2025-03-20 18:42:21First Blood
The city was dead. Ruins stretched as far as I could see, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers jutting into the sky like broken ribs. Shadows pooled in the cracks of shattered streets, their silence heavier than the wind howling through the wreckage. Everything smelled of rust and decay—of something old, abandoned, forgotten. I moved carefully, every step deliberate. The air was too still, too watchful. My skin prickled with unease, a familiar warning curling in my gut. Something was wrong. I wasn’t alone. The feeling slithered down my spine like ice. I’d learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they were screaming. The city was supposed to be empty, but I could feel the presence lingering just beyond sight. A vibration rippled through the ground beneath my boots. Subtle, but there. A footstep? A shift in weight? My pulse quickened as I scanned the ruins. Nothing. But I knew better. A voice cut through the silence, smooth and taunting. “You don’t know what you are, do you?” I didn’t flinch, though my body tensed. The voice echoed, bouncing off broken steel and cracked concrete, making it impossible to pinpoint the source. My fingers curled into fists. I exhaled slowly. “You’re either here to kill me or waste my time. Which is it?” A figure emerged from the shadows, stepping onto the remains of a collapsed building. His armor was sleek, dark, designed for speed and precision rather than brute force. A mask covered most of his face, but his eyes—sharp, calculating—gleamed in the dim light. He smiled, and it wasn’t friendly. “Both.” A sharp hiss filled the air as a blade of pure energy ignited in his hand. The glow cast eerie reflections against the ruins, dancing along the jagged edges of the city. I moved before I could think. The first strike came fast, a blur of light slicing toward my ribs. I twisted, barely avoiding the burning edge as it grazed my jacket. He didn’t pause—he was already spinning, bringing the blade down in a merciless arc. I ducked. Heat seared over my head, close enough to make my scalp prickle. He was fast—too fast. Every move was calculated, precise, meant to force me on the defensive. But something inside me shifted. I dodged before he struck. I anticipated his next move before he made it. My body responded without hesitation, instincts taking over. He lunged again, aiming for my throat. I sidestepped fluidly, grabbing his wrist and twisting. He barely had time to react before I slammed my elbow into his ribs. He stumbled back, shock flashing in his eyes. “That shouldn’t be possible,” he muttered. I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure myself. The fight resumed, even more brutal. He adapted, changing his angles, increasing speed. But I matched him, strike for strike, moving in ways I didn’t fully understand. My muscles knew what to do before my mind could process it. He growled in frustration, pressing harder. I ducked under a wild swing and drove my knee into his stomach. He gasped, staggering. I saw the opening. I could end this. One decisive move, and he’d be down. But I hesitated. And that was my mistake. A sharp beep sounded from his wrist. My breath caught. A distress signal. A warning. Reinforcements. I barely had time to react before the city around me came alive. Distant figures moved in the shadows, stepping out from the ruins—dozens of them. Their armor gleamed under the dying light, weapons drawn, advancing with quiet, deadly intent. I cursed under my breath. The bounty hunter chuckled, wiping blood from his mouth. “Run while you can, anomaly.” My fists clenched. My heart pounded against my ribs. I could fight one. Maybe even two. But a dozen? I turned and ran. The ruins blurred past me as I pushed forward, feet pounding against broken concrete. The wind howled louder, carrying the sharp whir of energy weapons powering up. Shots fired. I zigzagged, dodging on pure instinct as bursts of plasma exploded around me. The heat seared my skin, but I didn’t stop. I leaped over crumbling barriers, darted through narrow alleyways, my pulse hammering. I needed an escape. And fast. A massive explosion detonated behind me, the shockwave sending me flying. I hit the ground hard, rolling across debris before slamming into a rusted car frame. Pain lanced through my ribs, but I forced myself up. The bounty hunters were closing in, their silhouettes sharp against the fire-lit ruins. Trapped. I clenched my teeth. Think, Caden. Think. Another blast. I threw myself behind cover as the ground where I’d stood moments ago was obliterated. I was running out of options. And they knew it. The lead hunter, the one I’d fought, stepped forward. His blade still hummed, glowing in the dim light. “End of the road.” I glared up at him, chest heaving. My body ached, but something burned beneath the pain. Something unfamiliar. My hands trembled—not with fear, but with something else. Something powerful. My breath steadied. I wasn’t done yet. The wind shifted. The air crackled around me. The bounty hunter noticed. His smirk faltered. “What the hell—” Before he could finish, the ground beneath us shook. Energy surged through my veins, raw and unrestrained. I didn’t understand it, didn’t control it. But at that moment, it didn’t matter. Lightning arced around me. The hunters hesitated. And then, I moved. Faster than thought. Faster than them. The battle wasn’t over. It had just begun.
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CHAPTER 40
The War BeginsThe chamber was built of dark stone, towering with an arched ceiling where cold artificial lights cast deep shadows. The air felt heavy with authority—absolute and unshakable. Obsidian Heitt stood at the center, his black robes as still as the void, his silver eyes unreadable. Around him, the supreme council of the system had gathered, their holographic forms flickering as they joined from across the galaxy.Beyond these walls, millions of people were watching.The broadcast had already begun, spreading across every major world, every sector, every station. A single decree that would change history.Obsidian lifted his gaze, and when he spoke, his voice was calm but carried the weight of an executioner’s verdict.“The anomaly has chosen defiance.” His words echoed through the chamber and across the stars. “We will respond with extinction.”A murmur rippled through the council—some shifting uneasily. Even among the system’s highest ranks, some hesitated. They understood
CHAPTER 39
The ChaseThe ground shuddered beneath me, a deep, violent tremor that sent jagged cracks racing through the canyon floor. The system wasn’t just attacking—I could feel it erasing this place, wiping every trace of the Forbidden Archive from existence.I ran.The collapsing tunnels groaned as the walls caved inward, choking the air with dust and heat. Sparks rained down like falling stars, flames licking at the shadows, turning them to molten gold. My lungs burned, every breath ragged with smoke and adrenaline.Move. Don’t think. Just move.The exit was still ahead—if I could reach the surface, I had a chance. If I hesitated, I’d be buried along with the truth. My legs screamed, muscles tearing with the effort, but I pushed harder. The corridor split ahead—left or right? I barely had time to decide before a surge of energy slammed into the wall beside me.The explosion sent me flying.I hit the ground hard, rolling until I came to a stop against a broken column. Everything spun. The he
CHAPTER 38
The System’s LiesThe chamber flickered to life around me. The walls pulsed, and golden data streams wove through the air, forming images—no, memories—so vivid they felt real.A battlefield stretched before me. The ground was scorched, littered with bodies. Smoke coiled into the sky, thick and suffocating. And in the middle of it all stood them.The anomalies.They weren’t the monsters the system had made them out to be. They weren’t destroyers, weren’t threats to civilization. They were people. People with abilities that defied the system’s design. And for that, they had been hunted.A line of towering figures loomed in the distance—cold, mechanical, ruthless. The system’s enforcers. Their armor gleamed under a crimson sky, their weapons humming with barely restrained energy. No mercy. No hesitation.Then, the slaughter began.I watched as the anomalies fought back, their abilities twisting reality itself. Fire and lightning danced at their fingertips, the ground cracked beneath thei
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CHAPTER 36
Understanding the PowerDarkness clung to the chamber like a second skin, thick and suffocating. I sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, my hands resting on my knees, palms up, trying—desperately—to still the storm raging inside me. My power wasn’t just something I wielded. It was something that wanted to wield me.The flickering torches cast distorted shadows against the walls, as if they, too, were uncertain of what they were becoming. The energy inside me coiled, alive, eager. It burned beneath my skin, pulsed through my veins, whispered in my mind.Control it, I told myself.But it laughed.Not aloud—no, that would be easy to fight. The real battle was more insidious, more intimate. It was the whisper that slithered through my thoughts, the weight pressing against my ribs, the hunger lurking beneath my every breath."You crave it," the voice inside me murmured. "You always have."I shut my eyes tighter. My pulse hammered in my ears."No," I breathed. "That’s not me.""But it i
CHAPTER 35
The Hunter Becomes the HuntedThe neon lights flicker above me, casting long, distorted shadows against the rain-slicked pavement. The undercity breathes in short, sharp bursts—the hum of generators, the distant shouts of drunken gamblers, the occasional echo of a gunshot deeper in the slums. I keep my hood low, my face hidden beneath the dim glow of passing advertisements.Every step I take feels measured, deliberate. The bounty on my head has tripled overnight, and now the city itself is hunting me. Every set of eyes lingering too long could belong to a mercenary weighing their chances. Every whispered conversation could be about me.I pass a group of thugs loitering near a broken-down hovercraft, their voices dropping as I move past. One of them, a brute with cybernetic arms and an ego too large for his own good, sneers.“Dead man walking.”I don’t break stride. I don’t react. That’s exactly what they want—a sign of weakness, a flicker of fear. But fear has no place here. Not anymo
CHAPTER 34
Unintended ConsequencesThe battlefield was silent, but not with peace—only with death.Smoke curled from the wreckage, twisting in the cold wind. The ground was littered with bodies, some still twitching, others unnervingly still. Sparks spat from broken ships, their engines gutted, the metal carcasses groaning under their own weight. The acrid scent of burning wires and blood coated the air, thick enough to taste.I stood in the center of it all, my hands slick with something warm. My breath came steady, controlled. Too controlled. I should have felt something—guilt, regret, even relief—but instead, there was just… nothing.My fingers curled into fists, but the emptiness didn’t go away. I looked down at the nearest body, a man barely older than me, his helmet cracked open, his chest rising in weak, ragged jerks. His mouth twisted as if trying to form words, but all that came out was a broken cough.I knelt beside him, my face unreadable even to myself. "You’re dying."His bloodstain
CHAPTER 33
The Battle EscalatesThe sky darkened, thick clouds rolling in like an omen.From above, the air rippled as ships descended in eerie silence. Their hulls reflected the ruined cityscape, bending light like a mirage, making them appear almost invisible. Not the usual loud, flashing entrances of military dropships—no, these were hunters. They didn’t announce their arrival. They didn’t need to.I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, the metallic taste grounding me. My muscles burned, my ribs ached, but the real problem wasn’t pain. It was numbers.Too many. More than before.They moved with precision, forming a tight, deliberate circle around me, closing off every possible escape route. No wasted motion. No hesitation. They had done this before.One way in. No way out.A familiar figure stepped forward—the bounty hunter I had fought earlier. His mask was cracked from our last encounter, revealing part of his face. A jagged scar ran down his cheek, an old wound, but the
CHAPTER 32
First BloodThe city was dead.Ruins stretched as far as I could see, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers jutting into the sky like broken ribs. Shadows pooled in the cracks of shattered streets, their silence heavier than the wind howling through the wreckage. Everything smelled of rust and decay—of something old, abandoned, forgotten.I moved carefully, every step deliberate. The air was too still, too watchful. My skin prickled with unease, a familiar warning curling in my gut. Something was wrong.I wasn’t alone.The feeling slithered down my spine like ice. I’d learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they were screaming. The city was supposed to be empty, but I could feel the presence lingering just beyond sight.A vibration rippled through the ground beneath my boots. Subtle, but there. A footstep? A shift in weight? My pulse quickened as I scanned the ruins.Nothing.But I knew better.A voice cut through the silence, smooth and taunting. “You don’t know what you are, do
