The Ranking Board wasn't made to judge.
It was made to shame.
Etched into its living code were thousands of names. Some flickered. Some burned. Each paired with a title, a guild, and a kill count. Kael's eyes moved across them, stunned by the scale.
At the top:
Devourer Prime — 3,480 kills
Ayreon the Voidwalker — 2,002 kills
…
Varrick of Glass — 183 kills
Then the slab pulsed.
[New Arrival Logged: Kael — Unranked]
Gasps. Whispers. A slow hush rolled outward like a detonation.
A figure stepped forward through the crowd.
Tall. Wiry. Eyes like shards of winter. A coat that flickered with entropy. A shimmer followed in his wake—a spatial distortion, like reality trying not to look directly at him.
"I heard someone cracked a Core," the man said, voice like dry leaves scraping stone.
"I'm Varrick. Rank 87."
Kael's hand hovered near his hip. The Shardblade was ready.
"I don't care," he said.
Varrick smiled. "You should."
He raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
[CHALLENGE ISSUED – Kael vs. Rank #87]
The crowd backed away.
The Nexus Protocol answered.
An arena formed.