Wulfrina's Primitive Fury roar tore through the destroyed apartment. It was a sound Kaito never imagined existed: a mix of ice, pain, and ancestral hatred. The Lycan, once his protective General, was just three feet away, and her murderous intent was pure. Kaito was the "purification target."
He saw her fist, wrapped in chaotic, dark-blue Eternal Frost, rising for the final blow.
The speed was terrifying; latency was zero.
"Imminent annihilation! (Kaito screamed internally, panic taking hold, but his Data Analyst mind suddenly becoming cold and functional). No time for Strength! Strength is 10%! Intelligence is 100% chance of hack! The risk is high, but the reward is total!"
Kaito ignored the pain and fear. With a trembling yet determined finger, he accessed the Status panel. The 5 unallocated Status Points were blinking.
"Allocate! (Kaito mentally yelled, his voice full of adrenaline). 5 Points into Intelligence! Now!"
Kaito's body violently trembled as the Lycan power flowed into his mind. It wasn't a physical power; it was a data processing power. His vision instantly sharpened, and the world around him turned into a code matrix.
[SystemNotification: 5 Status Points allocated to INT. Master INT: 10 (+5).
Total: 15 ]
Wulfrina fired the blow. The chaotic Eternal Frost advanced like silent thunder, ready to disintegrate Kaito.
"Lycan Analyst Eye! (Kaito shouted, his voice loud, feeling the Skill's power for the first time, ignoring the imminent blow). Activate! Cost 3.1 XP! Analyze Primitive Fury!"
The Fury was the last of the XP he had. It was the final bet.
[SystemNotification: Forbidden Skill Activated! Attempting Hack on Primary Essence.
MasterBandwidth: 15 INT
PrimitiveFuryBandwidth: S Rank (Infinite). Risk: Destruction of Anchor General and Master Feedback]
Wulfrina's fist stopped mere inches from Kaito's face. The air froze, and his hair became covered in frost. The attack didn't stop because of Strength; it stopped because her mind crashed.
The world vanished for Kaito. He was no longer in the destroyed apartment, but in a dark dimension, made of ice crystal and raw fury. In the center, there was a core of dark-blue energy the Heart of Fury.
(Kaito, now just a data spirit, screamed into the void): "General! I am inside your soul! I am your Master! You cannot attack me! I am seeing your code!"
The Fury had no voice, but it had thoughts: Destroy! The origin of Chaos! The Lycan does not bow! Purify!
Kaito saw the Fury's code: it was an ancestral defense algorithm, triggered by 'Essenceviolation.'
"No, Fury! (Kaito argued, using the only language the Fury would understand: logic).
I am not the root cause! I am the stability solution! Your brother, Kael, he is the external threat! I am your firewall! If you destroy me, Kael wins! That is not what a General does!"
The Fury wavered. Kaito, with 15 INT, saw the opening. He couldn't erase the Fury (the Primary Essence); he could only reprogram it and link it to his Status.
"I don't erase you, Fury! I Optimize you! (Kaito yelled, concentrating all his intellect on the task). You now respond to my INT Status! You are my new Fury buff! Be my weapon! COMMAND PACTUM!"
A line of golden code the Pactum extended from Kaito and wrapped around the Heart of Fury. The Primitive Eternal Frost trembled, resisting, but Kaito's Analytical logic was irrefutable.
[SystemNotification: Hack Successful! Primitive Fury Optimized
{Status: Awakened, Unstable }
Assignment: Linked to Master's INT. Bonus: Unlocked Combat Aura (Rank S) for Anchor General .]
Kaito was thrown back into the apartment. He fell to the floor, gasping, sweat dripping onto the trash.
The chaotic Eternal Frost around Wulfrina's fist disappeared. The red in her eyes faded, and she blinked, confused.
"Master? (Wulfrina asked, her voice normal but still rough, her body visibly bigger and stronger). What… what happened? I feel… a power I have never felt before! I tried to kill you, Kaito! I attacked you!"
"Relax, General,"
(Kaito muttered, exhausted, but the Analyst smile returning)
"You just activated a new buff. You are now the Optimized Primitive Eternal Frost. But there's a rule."
Wulfrina knelt, the shame of the attack palpable. "What rule, Master? What must I do to compensate for my betrayal?"
"The Primitive Fury can only be controlled if I'm focused,"
(Kaito explained, his voice tense, looking at his new INT: 15).
"If my Intelligence drops, you revert to the Uncontrolled Beast. We have to keep my concentration and INT Status at max. Your power depends on my Data."
Wulfrina nodded, her eyes full of admiration and renewed loyalty. "Understood. The Primitive Fury is the hammer, and the Master is the Mind that guides it. I obey."
Kaito felt immense relief. The General was back, and she was absurdly stronger.
Suddenly, the cold air returned. It wasn't the chaotic cold of the Fury, but the controlled, malevolent cold of the Dark Frost. Kael reappeared in the broken window, but he wasn't alone. Three other shadowy figures, with red eyes and black armor, stood behind him.
"You hacked me! (Kael roared, his voice filled with absolute hatred, pointing his finger at Kaito). You used the Abominable Skill! You contaminated my sister and her Essence! This is a Cultivation crime! The Shadow Council will annihilate you, human!"
"Shadow Council? (Kaito asked, his face pale, realizing the game had just cranked up to 'Hardcore' difficulty). Kael, we don't need this…"
"It's too late, Kaito! (Kael interrupted, his voice triumphant). I didn't come back to fight, I came back to notify! I revealed your Pactum's location and the abomination you created! You are on the Shadow Guild's Annihilation list! In ten minutes, the Mass Purification begins. The Dark Frost will consume this city to find you!"
Kael and the three Lycans disappeared, but the threat remained in the air, heavy and icy.
[SystemNotification: Global Event Alert! The Shadow Guild (Rank A) has initiated the Mass Purification Protocol.
Objective: Annihilation of Master Kaito (Level 2) and Purification of Anchor General Wulfrina (Optimized Eternal Frost).
Estimated Time for Mass Dark Frost Attack: 10:00 minutes ]
(Kaito got up, staring at the notification. This was no longer an apartment confrontation; it was a war).
"Ten minutes to run! Wulfrina, we have to get out of here! This is no longer a cleaning farm! The mission has changed! We have to escape and survive!"
Wulfrina, now stronger and calmer, touched his shoulder. "Yes, Master. I will protect you. But where can we go? You are marked! And I am a Primitive Frost ticking time bomb!"
"We're going where Kael would never think we'd go"
(Kaito said, an Analyst smile returning, but with a hint of madness)
"The only safe place from a Lycan who hates filth: the most chaotic slum in the city! It's our new Safe Zone!"
Kaito and Wulfrina had only 10 minutes to escape annihilation by the Shadow Guild, while Wulfrina's Primitive Fury pulsed, ready to explode if Kaito's concentration failed. The Level 2 Master had charted the next escape point a chaotic slum. The next mission wasn't to fight; it was to infiltrate and survive in human and mystical chaos. The clock was ticking.