The cold metal cuffs around my wrists bit into my skin as I slowly came to. My HUD flickered weakly, edges glitching as faint error messages hovered in my peripheral vision.

  [STATUS: RESTRAINED][SYSTEM FUNCTIONS: LIMITED]

  The air smelled sterile and metallic, ced with the faint tang of ozone. The room was dim, illuminated by faint neon-blue strips embedded along the walls and ceiling. A mechanical hum vibrated on the floor beneath my boots. The space was clean and deliberate—nothing like the chaotic makeshift outposts in the Rift.

  I was seated on a reinforced metal chair bolted to the floor, my arms locked behind me. Shadows flickered faintly at my feet, curling weakly in a way that made my stomach twist. I couldn’t summon them correctly.

  Devon… Selene…

  My head throbbed faintly, but panic forced me to remain still, to focus. Wherever they were, I had to believe they were still alive.

  Suddenly, my HUD flickered, and the faint crackle of static filled my ears—a glitched message appeared in the air before me.

  [PRIVATE MESSAGE: UNKNOWN]UNKNOWN: Don’t speak.UNKNOWN: Don’t trust them.UNKNOWN: We’ll get you out. Just stay quiet.

  The message vanished as quickly as it came, fragments of code scattering like fireflies. My breath caught in my throat as the weight of the warning settled over me.

  A faint hiss echoed from the door at the room's far end, and it slid open with a smooth, mechanical noise. Heavy boots clicked against the polished floor as a figure stepped inside.

  He was tall, his lean frame wrapped in sleek, customized bck armor glowed faintly with cyan-blue highlights tracing its edges. A matching trench coat hung from his shoulders, its fabric catching the faint light as he walked. His face was sharp and angur, with piercing green eyes that glimmered with faint amusement beneath a tousled fringe of dark hair.

  Kaiden.

  His smile was thin and predatory. He csped his gloved hands behind his back and slowly walked in a half-circle around me, his boots clicking rhythmically with every step.

  “Finally, some alone time with the little anomaly herself.” His voice was smooth, polished, dripping with casual charm.

  I didn’t respond. UNKNOWN’s warning echoed in my mind.

  Kaiden chuckled softly, his sharp green eyes narrowing slightly as he leaned against a nearby console. “Silent treatment, huh? That’s cute. But let me tell you something, Kiera—you and I? We’re going to be spending a lot of time together. And I promise you, by the end of this conversation, you will tell me everything.”

  He paused as if waiting for me to break the silence. When I didn’t, his smirk twitched.

  “Fine. Have it your way.”

  He turned and began typing something into the console beside him. Holographic dispys flickered to life in the air—maps, corrupted fragments of binary code, and faint traces of my corrupted css data projected in glowing lines of light.

  “You know,” he continued conversationally, “you’re a bit of an urban legend in certain circles now. The Demon Lord Anomaly. A walking glitch. People like me—pyers who know the system, who know how to bend the system—we dream of finding something like this.”

  He gestured to the fragmented lines of code projected above the console. “Your character data isn’t just broken—it’s rewritten. Someone, somewhere, went deep into the guts of this game and changed something about that code. And you—poor, innocent little you—just happened to stumble into it.”

  His eyes flicked to me, his smirk curling faintly at the edges. “How does it feel to know that the fate of this game—the fate of this world—is embedded in your code, Kiera?”

  I swallowed hard, fighting back the sharp retort in my throat. UNKNOWN said not to speak. Don’t trust him.

  Kaiden tilted his head, studying me like a predator sizing up injured prey. “You’re smarter than you look; I’ll give you that. Most people would’ve cracked by now—started rambling, or maybe you're just stupid and naive.”

  He pushed himself away from the console, closing the distance between us. His green eyes locked onto mine, sharp and unyielding.

  “But here’s the thing, Kiera. This isn’t just about you. Your friends—Devon, Selene—they’re both here. Alive. For now.”

  My breath hitched, and Kaiden’s smirk widened slightly as he caught the flicker of panic in my eyes.

  “So you do care. Cute.”

  He crouched in front of me, one hand resting lightly on my knee, his expression softening slightly into something mockingly sympathetic.

  “I don’t want to hurt them, Kiera. I really don’t. But if you don’t tell me what I need to know… well, let’s just say their lives might become very inconvenient.”

  He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a whisper. “So, let’s start simple, shall we? Where’s the next fragment?”

  I clenched my jaw, staring at the faint glow of his green eyes.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  Kaiden’s smirk twitched, his patience wearing thin. He stood up slowly, adjusting one of his gloves as he turned his back to me.

  “Hmph. So you're that kind of person: righteous, brave. People like you frustrate me. But in the end, those 'qualities' mean nothing when faced with inevitability.”

  He turned back to me, his eyes glowing faintly in the dim light. “Let me tell you what happens next. I’m going to keep asking questions. And if you keep lying… or pretending you don’t know… well, I’ll start asking Devon. Or Selene.”

  The way he said their names made my stomach churn.

  “But you still have a choice, Kiera. You can end this now. Tell me what I need to know, and we all walk away from this retively unharmed.”

  He paused, giving me one st chance.

  I stared back at him, my shadows flickering faintly at my feet, responding to the anger building in my chest.

  “I. Don’t. Know.”

  Kaiden released a sharp sigh, running a hand through his hair before offering me one st, sharp smile.

  “Very well. We’ll do this the hard way.”

  He turned and strolled toward the door, pausing briefly as it hissed open.

  “Oh, and Kiera? Don’t go anywhere.”

  The door sealed behind him with a sharp hiss, leaving me alone in the sterile room once more.

  My HUD flickered faintly as another private message popped up.

  I exhaled shakily, my shadows curling faintly at my feet.

  The weight of Kaiden’s words lingered in the cold air around me, heavy with the promise of something far worse to come.

  The faint hum of the interrogation chamber lingered in the silence Kaiden left behind.

  UNKNOWN’s cryptic message floated faintly in my HUD: Hold on. Help is coming.

  I clenched my fists, my shadows flickering faintly at my feet, barely strong enough to respond. My mind raced with thoughts of Devon and Selene. Were they okay? Were they still alive?

  The faint, distant sound of a muffled boom reverberated through the metal floor beneath me. My HUD flickered violently before a new warning fshed.

  [ALERT: SECURITY BREACH DETECTED][ZONE LOCKDOWN INITIATED]

  The lights in the room flickered as arms began to wail, their shrill tones cutting through the oppressive silence. My chest tightened as I strained against my cuffs, desperate to catch any sign, any noise from beyond the walls.

  Devon… Selene… Please let this be you.

  ?????°???°?????

  Elsewhere in the stronghold, a sharp cng echoed through a cramped holding cell as glowing restraints shattered against the stone wall. Devon flexed his wrists, the faint red burns left behind already fading as he gripped his greatsword tightly.

  “See? Told you that would work,” he said, fshing Selene a smirk.

  Selene stood nearby, holding a sharp, makeshift lockpick she had crafted from her surroundings. Her amber eyes glimmered faintly in the low light, sharp and calcuting.

  “I didn’t doubt you,” she said ftly, sliding the shard into her belt. “But we’ve got minutes, maybe seconds, before they notice we’re loose.”

  Devon adjusted his grip on his greatsword, his broad shoulders taut with tension. “Then let’s make them count.”

  They moved quickly and efficiently, slipping through the stronghold's narrow corridors. The arms bred overhead, casting rhythmic red fshes along the metallic walls. They worked in sync—Devon clearing rger obstacles with raw force, Selene darting ahead to disable cameras and take out lone operatives with surgical precision.

  Devon gnced at Selene every so often, his voice low and urgent. “We have to get to Kiera. He’s going to hurt her. Whatever that alert is, hopefully, that will be a distraction long enough for us to high-tail it out of here.”

  Selene didn’t respond with words, but her amber eyes' brief flicker of determination spoke volumes.

  They reached a security terminal embedded in the wall. Selene knelt, her fingers flying across the flickering controls as Devon stood guard, his greatsword gleaming faintly in the red warning light.

  “Can you find her?” Devon asked his voice tight with worry.

  Selene’s brows furrowed, her focus razor-sharp. “I’ve got her location. East wing. Interrogation chamber. But…” She hesitated, her eyes narrowing. “Kaiden’s already there.”

  Devon’s knuckles whitened around the hilt of his weapon. “Then we’ll have to go through him.”

  Selene’s voice softened slightly. “You don’t have to—”

  “I do.” Devon’s voice was low, steady, and final. “You get to Kiera. I’ll handle Kaiden.”

  Selene hesitated for only a heartbeat before nodding. “Don’t die, Devon.”

  Devon smirked faintly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  The interrogation chamber’s corridor was eerily quiet despite the arms bring in the distance. Devon’s boots struck the metallic floor with heavy determination as he approached the central room. The door slid open with a hiss, and there he was—Kaiden.

  The rogue guild leader stood casually at the far end of the chamber, one hand tucked into his coat pocket while the other rested casually on the hilt of an ornate short sword at his waist. His green eyes glimmered faintly in the cold light, and a sly smile curved his sharp face.

  “Well, well… if it isn’t Overlord Ren.”

  Devon stepped forward, his greatsword dragging along the floor with a faint screech of steel on metal. His sharp brown eyes locked onto Kaiden’s with pure, unfiltered hatred.

  “Where is she?” Devon’s voice was low and dangerous.

  Kaiden’s smirk widened. “She’s fine. For now. But tell me, Devon—why do you always come running to save someone? Isn’t that exhausting? Pying the hero?”

  Devon took another step forward, his massive frame blocking out the flickering light from behind him. “Last chance, Kaiden. Move, or I’ll move you.”

  Kaiden chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Ah, Devon. Always so direct. So predictable.”

  His hand slid from his coat pocket, fingers twitching faintly as neon-blue lines fred across his glove. The faint hum of energy crackled in the air between them.

  “But that’s what makes you so fun to fight.”

  With a flick of his wrist, Kaiden lunged forward, his short sword flickering with neon energy as it collided with Devon’s greatsword in a burst of sparks.

  The room shook with the force of their csh.

  ?????°???°?????

  Selene slipped through the shadows of the side corridor, her footsteps silent as she approached the locked chamber where Kiera was held.

  The faint flicker of Kiera’s shadows caught Selene’s eye through a reinforced gss viewport. Kiera sat restrained, her head hanging low, her shadows flickering weakly around her feet.

  Selene’s amber eyes narrowed as she examined the lock panel. Complex, heavily encrypted—but not impossible.

  She pulled a slender tool from her belt, a digital spike to bypass complex systems. Her fingers moved quickly, the terminal flickering as she forced the lock override.

  [OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS… 68%]

  From the distant hallway, the sound of cshing steel and sharp grunts of effort echoed through the air. Devon was buying her time, and she couldn’t waste it.

  [OVERRIDE IN PROGRESS… 92%]

  Selene’s brow furrowed, her breath steady despite the rising tension in her chest.

  [ACCESS GRANTED]

  The door hissed open, and Selene slipped inside.

  “Kiera,” she said softly, her voice cutting through the oppressive silence.

  ?????°???°?????

  I lifted my head weakly, shadows curling faintly at my feet as I locked eyes with Selene. Relief washed over me, and my chest tightened as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

  “Selene…”

  She moved quickly, kneeling beside me as she began working on the restraints. The cuffs hissed as they powered down, fading with faint metallic ctters.

  “Can you stand?” Selene asked her voice firm but gentle.

  I nodded weakly, my shadows stirring slightly as blood rushed back into my arms. Selene helped me to my feet, steadying me with her firm grip.

  From somewhere nearby, the sound of Devon’s voice echoed through the metal corridors.

  “SELENE! GET HER OUT OF HERE!”

  Kaiden’s sharp, mocking ughter followed immediately after.

  I met amber eyes with mine, fierce and determined. “We’re not leaving him behind.”

  She grunted in reply, agreeing with me.

  But then, suddenly, the world trembled as the first roar split the air. It wasn’t human—it wasn’t even alive. It was raw, corrupted energy-given form, something primal and broken, echoing through the stronghold like thunder rolling across a gss sky.

  I staggered forward as Selene pulled me from my restraints.

  “What was that?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the rising arms.

  Selene didn’t answer. Her amber eyes were sharp and focused as she tugged me toward the corridor. “I don't know. Let's go find Devon and move—now.”

  The door hissed open, and we were immediately greeted by chaos.

  The stronghold was in shambles. The sleek, sterile hallways had turned into warzones bathed in flickering crimson warning lights and glitching holographic projections. Shadows and fiery red distortions painted every surface as demonic creatures cwed their way out of corrupted rifts tearing open along the walls and floor.

  Corrupted Demonic Spawn—hulking, glitching beasts with molten eyes and jagged limbs—roamed the hallways, screeching and tearing into rogue operatives who fought desperately to hold their ground. Sparks flew as energy weapons fired wildly, illuminating the horrifying shapes of cwed shadows lunging from the smoke.

  A message appeared in my HUDs vision.

  UNKNOWN: Help has arrived...

  I sucked in a sharp breath. This was UNKNOWN’s chaotic influence, not just destabilizing the base but devouring it.

  [SYSTEM ERROR: ENVIRONMENTAL INSTABILITY AT 78%]

  Selene kept one arm around my waist, her other hand clutching a dagger so tightly her knuckles were white.

  “We’ll cut through the side access corridor!” she shouted over the screeching chaos.

  I nodded weakly, shadows flickering instinctively around me as we sprinted forward. My HUD glitched violently, fshing warning after warning.

  We turned a corner into a colpsed hallway. Smoke and debris filled the air, and half of the corridor had crumbled into a yawning abyss filled with glowing red corruption.

  Selene’s grip on my wrist was firm but steady as we navigated through the maze of colpsing corridors. My shadows flickered weakly at my feet, reacting sluggishly to the chaos around us.

  Then I saw him.

  Devon was slumped against a shattered bulkhead, his massive greatsword stabbed into the ground to keep him upright. His armor was scorched and smeared with ichor-like corruption, his health bar blinking dangerously low in the corner of my HUD. His chest heaved with bored breaths, and a faint trickle of blood ran from his temple down to his jawline.

  “Devon!” I cried, wrenching free from Selene’s grip and sprinting toward him.

  “Took you two long enough…” he rasped, his voice raw.

  His head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and his sharp brown eyes locked onto mine. In that instant, everything else—the screams, the arms, the chaos—fell away.

  I crashed into him, my arms wrapping tightly around his armored waist as if I could hold him together through sheer willpower. Devon’s greatsword fell with a heavy cng as his arms enveloped me in return. One hand spyed across my back while the other cradled the back of my head. His grip was strong and desperate, and I trembled faintly with exhaustion.

  “Kiera…” he rasped, his voice raw with a mix of relief and something else—something unspoken but heavy with meaning.

  For a long moment, neither of us moved. I buried my face against his chest, feeling the faint vibration of his heartbeat beneath his armor. Devon’s head dipped, his forehead resting gently against the crown of my forehead. His gloved hand slid to my cheek, his thumb brushing away a streak of grime smudged across my skin.

  I leaned into his touch instinctively, shadows curling faintly around my ankles as if responding to the fragile tenderness of the moment. My breath hitched as I met his gaze—his eyes were softer now, the sharp edge of battle repced with something vulnerable, something fragile.

  “You’re okay,” he whispered, his voice cracking faintly. “I thought… I thought I lost you.”

  His forehead touched mine, his eyes closing briefly as if he was anchoring himself in this moment, in me.

  Time felt like it stopped. The weight of everything we’d endured pressed down on us, and for a fleeting moment, it felt like it might break us both.

  But then—

  “Guys,” Selene’s voice cut through the stillness like a bde. “We have to move.” Selene knelt beside him, pulling a small vial from her belt—a health potion, faintly glowing blue. “Drink this. Now.”

  Devon coughed weakly but took the vial, downing it in one rough gulp. A faint glow pulsed through his body as the potion stabilized him, though his health bar barely crept upwards.

  “We’re not going to make it out of here if we don’t move,” Selene said urgently, her amber eyes flicking toward the approaching shadows in the corridor behind us.

  I turned to gnce back, and my breath caught in my throat.

  A wave of corrupted demonic creatures surged toward us—twisting forms of glitching cws, sharp jaws, and glowing crimson eyes. They moved like liquid nightmare shadows, pooling into the cracks of the stone before reforming and lunging forward in sync.

  “RUN!” Devon barked, grabbing his greatsword and pushing himself upright.

  We stumbled into the central atrium of the stronghold—a vast, open space that had once been pristine and orderly. Now, it was a full-blown battlefield.

  Rogue operatives fought desperately against swarms of demonic creatures pouring from fractured rifts in the walls and ceiling. Energy bdes cshed against molten cws. Pulse rifles discharged in bursts of bright light before being silenced by jaws snapping around limbs.

  The entire space glowed with chaotic red and blue light, glitching particles drifting like dying embers.

  Selene pulled me forward, her daggers fshing as she cut through a smaller creature that lunged at us. Devon followed, his greatsword carving a path through the chaos with sheer brute force.

  But we were being driven back. Pushed further and further toward a dead end.

  Amid the madness, my HUD fshed again.

  [PRIVATE MESSAGE: UNKNOWN]UNKNOWN: ESCAPE NOW.

  “UNKNOWN’s here,” I said breathlessly.

  “What?” Devon shouted, his voice barely cutting through the chaos.

  Before I could expin, the demonic creatures shifted. The wave of shadows coalesced, forming a wall of teeth, cws, and molten eyes that boxed us against the edge of a colpsing ptform.

  We were cornered.

  Another message appeared across my HUD, glitching violently as the letters struggled to stabilize.

  [PRIVATE MESSAGE: UNKNOWN]UNKNOWN: This is your only way out. Enter the code now.

  [FRAGMENTED BINARY SEQUENCE DETECTED][ACTIVATION CODE: 0x001A4F-DMNLRD_Override_Protocol]

  [WARNING: CODE IS UNSTABLE. HIGH-LEVEL JUMP DETECTED. CONSEQUENCES UNKNOWN.]

  [EXECUTE? Y/N]

  A binary code flickered across the screen, glowing faintly in dark crimson light.

  I can’t… My breath hitched. Every instinct in me screamed that this was a terrible idea.

  But if I didn’t do something, it would be all over.

  I raised my hand, shadows flickering violently around my fingertips as I opened the command console.

  The binary string glowed brightly as I entered it manually. Each keystroke felt heavier, more final.

  As I pressed Enter, my HUD froze. Everything froze.

  Then, the world shattered.

  A sharp, piercing CRACK split the air as my shadows erupted outward. The corrupted creatures recoiled, their glitching forms flickering as if repelled by an unseen force.

  The shadows poured from me, swirling like bck smoke and crackling with faint violet energy. My HUD glitched violently, error messages flooding my vision.

  [CLASS EVOLUTION: SUCCUBUS DEMON LORD – ENHANCED]

  The energy surging through me felt fractured and jagged, like melted gss poured directly into my veins.

  My hands trembled violently as jagged lines of red and violet light cracked across my skin, glowing faintly beneath the surface. My vision blurred, and my shadows surged outward, forming twisted, cwed shapes in the air around me.

  The creatures in front of us froze, their molten eyes wide with something that looked like fear.

  Devon called my name—his voice faint and distant. Selene’s face was twisted with worry as she reached out a hand.

  But I couldn’t hear them.

  The power surged again, and my voice rang out, deep and distorted, echoing across the battlefield.

  “Begone.”

  The air rippled outward in a shockwave of violet and bck energy, consuming everything in its path. The corrupted creatures shattered into glitching particles, the rifts sealed violently, and the walls cracked under the sheer pressure of the force unleashed.

  But I couldn’t stop it.

  The shadows around me twisted violently, wrapping around my arms, legs, and neck. My HUD flickered one st time before freezing completely.

  My vision went dark, and my body went still.

  The st thing I heard was Selene calling my name.