The ruins offered little cover.
Kael led the team through collapsed stone corridors and shattered admin blocks, ducking beneath scorched beams and crumbling signs still flickering with glitched system glyphs. Each step was slower than the last — not from fatigue, but from something heavier. The kind of silence that followed the storm.
> [Global Ogre Kill Total: 974 / 1,000]
[Time Remaining: 09:31:22]
Only twenty-six more.
Kael checked Reya's wounds. Bandaged but bleeding. Darius was still limping, leaning heavier on his halberd with each step.
"We find a kill zone," Kael said. "Choke point. Force the last wave into a bottleneck and take them clean."
"We barely survived the Warlord," Reya muttered, wiping sweat from her brow. "Can't believe we're still standing."
"Yeah," Darius said with a weak grin. "We're either stubborn… or too dumb to quit."
Then the air shifted.
It started with the static. A ripple in the HUD. A blinking red edge in Kael's periphery.
> [PVP ZONE DETECTED – SYSTEM OVERRIDE ACTIVE]
[Tracking Signature: Viper Guild]
[Threat Level: HIGH]
Kael spun around, eyes scanning the rooftops.
Too late.
From the shadows, a figure stepped forward — serpentine armor catching the crimson system light. The same cold smirk stretched across his face. Hooked blades glinting with hunger.
Thorne Krell.
> [Player Detected – THORNE KRELL]
Class: Serpentblade
Affiliation: Viper Guild – Vice Captain
World Rank: #6,204
Status: Hostile
"Miss me?" he called down. "Sorry, we're late. Had to carve through a few squads to catch up."
Behind him, six Viper Guild enforcers stepped into view — high-level, well-geared, and grinning like wolves. They weren't winded. They were hunting.
Kael stepped forward slowly. "You're persistent."
Thorne spread his arms. "You have something shiny. We collect shiny things."
"You're not getting it."
"Oh, I know," Thorne said, blades flicking into his hands. "You think this is some story where you win just because you survived a boss fight. But see… I read the system better."
He pointed one blade at Kael.
"You're tired. Injured. Low on recovery items. You're holding the Core of the Black Flame. And I… want it."
He moved.
> [Hostile Skill Detected – Venom Vault]
[Speed Surge +44% – Cloak Effect Engaged]
Kael's eyes widened — Thorne vanished in a blink of shadows.
Steel screamed through the air.
He was going for Kael's throat.
Then—
Darius moved.
Not fast enough to counter. But fast enough to shield.
> [BLOCK – Juggernaut Instinct]
[Impact Absorbed – Fatal Threshold Breached]
[Player: DARIUS VALE – HP: 4 → 0]
Kael felt the hit like a shockwave.
Thorne's blade sank deep — straight through Darius's side.
The Juggernaut grunted. No scream. No sound. Just the dull, choked noise of air leaving lungs as the blade was ripped free.
"Darius—!"
The man stumbled once, then fell to one knee.
"I told you… Someone's gotta be the wall," Darius muttered.
He smiled at Kael — blood dripping from his lips.
Then he collapsed.
> [Player Eliminated – DARIUS VALE]
[Last Action: Shielded Ally]
[Posthumous Bonus – +1 Reputation to Surviving Party Members]
Reya screamed. Her voice cracked. Her spear snapped into her hand.
Thorne stepped back lazily, wiping his blade on Darius's ruined cloak.
"Wasn't aiming for him," he said, annoyed. "But I'll take it."
"You're dead," Kael said softly. "You just don't know it yet."
Then he threw the smoke.
> [Tactical Item Used – Ashfield Fog Grenade]
[AOE Cloak: 6.5s]
"Run!" he shouted to Reya.
She hesitated—just a heartbeat.
Then followed.
Arrows whistled behind them — one scraped Kael's side, another embedded in Reya's thigh. She bit back a cry.
They didn't stop.
Through corridors. Over broken stairs. Across a half-collapsed bridge over a system terrain too glitched to stand still.
> [Chase Detected – 3 Pursuers Engaged]
[Recovery: Temporarily Blocked]
[Distance: Increasing – 40m → 60m → 80m]
Kael ducked behind a broken bunker wall, grabbing Reya by the arm and pulling her into cover.
Breathing hard.
Bleeding.
He looked back.
No sign of Thorne.
Yet.
Reya clenched her jaw. "Darius…"
Kael's voice was hoarse. "He gave us time. Don't waste it."
They sat in silence for a moment.
> [Global Ogre Kill Count: 984 / 1,000]
Time Remaining: 09:04:50
Trial Status: Final Phase Approaching
Kael stared at the number.
Sixteen left.
Only sixteen.
And they'd lost one of the only people who believed they'd make it.
"I'm going to kill him," Kael said. Not a whisper. A vow.
Reya nodded.
"You won't be alone."
---
📊 End of Chapter 17 – Status Update
Darius Vale – Status: DECEASED
> Cause of Death: Shielded Kael from Thorne Krell's fatal strike
Last Words: "Someone's gotta be the wall."
---
Kael Draven
> Class: Ronin (Unique)
Level: 10
CP: 177
Ash Memory: 12%
Mental Clarity: 9
Reputation: +7
Wounds: Moderate
EXP: 90 / 1400
Status: Escaped Viper Guild ambush
Mood: Vengeful
Reya Vance
> Class: Spear Valkyrie
Injuries: Arrow wound (thigh), Exhaustion
Status: Alive. Furious. Determined.
---
Threat Identified – Viper Guild
Vice Captain: Thorne Krell
> Class: Serpentblade
Rank: #6,204
Status: Actively hunting
Known Kill: Darius Vale