kael.
He fought with one arm hanging from his shoulder, bloody, his face blackened with soot. His sword was embedded in one of the monster’s limbs, and still, he barked orders to the fleeing villagers.
— By the Root… RUN!
Lysa didn’t hesitate.
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She leapt over a toppled cart and came down on the monster with Veyla’s dagger in hand. The blade glowed as it sliced through Czhal’s aura — a wave of energy burst out like steam upon contact. The creature roared, retreating, its structure reforming into unstable shapes.
Kael turned his head with effort. His eyes widened.
— Lysa…?
— We can hug later, she said, already moving.
Kael staggered back. His right arm no longer responded. His breathing was weak.
Lysa circled the monster, slashing at energy nodes with precision, weakening its link to the magical suppression field. Veyla’s blade was perfect for it — each strike tore through invisible strands in the air, severing the beams that sustained Czhal.
The creature roared again. Its eye now gleamed in two tones — red and white. A scream of code burst from its throat, and Lysa felt the mental impact of a disruptive wave.
Alert: Minor spiritual damage
Connection strength temporarily weakened
Abilities unstable for 15 seconds
— Kael! she shouted.
Even injured, he stepped forward.
— Distract it.
Lysa understood instantly.
She darted to the side, stabbing the dagger into an exposed point behind the creature. It turned its attention to her.
Kael drew the second blade from his back — a double-edged weapon forged from enchanted glass — and, with a cry that blended pain and fury, launched himself in a short leap, spinning mid-air and driving the weapon directly into the creature’s blazing eye.
The explosion of energy was violent.
Czhal staggered, shuddered, and then began to dissolve into a cloud of ash and purplish blood. Lysa pulled back just in time. Kael dropped to his knees.
Value transferred: +8
Ability acquired: Psychic Resistance I
Exp: +32
Status: Stable
She ran to him.
— Kael…!
He smiled, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
— You… you’re alive. Of course you are.
She held his face. He was pale.
— You need rest. Healing. Where are the others?
— Don’t know. I thought you… were dead.
She nodded, grimly.
— So did I.
The breeze blew. The village still burned in small patches, but the chaos had ended. A few villagers emerged from behind the ruins, watching in silence. An old man made the sign of the Root toward Lysa. Another dropped to his knees.
She ignored them for now. Lifted Kael into her arms.
— I’m taking you somewhere safe.
He tried to protest, but he was too weak.
— You’ll have to go on without me, Lysa, he murmured.
— Not now. Now you rest.
She looked around. At the frightened faces. At the ruins. And at the sky — where the System, she knew, was watching.
