The sky bled crimson as Leo led the way out of the fortress, shadows trailing him like hungry ghosts. Each step felt heavier than the last, the System's presence thrumming in his bones. The world itself seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the darkness to claim him.
Aïcha's staff glowed faintly as she followed, eyes wary. Every time her gaze met his, Leo felt the weight of her doubt—and her fear.
Camille limped between them, his breathing labored. The black veins on his neck had receded, but they still pulsed with each heartbeat. His eyes, once bright with mischief, were now dulled by pain.
"Leo," Aïcha said, her voice low, "we need to talk."
He didn't slow. "Talk later. We keep moving."
Her staff sparked with frustration. "No. Now."
Leo halted, shadows curling around his boots like smoke. He turned, his eyes cold. "What?"
Aïcha met his gaze, her chin lifted. "You made a deal with that thing. The System. You let it in."
Leo's jaw tightened. "It was the only way to save Camille."
Aïcha's staff trembled in her grip. "And what did it take from you?"
Leo's breath hitched. The System's voice purred in his mind. Everything.
"Nothing I wasn't already losing," he rasped.
Aïcha's eyes glistened. "Leo—if you give it too much, it will consume you. And then there will be nothing left of the boy I knew."
Leo turned away, his gaze fixed on the road ahead. "That boy died in the Collapse," he muttered.
Camille's voice cracked, thin and afraid. "Leo… please. Don't let it take you."
Leo's chest tightened. The darkness in his veins pulsed with cruel laughter.
A cold wind swept through the ruined street, carrying with it the scent of ash and old blood. The Régime's banners hung tattered from broken walls, the black sigil of the Inquisition like a stain on the horizon.
"We need to move," Leo growled. "The Régime's dogs are still hunting."
Aïcha's staff glowed, her voice hard. "And what if they're not the only ones? The System has its own servants—creatures twisted by its power. Revenants."
Leo's eyes narrowed. "Then we kill them too."
The System's voice slithered in his mind, amused. Such confidence. Such delicious arrogance.
Leo clenched his fists. "Let's go," he said, his voice a low growl.
Together, they set out into the darkness, the storm gathering around them, the System's laughter echoing in Leo's mind.
The city's skeleton loomed around them—broken towers clawing at the sky like the ribs of some dying beast. Leo led the way, machete drawn, every nerve alight with the System's cold fire. Shadows pooled at his feet, rippling with each step.
Camille stumbled, his breath rattling. Leo's heart clenched at the sound, but he forced himself to keep walking. Every time he slowed, the System's voice pressed closer. Leave him, it hissed. He is weak. Dead weight.
Leo's jaw tightened. "No," he growled under his breath.
Aïcha's staff glowed brighter, her eyes scanning the darkness. "Leo," she said, her voice tight. "Do you feel that?"
He didn't answer. He felt it all too well—a pressure in the air, like the weight of a storm just before the lightning. The shadows quivered, eager.
A shape moved in the wreckage ahead, silent and slow. Leo's machete rose, the darkness coiling tighter around his arm.
A figure stepped into the flickering light—tall and thin, its skin a patchwork of scars and metal. Its eyes glowed with a sickly, yellow light, and black veins snaked across its body like spiderwebs.
Camille let out a strangled sound. "What—what is that?"
Aïcha's voice was grim. "A Revenant."
Leo's breath hitched. "Servant of the System."
The Revenant's lips split in a jagged grin, revealing teeth filed to points. "Candidate," it hissed, its voice a chorus of voices layered atop one another. "The System calls. Submit."
Leo's chest burned. The System inside him purred. Join me, it whispered. Be one with your destiny.
He bared his teeth. "Never."
The Revenant moved—fast, too fast. Its clawed hand slashed the air, the force sending Leo stumbling. Shadows exploded from his skin, lashing the creature like whips.
Aïcha's staff crackled, lightning arcing along its length. She swung it in a wide arc, the light catching the Revenant's face. It screamed, a sound that curdled Leo's blood.
"Leo!" she shouted. "Fight it!"
The System's laughter roared in his skull. Embrace me. Become what you were meant to be.
The Revenant lunged, claws extended. Leo swung the machete, darkness streaming from the blade. The two powers collided, a maelstrom of shadow and fury.
Pain flared in his chest, but Leo roared, every ounce of strength poured into the blow. The Revenant shrieked, its body splitting apart like rotten wood.
Leo fell to his knees, gasping, the darkness seething around him. Aïcha's staff glowed, her voice trembling. "Leo—are you still with me?"
He looked up, shadows swirling in his eyes. "For now," he rasped.
But inside, the System's voice was louder than ever. You can't deny me forever.
The Revenant's corpse crumbled to ash, its final scream echoing in the darkness like a dying star. Leo's chest heaved, sweat and blood mingling on his skin. Shadows flickered around him—restless, hungry.
Aïcha knelt beside him, her staff trembling in her grasp. "Leo," she said, voice raw with worry. "You need to rest."
Leo shook his head, shadows recoiling as he forced himself upright. "No time," he rasped. "The System won't wait."
Camille whimpered, his face pale, the black mark on his neck spreading. "Leo… please," he croaked. "Don't leave me behind."
Leo's heart twisted. Memories surged unbidden, sharper than any blade—his mother's scream as the Collapse tore their home apart, the flash of fire that took everything, the sound of his sister's laughter fading into the dark.
The System's voice pressed in, soft and cruel. Remember, Leo. Remember what they took from you.
His hands trembled, the machete's grip slick with sweat. "I couldn't save them," he whispered.
Aïcha's staff glowed, the light haloing her face. "Leo—look at me," she demanded. "That wasn't your fault. You were a child."
Leo's eyes burned. "The System showed me. It—" He choked on the memory. "It showed me their faces. Their voices. I couldn't… I couldn't stop it."
Aïcha reached for him, her fingers warm on his arm. "That's not the truth, Leo. That's the System twisting your grief into chains."
The darkness pulsed inside him, cold and mocking. She doesn't understand, it whispered. She can't feel what you feel.
Leo's jaw clenched. "You didn't see it," he spat. "The fire. The screams."
Aïcha's eyes shimmered with tears. "I didn't," she admitted. "But I've seen the aftermath. I've seen what this world did to all of us. And I know this: you're stronger than it wants you to believe."
The shadows surged, a tide of rage and pain. The System's laughter filled his mind. You are mine, Leo Dormien. You always have been.
Leo's hands trembled. "How do I fight something that's part of me?"
Aïcha's staff glowed brighter. "You fight by remembering who you are."
A memory flickered—his sister's smile, the sound of her laughter, the warmth of her hand in his. For a heartbeat, the darkness receded.
Leo's breath came easier. "Then we keep going," he said, his voice a low promise. "We end this."
The System hissed, but Leo forced it back. For now.
The wind howled through the shattered city, carrying with it the scent of ash and burnt metal. Leo stood over the Revenant's ashes, every breath a fight against the darkness coiling in his veins.
Aïcha's staff glowed faintly beside him, its light fragile against the shadows. Camille moaned, the black mark on his neck pulsing with each labored breath.
"Leo," Aïcha said, her voice barely above a whisper, "that thing—before it died—it tried to speak."
Leo's jaw clenched. "I heard it," he rasped. "It said something about a 'Throne.'"
Aïcha's brow furrowed, her staff trembling. "The Throne… I've heard rumors. Some say it's the source of the System's corruption. The place where it all began."
Leo's chest tightened. The System's voice slithered through his mind, cold and hungry. The Throne is your destiny. Claim it.
Camille's weak voice cut through the haze. "Leo… don't… please."
Leo's grip on the machete whitened. "I can't let this thing control me," he growled.
Aïcha met his gaze, her eyes fierce. "Then we find the Throne—and we destroy it."
The System laughed, the sound a low, insidious hiss. You can't destroy what you are, it purred. The Throne is part of you.
Leo's head throbbed. The darkness pressed in, every thought a battle. "Tell me how," he demanded, his voice raw.
Aïcha's staff flickered. "Legends say the Throne lies at the heart of the System's core—a place no one has ever returned from. But if we can get there…"
Leo's eyes burned. "Then that's where we're going."
A tremor shook the ground beneath them, a low rumble that rattled the broken towers. The System's voice rose in a chorus of whispers. Come to me, Leo Dormien. Embrace your true self.
Aïcha's eyes shone with tears. "Leo—whatever happens, remember who you are."
Leo turned to her, his voice a growl. "I'm the one who's going to end this."
The darkness surged around him, shadows leaping like wolves.
The wind died in the ruined city, leaving a silence that pressed against Leo's chest like a weight. The System's presence pulsed inside him—familiar, cold, and insidious. Shadows trembled at his feet, eager and restless.
Aïcha's staff glowed faintly, its light casting fragile patterns on the broken ground. Camille lay nearby, his breath ragged, the black mark on his neck spreading with each shallow inhale.
Leo's heart ached. He'd made his choice—to let the System in, to embrace the darkness for the sake of his friend. But each breath felt heavier, each beat of his heart less his own.
The System's voice filled his mind, cold and triumphant. You see now, it whispered. You need me. You always have.
Leo clenched his fists, shadows tightening around his arms like chains. "I need your power," he growled, his voice trembling with rage and defiance. "But I won't let you win."
The System's laughter rippled through his thoughts like shattered glass. We are one, Leo Dormien. You cannot fight what you have become.
Leo's eyes burned, darkness flickering at their edges. "Then we strike a deal," he spat.
A tremor ran through his veins—a ripple of cold approval. Speak.
"You give me your power," Leo demanded, his voice hard as iron. "All of it. No holding back. I'll use it to tear the Régime apart—to destroy the Throne. And when it's done—"
When it's done, the System finished, voice like velvet, we will see who remains.
Leo's teeth ground together. "Deal," he hissed.
The darkness exploded in his mind, a flood of shadows and cold fire that seared his thoughts. Every memory, every pain, every joy—consumed and remade. For a heartbeat, he wasn't sure who he was anymore.
Then the darkness receded, leaving him trembling, his breath ragged. He stood, every muscle humming with power, the machete at his side like a living thing. Shadows rippled from his skin, alive and eager.
Aïcha's staff glowed weakly, her face pale with fear. "Leo…"
He met her gaze, his eyes dark and cold. "I'm still me," he rasped. "But now—I have the power to end this."
She took a step back, her staff trembling. "And if you lose yourself?"
Leo's grin was sharp and dangerous. "Then you'll have to stop me."
The darkness coiled around him, shadows flickering like black flame. The System's voice purred in his mind. Welcome to your throne.
Leo's eyes glowed with a darkness deeper than night. "Let's end this," he whispered.
And together—with darkness at his back and a fragile alliance at his side—they marched toward the heart of the System, the shadows hungering for war.