Chapter 55: I Will Make You Earn It.

“Who said you had a choice, dear?”

Reika’s words landed softly, almost playfully, yet they struck the plaza with the weight of a blade drawn across a throat.

Shin Lu did not flinch.

Jagger did.

Even though Reika’s gaze remained locked on Shin Lu, her presence flooded outward, an invisible pressure that crushed the air itself. Breathing became difficult. The rain felt heavier, thicker, as if gravity had subtly increased. Something ancient and instinctual clawed its way up Jagger’s spine, urging him to lower his head, to avert his eyes, to kneel. It was not simple fear. It was recognition. The kind of prey felt when standing before an apex predator.

For a heartbeat, his knees nearly buckled.

’We should leave this place.’

Ophilia’s voice slid into his mind like ice water poured down his skull.

’Being around people is only restricting our growth.’

Jagger gritted his teeth, forcing himself to stay upright. “What are you talking about all of a sudden?” he thought back, irritation flaring despite the suffocating pressure.

’You heard me,’ Ophilia replied, her tone cold and absolute. ’This is not our fight. Let these fools kill each other. We can slip away during the chaos.’

He pushed the thought aside with effort, mentally slamming a door shut. He did not have the strength to argue with her now. Not here. Not with this many threats breathing down his neck. His focus snapped back to the plaza.

Jane had already gone still.

Her eyes swept across the battlefield in rapid, disciplined arcs. The Bloodclaws. Their loose, predatory stances. The dead Razorfur wolves sprawled in the rain. The hovering pillars of light in the distance, cold and watchful. She saw the tension coiled tight in Shin Lu’s shoulders, the barely restrained violence burning behind Kade’s eyes, and the unmistakable fear creeping through the lower-ranked hunters who stood behind them, hands shaking around their weapons.

Then she saw it.

One of the distant pillars of light was moving.

Not drifting.

Advancing.

It tore through the skyline in a straight, unstoppable line, its glow cutting through rain and mist as it closed the distance toward Ion Orchard Mall with alarming speed. The light pulsed with every step, brightening, dimming, like a heartbeat too large for the world to contain.

The ground began to tremble.

At first, it was subtle. A faint vibration beneath their boots, easily mistaken for thunder. Then came the rhythm. Heavy. Deliberate. Each impact sent shockwaves through soaked pavement and fractured stone, the tremors climbing up through bone and muscle until they rattled teeth.

Jane turned her head slightly toward Shin Lu, her voice low and sharp. “Shin Lu. We have company.”

“I know,” he replied, eyes never leaving Reika.

Screams tore through the rain.

“Help!”

“Monster!”

The standoff shattered as panicked survivors burst into view from the main road, their movements wild and uncoordinated. Some stumbled. Others ran with glazed eyes, looking back more than forward. Terror had stripped them of any sense of direction.

Then the monster revealed itself.

A massive shape surged out of the rain, towering over the fleeing survivors. At least five meters tall, it was a walking mountain of warped flesh and brute force. Its grey, warty skin stretched over bulging muscle, veins standing out like thick cables beneath the surface. Jagged spikes erupted from its shoulders and spine, jutting outward at irregular angles like the broken teeth of some colossal beast.

In its hand, it carried a club fashioned from devastation itself. A lamppost twisted and reinforced into a brutal mace, studded with jagged shards of metal and splintered bone. The sheer size of the weapon made it obscene. Its other arm hung thick and heavy at its side, fingers curling as if eager to crush.

Its head was a slab of stone and flesh. A blunt, misshapen face with a stubby nose, mossy green eyes burning with a dim but unmistakable intelligence. Above it, the pillar of light flared brighter, pulsing with malignant intent.

The club came down.

One survivor at the rear barely had time to turn before the weapon connected. The impact was catastrophic. Bone shattered. Flesh burst. Crimson sprayed across the rain-slicked asphalt in a grotesque fan as the body ceased to exist as anything recognizable.

The troll roared.

The sound was raw, guttural, and soaked in violence. It rolled through the streets like an avalanche, drowning out the screams that followed.

Smaller shapes poured in behind it.

Goblins. Knolls. Kobolds. Twisted, shrieking things that swarmed over fallen survivors, dragging them down, tearing into them as panic and blood filled the street. Those who had frozen in terror never stood a chance.

Reika laughed.

The sound was bright and manic, utterly disconnected from the slaughter unfolding before her. She leaned forward slightly, eyes alight with cruel amusement.

“How about this, Shin Lu,” she said, her grin widening. “Whoever defeats that troll gets the spoils.”

She did not spare the dying survivors a glance. To Jagger, it almost looked like she was enjoying the spectacle.

“Agreed,” Shin Lu replied without hesitation.

He knew exactly what she was doing, using the chaos and the urgency. But there was no room to refuse.

“If I win,” he continued, voice steady, “you leave and never bother us again.”

Reika snorted, the sound sharp and animalistic. “When I win, you become my new pet.” Her eyes gleamed as she tilted her head. “To make it fair, you and I sit this one out.”

Without waiting for a response, she turned to her pack.

“What are you waiting for?” she shouted, voice ringing with savage delight. “Let’s go hunt the big fucker! Whoever gets the last hit gets first pick of their very own Bastion slave!”

The Bloodclaws erupted.

Laughter and howls tore from their throats as they surged forward in a violent tide, weapons flashing in the dim light. They moved like predators unleashed, splashing through rain and gore, their joy unmistakable and horrifying.

Shin Lu’s expression hardened into something lethal.

“Kade,” he said calmly, the fury beneath his words barely contained. “You’re in charge. Do not let them get the final hit.”

The command was absolute.

The challenge had been set. The battlefield is drawn. Two groups of hunters, bound only by circumstance, now raced toward the same target with entirely different intentions.

Kade did not hesitate.

“MOVE!” he roared, twin xiphos already in motion as he charged forward, black metal and killing intent cutting through the rain.

The hunt had begun.

–

[Herald of Chaos Quest: Kill the Troll King.]

[Theat Level: Elite Threat]

–

“You guys ready. Let’s fuck them up,” Jane said, a fierce glint cutting through the rain as she stepped forward.

“We are ready!” Lynis roared back. He raised his newly equipped shield, the metal catching what little light remained before the storm swallowed it. He moved immediately, boots pounding across the soaked pavement, charging headlong toward the battlefield.

Porpo followed close behind him.

“Tempest Halo.”

Four rings of compressed wind snapped into existence around her, spinning faster and faster until the air screamed. Rain disintegrated as it touched the whirling currents, shredded into mist. The rings circled her like executioner blades, each rotation heavy with killing intent.

“Let’s play,” she whispered, a smile curling across her face that held no humor at all.

Jagger drew in a slow breath.

Cold air filled his lungs, steady and sharp. The chaos ahead came into focus with brutal clarity. Kade and two of his hunters were already engaged with the Troll King, their movements precise and lethal as steel bit into thick, stone-like flesh. Bloodclaws surged behind them, laughing as they hacked and tore through anything that stood in their way. Smaller monsters poured into the streets like vermin fleeing fire.

Fear was still there. It sat deep in his gut, heavy and coiled. But it no longer ruled him.

He locked his eyes on Jane’s back, familiar now, a fixed point amid destruction. He saw Lynis absorb a charging knoll’s impact, shield shuddering but holding. He saw Porpo’s wind tear goblins apart mid-leap, bodies spinning away in broken arcs.

This was the fight.

He stepped forward, then another. And then his body stopped.

Not from hesitation but from resistance.

His muscles tensed, refusing the command his mind issued. The battle surged ahead of him as if he were standing behind invisible glass, hunters rushing past, weapons raised, screams and roars colliding into a single deafening tide.

“What the hell, Ophilia?” he muttered, trying to move again.

Nothing.

Then she spoke.

’Enough.’

Ophilia’s voice did not whisper. It pressed into his mind like claws sinking into soft flesh. Low. Commanding. Possessive.

’You will not throw my vessel away for these insects.’

Jagger exhaled sharply through his nose. His hands tightened, not in panic, but in anger. Controlled. Focused.

“We already went over this,” he said under his breath, voice steady despite the pressure building behind his eyes. “I’m not running.”

A dark amusement seeped into her presence.

’How brave you sound when death isn’t chewing on your spine yet,’ she purred. ’Just because I gave you regeneration doesn’t mean you can’t be crippled. Think. You’re not invincible.’

He shifted his weight, planting his boots more firmly. The pressure intensified, but he did not buckle.

“You don’t get to decide that anymore,” he replied. “Not after everything.”

Her presence coiled tighter, heat and malice flooding his thoughts.

’You misunderstand your position,’ Ophilia said, her tone sharpening. ’You exist because I allow it. And I refuse to be dragged into oblivion by your sentimentality.’

His gaze snapped forward.

The Troll King roared, swinging its massive club in a wide arc that crushed asphalt and sent debris exploding outward. One Bloodclaw was caught mid-laugh and reduced to a red smear across the street. The others only cheered louder.

Jagger clenched his jaw and pushed. His foot slid forward an inch.

Pain flared behind his eyes, white and blinding, but he stayed upright.

’Stop,’ Ophilia commanded, her voice dropping into something ancient and predatory. ’This is not a negotiation. Walk away now, or I will take you apart from the inside.’

He laughed, breathless and harsh.

“Yeah,” he said, forcing another step. “You’ve said that before.”

Sweat rolled down his spine as he leaned into the resistance, every nerve screaming as if his mind were being squeezed in a vise. His vision darkened at the edges, but he did not retreat.

“I know what you’re doing,” he continued, voice tight but unwavering. “You’re scared.”

The pressure spiked.

For a split second, something feral rippled through her presence.

’Do not project your weakness onto me,’ she snarled. ’I am eternal. You are disposable.’

“Then let me be disposable,” he shot back. “You said I need to get stronger, right? Then let’s do it together.”

Ahead, Lynis slammed into the Troll King’s leg, shield-first, drawing its attention. Porpo’s Tempest Halo carved a path through a swarm of knolls, their bodies torn apart before they could even scream.

Jagger forced another step. His knees shook.

Blood pulsed faintly beneath the healed flesh at his throat.

’You are a stubborn little pest,’ Ophilia hissed, her voice now a dark promise rather than a warning. ’Very well, if you insist on playing the hero… I will make you earn it.’

The system interface flickered violently into existence before his eyes, its harsh, unforgiving glow against the rain.

–

[Quest: Kill five Bloodclaw hunters]

[Penalty for failure: Entity Ophilia will take control of your body for 24 hours.]

–

The words burned into his vision.

Jagger sucked in a sharp breath, chest tightening. The battlefield roared louder, closer now, filled with steel, blood, and screaming thunder.

He straightened.

“Fine,” he muttered, eyes locking onto the Bloodclaws tearing through the street. “Then let’s play.”

And this time, when he stepped forward, nothing stopped him.

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