Chapter 20 – The First Choice
The System's voice still echoed in Chen Yue's skull like a blade pressed to his throat.
[Warning: Divergence Event Detected.]
[Two Paths Available: Submit or Resist.]
[Choice will determine Fate Trajectory.]
Kaelen's molten gaze never wavered as he closed the distance, his boots cracking the stone floor like eggshells. Each step radiated heat so intense the air shimmered, flames coiling lazily around his figure like living serpents. Behind him, the dozen soldiers in black-crimson armor formed a semicircle, their rune-etched weapons glowing like burning brands.
"You have three breaths to decide," Kaelen said softly, his tone almost gentle—but that gentleness was worse than any roar. "Hand me the beast's core, or hand me your life."
Ayara's bowstring trembled as she drew it to its limit, an arrow of pure emerald mana glowing at the nock. Velira's blade gleamed like a shard of frozen moonlight as frost danced along its edge. Both women shifted instinctively in front of Chen Yue, their stances screaming one thing:
You'll reach him over our dead bodies.
Selene remained perfectly still, her violet eyes unreadable, her presence heavy and silent like the night before a storm.
Chen Yue's fists clenched so hard his nails bit into his palms. The Star-Eater's Core pulsed faintly inside his spatial ring like a living heart, radiating power—power that Kaelen clearly wanted.
The System's cold whisper returned.
[Submit: Hand over the Core. Status retained. Path: Servant.]
[Reward: Survival. Penalty: Bond Fracture (Velira/Ayara). Nameless Path Closed.]
[Resist: Reject Kaelen's Demand. Engage in combat.]
[Reward: ??? Hidden Awakening. Penalty: Death Probability – 97%.]
Great, Chen Yue thought bitterly. So either I live as someone's dog or I die like an idiot.
His pulse pounded in his ears as Kaelen took another step forward, molten eyes burning like miniature suns.
Three breaths left.
"Chen Yue," Ayara whispered without looking back, her voice tight, trembling with fear—but fierce beneath it.
"Don't you dare submit."
Velira's tone was cold steel.
"If you bow now… you're not the man I thought you were."
Their words slammed into him like a hammer. Something in his chest roared, clawed, refused.
Submit? To him? To anyone?
No. Not again. Not in this life.
His teeth bared in a feral grin.
"System…" he hissed through clenched teeth. "I choose—Resist."
[Choice Confirmed: RESIST.]
[Warning: Fatal Combat Engaged.]
[Activating Emergency Protocol: Nameless Path Awakening Sequence – Incomplete.]
[Warning: Vessel Integrity at Risk.]
A surge of raw force exploded in his veins, burning and freezing all at once as if stars and glaciers warred inside his blood. His vision blurred white for a split second before slamming back into brutal clarity.
Kaelen's golden eyes narrowed as the air around Chen Yue shifted—a rippling distortion, a pressure so ancient it felt wrong in this mana-soaked world. Tiny cracks spiderwebbed across the marble beneath Chen Yue's feet, glowing faintly with threads of violet and silver light.
Selene's lips curved, almost imperceptibly.
"Ah," she murmured. "So he chooses the sky instead of the chains."
"Interesting," Kaelen drawled, his smile widening like a wolf scenting blood. "You've got a spine after all. Good. It'll make breaking you that much sweeter."
He flicked his fingers casually.
Flames roared to life behind him, coiling into twin serpents of living fire that lunged forward with hissing maws. The heat hit like a furnace blast; the very air screamed as it warped.
Ayara loosed her arrow in a blur of emerald light, splitting into three mid-flight, each one singing with wind mana as they slammed into the fire serpents. The explosions rocked the chamber, shaking dust from the ceiling—but the flames only twisted, shrieking, before reforming.
Velira was already moving, her body a blur as frost spiraled from her blade in an arc that froze the air solid. She cleaved into the first serpent head-on, her aura detonating in a shockwave of rime and steel. The serpent shrieked as its form cracked under the sudden frost—but then Kaelen flicked his wrist, and the flames surged, consuming the ice in an inferno.
Velira staggered back, boots skidding across molten stone.
Chen Yue moved.
One heartbeat he was standing still—the next, his fist drove forward in a strike so fast it split the air with a thunderclap. Violet light coiled around his arm, streaked with silver veins like molten lightning. His blow slammed into the second serpent just as it lunged for Ayara.
BOOM.
The serpent's head exploded in a storm of embers—but Chen Yue barely had time to register before pain ripped through his arm like molten chains.
[Warning: Vessel Overload – 12%. 18%. 23%...]
"Dammit—!" Chen Yue staggered, his breath coming ragged, his vision tinged crimson. The power was real—but so was the price. His body felt like it was cracking apart from the inside.
Kaelen's laughter rolled through the chamber like distant thunder.
"So the rumors were true. There is another power in this world… and you have it." His molten gaze sharpened, hunger burning bright.
"Good. When I'm done tearing you open, I'll take it all."
He vanished.
One instant he stood across the chamber—the next, he was right in front of Chen Yue, faster than sound. His fist, wreathed in molten gold flame, drove toward Chen Yue's skull like a meteor.
Chen Yue barely raised his arm in time. The impact detonated like a bomb. Stone ruptured beneath their feet, shockwaves screaming through the chamber. Chen Yue's bones howled under the force—cracks splitting along his forearm as agony lanced up to his shoulder.
He roared, twisting, driving his knee upward—Kaelen flowed like liquid fire, his other hand snapping out in a backhand wreathed in searing flames.
CLANG.
Steel met fire.
Velira's blade caught Kaelen's strike mid-swing, sparks exploding like a storm of stars. She snarled, frost boiling from her form as she locked against the Magus Lord, boots gouging trenches in molten stone.
"MOVE!" she roared at Chen Yue.
Chen Yue didn't move.
He vanished.
His body blurred in a streak of violet light as the System screamed warnings he didn't hear. One instant he stood behind Velira—the next, he was at Kaelen's back, his fist cocked and glowing like a newborn star.
"NAMeless—Burst!" he roared.
His punch slammed into Kaelen's ribs with a sound like worlds colliding. The air imploded, flames ripping apart as Kaelen was hurled backward in a shockwave that shattered pillars and cratered the far wall.
The soldiers were tossed like ragdolls, armor clanging as they slammed into stone.
The chamber fell into ringing silence for half a heartbeat.
Then rubble exploded.
Kaelen rose from the wreckage, molten eyes blazing brighter than ever, flames spiraling around him in a corona of annihilation.
He grinned.
"Oh… you really shouldn't have done that."
[Warning: Enemy entering Overdrive State.]
[Threat Level: Catastrophic.]
Chen Yue staggered, his body screaming in protest, blood dripping from his nose, his arm trembling uncontrollably. He could barely breathe. The System's alerts blurred into static as pain drowned everything else.
Ayara darted to his side, her hands glowing with healing mana, tears streaking her cheeks.
"You idiot! You'll die!"
Chen Yue spat blood and grinned weakly.
"Yeah… but at least I die standing."
Kaelen raised his hands slowly—and the flames surged, twisting into a titanic phoenix of molten gold, its wings scraping the chamber ceiling, its shriek splitting the air.
Selene finally moved.
Her voice was soft—yet it silenced the world.
"Enough."
The phoenix froze mid-flight. Time itself seemed to shudder.
Kaelen turned slowly, his molten eyes narrowing as Selene stepped forward, her amethyst gaze burning with quiet infinity.
"This is my domain," she said, her tone calm, cold, absolute. "And you… are overstaying your welcome."
End of Chapter 20 – The First Choice