The journey to the rebel camp was less of a covert extraction and more of a forced march through the digestive tract of the city. They moved through the "Rust District," a labyrinth of collapsed industrial tunnels that smelled of wet iron, stagnant water, and the distinct, sulfurous tang of the Adulation Engine's waste runoff.
Kai walked three paces behind Elara, ostensibly because she was leading the way, but strategically because it gave him a moment to breathe without a blade in his face.
He watched her move. For a woman who had just threatened to gut him, she had a distracting amount of grace. Her black brown hair, tied back in a severe, fraying cord, bobbed with every step. In the dim light of the phosphorescent moss clinging to the tunnel walls, the sharp angle of her jaw and the determined set of her shoulders were... unfortunately appealing.
She's cute, Kai thought, the realization hitting him with the dull thud of a unwanted headache. Of course she is. She's the Rebel Archetype. She's designed to be the fiery, passionate counterpoint to the stiff, boring Princesses.
[WARNING: POSITIVE EMOTIONAL RESONANCE DETECTED.]
[TARGET: ELARA (THE REBEL)]
[POTENTIAL DEBUFF: -0.5% ENERGY/SEC]
Kai grimaced, physically shaking the thought out of his head. "Serene, mute libido. I can't afford to be all tingly. I'm running on 48% battery and a bruised rib."
"Stop mumbling, Vane," Elara hissed without looking back. "Sound carries in the tunnels. Unless you want the Sewer Dredges to eat us, shut your mouth."
"I wasn't mumbling," Kai whined, pitching his voice to that perfect, aristocratic grate. "I was lamenting. My boots are made of imported Wyvern leather. Do you know what sewer water does to Wyvern leather? It puckers. I'm going to have puckered boots."
Elara stopped. She turned slowly, the torch in her hand casting long, dancing shadows across her face. "You just helped me kill three Censors. You clearly have some kind of combat magic. Yet you talk like a man who faints at the sight of a hangnail. Which is the real mask, Vane?"
"The mask," Kai said, stepping over a puddle of questionable slime, "is thinking that 'combat magic' makes a man brave. I assure you, my survival instinct is entirely fueled by cowardice. I run away very effectively. Sometimes, people just get in the way of my exit."
Elara stared at him for a long moment, her expression hovering between suspicion and disgust.
[SPITE MULTIPLIER: x1.2]
[ENERGY +1%]
"Good," she finally said, turning back around. "Keep it that way. Heroes die down here. Cowards tend to stick around long enough to be useful."
They rounded a final bend, and the tunnel opened up into a massive, hollowed-out cistern.
The "Camp" was a generous term. It was a shantytown built on scaffolding suspended over a dark, churning reservoir. Tents made of patched canvas and stolen banners hung precariously from rusted beams. The air was thick with the smell of unwashed bodies, woodsmoke, and desperation.
As they stepped onto the creaking wooden walkway, the camp went silent. Dozens of eyes turned toward them. These weren't the hopeful faces of a resistance; they were the hard, hollow eyes of people who had been kicked by the world one too many times.
As Kai walked in behind Elara, his rusted breastplate clanking with every step, the hatred was instantaneous. It wasn't just general noble-hate; it was personal.
"Is that... Baron Vane?" a voice growled from the shadows.
"The Tax-Hound," another spat. "The man who took my father's winter grain for 'clerical fees.'"
A woman stepped forward, her hand trembling as she pointed at the vivid violet silk cravat tucked into Kai's rusted gorget. "He's wearing silk under his rusty armor," she whispered, her voice cracking. "My daughter starved last winter because of his family's 'levies,' and he's wearing a scrap of finery that could have fed us for a month."
[SPITE MULTIPLIER: x1.8]
[ENERGY +3%]
Kai felt the heat of their glares. It was perfect. I'm the guy who stole their lunch money, he realized. Vane wasn't just a loser; he was a petty tyrant.
"Elara!" A man stepped forward from the largest tent. He was a mountain of muscle and scar tissue, shirtless despite the chill, dragging a heavy iron greathammer behind him. "Why did you bring garbage into our home?"
"He's an asset, Kaelen," Elara said, stepping between the giant and Kai. "He helped me drop a Censor squad."
Kaelen laughed. It was a wet, ugly sound. "Him? Look at him. He looks like he's never lifted anything heavier than a wine goblet. He's a spy, Elara. A 'Ruler' looking to sell us out to the Prince for a pat on the head."
He pointed the hammer at Kai. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't smear him across the floorboards."
Kai looked at the hammer. It probably weighed more than him. He looked at his energy bar: [52%].
He needed to stay. He needed this spite. But he couldn't beat Kaelen in a fair fight without revealing he was strong—which would ruin the "coward" act and make them respect him.
"Actually," Kai squeaked, holding up his hands. "I have excellent handwriting? I could... reorganize your inventory? You look like you have a logistical nightmare on your hands."
The camp erupted in jeers.
"Inventory?" Kaelen roared, his face turning a mottled red. "We are fighting for our lives, and you talk of paperwork?"
"Let's test him," Elara cut in, her voice sharp. She looked at Kai, her eyes cold. She didn't trust him either. She wanted to see him bleed to be sure. "Kaelen. The Circle. If he's a spy, he'll fight like a trained noble. If he's useless... well, then he's just a human shield we can use later."
Kaelen grinned. "I like tests."
Five minutes later, Kai was standing in a circle drawn in chalk on the moldy wooden platform. Kaelen stood opposite him, cracking his knuckles. The sound was like pistol shots.
"Don't kill him," Elara warned from the sidelines. "Just... see what he's made of."
"He's made of jelly," Kaelen growled. He didn't wait for a signal. He lunged.
It wasn't a technique. It was a freight train. Kaelen threw a massive, haymaker punch aimed straight at Kai's ribs.
Kai could have dodged. His "Earth" reflexes were sharp, and the System gave him a threat warning. But dodging was what a warrior did.
Kai stood still and braced his core.
Wham.
The punch connected.
It felt like a cannonball. Kai heard a rib crack. The air was forced out of his lungs in a pained wheeze, and he was thrown backward, skidding across the wood.
[NEGATIVE KINETIC STORAGE: CRITICAL IMPACT]
[PAIN THRESHOLD EXCEEDED]
[ENERGY +18%]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 70%]
The pain was blinding. White spots danced in his vision. This wasn't a game; his body was fragile. But the energy... it flooded his veins like liquid adrenaline, soldering the crack in his rib instantly, though the phantom pain remained.
"Get up, Leech!" the crowd screamed. "Bleed for us!"
Kai scrambled to his hands and knees, coughing theatrically. "Is that... is that all?" he wheezed, looking up with tears in his eyes. "My tailor measures my inseam more aggressively than that!"
[SPITE MULTIPLIER: x2.0]
Kai stood in the circle, knees knocking together. He didn't look like a fighter; he looked like a man about to faint.
Kaelen roared and swung a massive, overhead fist. Kai didn't dodge. He "slipped" on a patch of wet moss, falling forward. Kaelen's fist caught Kai in the shoulder instead of the head.
CRUNCH.
[NEGATIVE KINETIC STORAGE: IMPACT DETECTED]
[ENERGY +15%]
Kai screamed—a high, genuine sound of pain. He was rolled across the floor like a ragdoll. "Stop! Please! I have a very sensitive constitution!"
Kaelen laughed, moving in for a kick. "Sensitive? I'll make you transparent!"
As the giant's heavy boot came whistling toward Kai's ribs, Kai didn't just take the hit. He channeled 3% energy into his own elbow and "flailed" it outward as he curled into a ball.
His elbow didn't hit Kaelen's shin—it hit the floorboard right next to Kaelen's supporting foot with the force of a sledgehammer.
SNAP.
The rotted wood under Kaelen's heel gave way. It wasn't a "vibration"; the board literally shattered under Kai's hidden pulse. Kaelen, mid-kick, had his supporting leg drop through the floor up to his knee.
His momentum did the rest. The giant's body twisted awkwardly. His heavy head swung forward, and he didn't just hit a beam—he slammed his forehead directly into the iron edge of a heavy water-pump.
TONG.
The sound was like a funeral bell. Kaelen's eyes rolled back, and he slumped, his leg still stuck in the floor.
Kai lay there, panting, clutching his "broken" shoulder. He looked at the stunned rebels, then at the man trapped in the floor.
"I told you!" Kai wailed, his voice trembling. "The infrastructure in this place is appalling! I'm going to sue! My shoulder... oh, the humanity!"
[SOCIAL STANDING: USELESS ACCIDENT-PRONE NOBLE]
[ENERGY LEVEL: 85%]
Elara looked at Kaelen, then at the hole in the floor, then at the crying Baron. Her lip curled in pure disgust. "He didn't even fight back. Kaelen just... broke the floor and himself. Throw this piece of trash in the storage tent. If Arthur's scouts find us, we'll leave the Baron behind as a bribe."
Kai let two rebels drag him away, limp and groaning. He had won. They thought he was trash. He was safe.
But as they dumped him onto a pile of moldy grain sacks in the back of a tent, the tent flap flew open. A young scout, barely sixteen, skidded in, his chest heaving, his face pale.
"Elara!" the scout screamed, ignoring Kai. "Elara, we have to move!"
Elara stepped in, her face hard. "Calm down. What is it? Tax collectors?"
The scout shook his head, terror wide in his eyes.
"No. It's not collectors. The Golden Banners have been spotted on the ridge. The sky... the sky is turning gold, Elara."
Kai froze. He sat up, the pain in his ribs forgotten.
"The Prince?" Elara whispered, her voice losing its edge for the first time.
"He's not just passing through," the scout choked out. "The Criers... they say he's here for a 'Great Purification.' He's going to burn the Rust District to the ground. He says... he says the negativity here is blocking the light."
[SYSTEM ALERT: NARRATIVE COLLISION IMMINENT]
[THE WARRIOR (LVL 20) ENTERS THE JOKER'S RADIUS]
[LEGEND SCORE UPDATE: ARTHUR GAINS +500 POINTS FOR 'DECLARED HOLY WAR']
Kai looked at the System message. The logic was brutal. Arthur wasn't just killing rebels; he was farming. By wiping out the people who hated him, he was removing the "Negative Energy" from the world, purifying the signal for the Adulation Engine.
It was genocide for the sake of better Wi-Fi.
Kai looked at Elara. For the first time, he saw fear—real fear—crack her mask.
"Well," Kai said, dusting off his ruined silk tunic and standing up, his voice dropping the high-pitched whine for just a second. "That sounds like a terrible plot twist. I suppose I can't just hide in the storage tent for this one."
Elara looked at him, confused by the sudden shift in his tone.
"What can you do, Vane?" she snapped. "Trip him?"
Kai smiled, and for a moment, the purple Static in his eyes flared brighter than the torchlight.
"Something like that," Kai said. "Something exactly like that."
Kai has secured his place as the "Mascot," but the stakes have just skyrocketed. .