THE RISE OF THE SYSTEM OVERLORD

CHAPTER 36

Understanding the Power

Darkness 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 is," the voice countered, silk and steel wrapped in one. "Tell me, Caden—when you crushed your enemies, when you stood above them, did you not feel alive?"

I flinched. I wanted to deny it, to spit the word no with conviction. But something in me hesitated.

The memory surfaced unbidden—the battlefield drenched in fire and blood, my enemies cowering before me, their fear a tangible thing in the air. And yes… I had felt something then. A rush. A thrill.

Power.

I exhaled sharply, my hands clenching into fists.

"I’m not a monster."

The voice chuckled. "You already are."

I bolted upright, breath sharp, pulse wild. My own voice echoed off the chamber walls, and I barely recognized it—low, strained, desperate.

No.

I would not let it win.

I forced my breaths to steady. The answer lay in understanding. If I wanted to control this power, I had to learn more—about its origins, its limits, the truth behind its existence.

And there was only one place to find such knowledge.

The ancient archive.

The path to the archive was as treacherous as the knowledge it held. It wasn’t enough that the place was buried beneath ruins older than most civilizations. No, it had to be guarded. Heavily.

I crouched on the rocky outcrop overlooking the entrance, my eyes scanning the scene below. At least a dozen warriors patrolled the perimeter, their armor glinting beneath the moonlight. Their weapons were drawn—not held idly at their sides, but gripped with a readiness that told me they were expecting trouble.

And then there were the sentinels—massive stone constructs standing at either side of the towering entrance, lifeless until they weren’t.

I gritted my teeth.

This wouldn’t be easy.

A voice behind me cut through the silence. "Tell me you’re not seriously thinking about walking through the front door."

I didn’t flinch. I knew that voice too well. I turned slightly, finding Rayne perched on a nearby boulder, arms crossed, one brow arched.

"You followed me."

She smirked. "No, I tracked you. Big difference."

Of course she did. Rayne was one of the best hunters I knew. If she wanted to find someone, she would.

"Let me guess," she continued, "you’re about to do something reckless."

I didn’t answer.

She sighed. "And you weren’t even going to ask for backup, were you?"

I turned my gaze back to the entrance. "I don’t need backup."

"Right," she said dryly. "Because storming an archive full of secrets alone is such a smart idea."

I exhaled through my nose. "I can handle it."

"You think you can handle it," she corrected. "But lately, Caden? You haven’t exactly been yourself."

My jaw tightened.

She wasn’t wrong.

Rayne wasn’t like the voice in my head, the one that wanted to drown me in power and arrogance. She was the voice of reason. The one who reminded me that I was more than what my abilities wanted me to be.

"Let me help," she said, softer this time.

I hesitated.

Admitting I needed help wasn’t easy. But going in alone would be stupid. And I wasn’t stupid.

I glanced at her, my shoulders relaxing by a fraction. "Fine."

She grinned. "Now was that so hard?"

We moved like shadows, slipping past the first line of patrols undetected. Years of training made our steps soundless, our movements calculated.

But the closer we got to the entrance, the heavier the air became. It wasn’t just guarded. It was warded.

"Feel that?" Rayne murmured.

I nodded. The magic here was ancient, thick with something primal. A test. A warning.

We pressed forward. The sentinels still hadn’t moved, but I wasn’t fooled. The moment we stepped too close, they would come alive.

Rayne touched my arm. "So, what’s the plan?"

I studied the entrance. The main path was suicide, but there—just beyond the eastern wall—I spotted a crack in the stone. Narrow. Almost impossible to slip through.

Almost.

I pointed. "There."

She followed my gaze and nodded. "Think it leads inside?"

"Only one way to find out."

We moved swiftly, dodging the guards’ line of sight, pressing ourselves against the jagged rock. The crack in the wall was even narrower up close, barely wide enough to squeeze through.

Rayne shot me a look. "If we get stuck in there, I swear—"

"Just go," I muttered.

She slipped inside first, her form disappearing into the darkness. I exhaled, braced myself, and followed.

The passage was tight, the stone pressing against my back, my chest. It took everything in me not to panic. Not to let the walls feel like they were closing in.

And then, just as I thought I might actually get stuck—

The space widened.

I stumbled forward into an open chamber, dust swirling in the faint torchlight. Rayne was already ahead, scanning the space.

"We’re in," she murmured.

But something wasn’t right.

The air hummed. Not like before—this was different. Sharper.

A presence.

I turned, pulse spiking—

And came face to face with a figure cloaked in shadows.

A whisper filled the room.

"You should not have come."

The torches flared—bright, blinding. A force slammed into me, sending me crashing against the stone wall. Pain shot through my ribs, but I barely had time to register it before the figure stepped forward.

Their voice was calm. Too calm.

"You seek knowledge, Caden."

My vision blurred. I forced myself upright. "Yeah?" I rasped. "And who exactly are you?"

They didn’t answer.

Instead, they lifted a hand—fingers curling.

A pressure seized my chest.

A voice—not mine, not Rayne’s, but the one inside—shivered through me.

"Power is a gift, Caden. But gifts demand sacrifice."

The world tilted. My breath faltered.

And then—

Darkness swallowed me whole.