The rain hadn't stopped for hours.
It drizzled endlessly, soaking the cracked rooftops and narrow alleyways of the slums known as Sector 9—a forgotten corner of the Inner Wards where even the Cradle's drones rarely bothered to scan. A perfect place to hide if one had the will to endure hunger, filth, and the constant threat of being robbed—or worse.
Kael had endured worse.
Wrapped in a makeshift cloak stitched from scavenged cloth and nanoweave scraps, he crouched on the second floor of a collapsed warehouse. Below, three men in torn coats whispered over a barrel fire, casting shifting shadows across the broken concrete. Their voices carried faintly, but Kael wasn't listening.
He was focused inward.
[System Integration: 10.1%]
That number had remained unchanged for the past six hours, even after the spectral fight against the Reaver and the destruction of Codebreaker-001. Kael's pulse was steady, his breathing controlled, but something gnawed at the edge of his thoughts.
He could feel it now—like a shadow pressed into his bones, a phantom echo that hadn't been there before. Not entirely.
"System," he whispered.
Ashborn Protocol Active.
Next Directive Available.
"Reveal."
Unlockable Branches at 15% Integration:
Entropy Flare (Offensive Subroutine): Converts accumulated ambient Null energy into destructive pulses. Short-range, armor-piercing.
Oblivion Sense (Sensory Subroutine): Detects distortions, invisible threats, and disguised entities within a short radius. Reveals anchored illusions and camouflaged enemies.
Kael's mouth tightened. Either one would help. But to unlock them, he needed to grow. Fast.
His muscles still ached from the last engagement. His body wasn't built for this. Not yet.
But he'd survived the Reaver. Survived a Cradle Enforcer. And now he had something else—a hunger that hadn't existed before. A drive.
A will to take back what was stolen.
It was just before dawn when the girl arrived.
Kael had drifted into a trance, not sleep—sleep had become dangerous since the system integration began. Too many dreams. Too many voices. But the sudden change in the air snapped him back.
Not wind. Movement.
He dropped silently from the ledge and crouched behind a rusted beam, eyes scanning the ruins.
A figure in a hood stepped into the clearing beneath the warehouse's broken ceiling. She moved with the careful grace of someone trained—body light, steps measured. Not slumborn.
She stopped three feet from the fire. The three men rose, warily. One reached for a blade. Another cracked his knuckles.
"Easy, boys," she said, pulling back her hood.
A shimmer of red hair spilled out—crimson like fresh blood, too clean for this place. Her face was angular, pale, freckled. Pretty. Dangerous.
"We're not lookin' for company," the largest man grunted.
"I'm not company," she said, then pulled something from her belt—a silver disc etched with faint geometric patterns.
Cradle tech.
Kael's eyes narrowed. His fingers curled.
The men barely had time to react before the disc pulsed once, and all three dropped to their knees, screaming. Their veins lit with silver lines, as if something inside them was burning.
"Didn't even resist," she muttered. "Weak."
Kael didn't move. His instincts screamed to stay hidden. But then her eyes flicked up—straight to where he was crouched.
"I know you're watching," she said calmly. "You've been radiating Null echoes for hours. Come out."
Kael dropped silently from his perch, landing five feet away.
Her eyes widened—just a fraction. Enough.
"You're him," she said. "The anomaly."
He didn't answer.
"I'm not here to fight. Name's Sera. Sera Varn." She raised her hands. "I've been looking for you."
Kael remained still. "Why?"
"Because you're not supposed to exist," she said. "And because I hate the people trying to erase you."
The Hollow Court
They sat inside a decaying office with glassless windows and a shattered floor. Sera leaned back in a creaking chair, feet propped on a scorched desk.
Kael stood. Always standing.
"I was born in the Outer Rings," she said. "My parents worked for Cradle Logistics. Munitions tracking, blacksite maintenance. Good people. Smart. Loyal."
Her face hardened.
"They died when one of their shipments got flagged for systemic anomaly leakage. No warning. No trial. Just gone."
Kael's expression didn't change, but something behind his eyes flickered.
"You think you're the only one with a reason to hate them?" she asked.
"No," he said. "But I'm the one they made into this."
Sera nodded slowly. "Then we might be able to help each other."
"Who's we?"
She smiled faintly.
"The Hollow Court. We're not rebels. We're not heroes. We're survivors—rogues, hackers, system anomalies. People Cradle failed to kill."
Kael frowned. "Why approach me?"
"You killed a Codebreaker. That's not just rare—it's insane. The Court wants to meet you. And I…" She paused, then looked directly at him. "I want to see what else you can do."
Silence stretched between them.
Then Kael spoke. "If I go with you… what then?"
"Then you learn how to fight like a real Ascendant."
The Signal and the Dogs
That night, they moved.
Kael followed Sera through maintenance tunnels older than the city's modern systems—built before the Cradle's expansion, back when humanity still believed it controlled its own evolution.
As they moved deeper, Kael noticed signs of makeshift upgrades—manual control nodes, scavenged tech, graffiti in strange languages. Some symbols matched ones he'd seen in his system flashes.
Protocol Sites.
They passed a checkpoint guarded by two masked figures with rifles and neural disruptors. Sera flashed her disc, and they stepped aside.
Inside was a chamber lit with violet-glow fungus and flickering monitors. Twenty or so people—teenagers, old men, cyborgs, even a hulking beastman—were gathered in a loose semi-circle.
A woman in a sleek black coat stepped forward. Her hair was silver, her eyes a burning amber.
"Welcome, Ashborn," she said. "I'm Callis. Leader of this sector cell."
Kael nodded once. "I'm not part of your Court."
Callis smiled. "Not yet."
Sera gave a half-grin behind him.
Then something screamed through the walls.
Alarms flared red. Lights died.
A voice spoke from the monitors—mechanical, filtered, cold.
"Cradle enforcement signal detected. System Echo-Class Signature. Hunters inbound. Prepare for engagement."
Sera cursed.
Kael's pulse surged. His system flared.
Ashborn Protocol Triggered.
Threat Level: Ascendant-Class Interceptors.
Estimated Kill Viability: 43%
Callis spun toward the others. "Positions! Sera, take the anomaly to lower level—now!"
But Kael didn't move.
He stepped forward, eyes beginning to glow.
"Let them come."
END OF CHAPTER 4