Kael's roar of hatred still echoed in Kaito's ears. The 10:00 minute warning on the System panel burned red in his peripheral vision, overlaying the chaos of the destroyed room. The Shadow Guild (Rank A) was coming. The game had scaled from an apartment confrontation to a global hunt.
Kaito got up, ignoring the remnants of moldy food stuck to his pants and the unbearable stench of trash. His body trembled, but his mind, now turbo-charged with 15 INT, was operating in a data-processing mode he'd never experienced before. He couldn't afford human panic; he was the Analytical Mind controlling the Primitive Fury.
"General, escape status,"
(Kaito ordered, his voice tense and urgent, but strangely calm, the gamer logic dominating the emotion). "The Mass Purification Protocol is an area attack, Dark Frost in high concentration. Our armor you, and me can't handle it. Priority Mission: Exit the Impact Zone within the time limit. Now!"
Wulfrina, who moments earlier was on the verge of losing control, was now dangerously calm. She stood up. Her body seemed denser, faster. The Primitive Fury hadn't vanished; it was there, contained by Kaito's control, like a dam about to burst.
Her red eyes, which glowed with the savage loyalty of the Pactum, fixed on Kaito.
"The General obeys the Mind"
(Wulfrina replied, her voice deep and cold, without the hesitation of before)
"My new Essence, the Optimized Eternal Frost, allows me stealth mobility. But Kael's attack… it destroys the essence of modern technology. Cameras, alarms, trackers… everything will be frozen. We have to use the old route."
"The old route is good. Less firewall to cross,"
(Kaito nodded, his eyes glancing at the clock: 09:32). "But our route has to be the route of Chaos. Kael and the purity obsessed Dark Lycans won't enter a location that contaminates their aura. The only safe place is the Antithesis of Purity."
He ran to grab his laptop bag, which Wulfrina had used as a tactical weapon against Kael. The bag was dented, but the cables and the laptop were there. They were useless for the escape, but they were his Master Artifacts.
"Where is the densest Chaotic Zone? Where is there more people, more filth, more entropy?" (Kaito asked, already processing the city's mental map).
Wulfrina pointed to the south of the city. "The Crown Slum. It is a place where Law and Purity do not exist. It is a web of life and disorder. Kael would rather disintegrate his own soul than step foot there. It is the perfect Dark Repulsion Barrier."
"Great. Route plotted. Infiltration Mission: Crown Slum. Objective: Survival for 48 hours,"
(Kaito finalized, feeling the excitement of the high-stakes game).
"Wulfrina, I need you to use your aura as little as possible. I am the main target. I have to be the NPC."
Wulfrina transformed: the magic tunic returned to normal clothes, and the Optimized Eternal Frost aura was repressed. But Kaito could feel her primitive energy, an immense power contained by his INT. If he lost concentration, she would explode.
"08:45! Let's go!"
The escape began.
The Lycan Analyst Eye in Action
They went down the dark stairs of the building, the broken door and shattered window leaving a clear trail of Kael's passage. Kaito felt the weight of time, but his new passive Skill was activated.
The moment he stepped onto the dark, deserted street, the world changed.
It was no longer a street; it was a visual data matrix.
Kaito saw people differently. A neighbor walking his dog wasn't just a neighbor;
he was covered in a thin layer of text:
{NPC: Common Citizen (Lineage:N/A), Status: Chronic Sleep/Anxiety,
Essence: 0/10. The dog, in turn }
{displayed: NPC: Pet (Lineage: MongrelDog),
Status: Hunger Level 2,
Function: LocalSentinel}
"Incredible! (Kaito gasped, surprise taking over, almost stumbling, but Wulfrina held him with inhuman strength). General! I'm seeing people's Metadata! I see their Essence!"
"Master, concentrate! (Wulfrina hissed, her voice grave, pulling him into a dark alley). Your INT is too high! You are reading the world in real-time! If you focus on the Lycans, Kael will know you are spying on him!"
Kaito forced his mind to filter the flood of data. The street wasn't just a path; it was a Surveillance System. He saw the blind spots of security cameras {Status: Deactivated (ByDarkFrost) } and the best trajectory to avoid patrols {NPC: PolicePatrol (Route: 7%) }
"There! The Fish Market alley! (Kaito ordered, pointing to a filthy alley, with real dirt). It's dirtier, but the surveillance probability is 0%! The fastest and safest path is through the industrial zone."
They ran. Wulfrina, with the Optimized Fury, was a dark, efficient arrow. She moved without noise, force contained in every step.
With every moment, Kaito used his Lycan Analyst Eye to search for the Dark Essence in the city, Kael's trail.
(On the wall of an old building, Kaito saw graffiti that seemed to pulse):
Artifact: Vandalism
Essence: LowRevolt
Lineage: Human/Vagrant.
(He saw a car parked on the corner): Artifact: AbandonedVehicle
Status: LowBattery
Location: DarkLycanDataCollectionPoint.
"Wulfrina, the car! (Kaito shouted, pulling her away). Kael left a Data Collection Point there! If we pass near it, he tracks our Pactum signature!"
They diverted, Kaito feeling the time pressure overwhelming. He could feel Wulfrina's Primitive Fury pulsing in sync with his accelerated breathing. The control was tenuous.
"Master, your Concentration is dropping! (Wulfrina warned, her voice tense, her eyes threatening to glow red again). You are too focused on the Metadata! Filter the noise! If your INT fails, the Fury takes over, and I attack the nearest Source of Contamination… you!"
Kaito swallowed hard. He had to use the data, not be dominated by it. He forced his mind to create a mental filter
(Filter: Only Lycan Essence Above Rank D).
The world returned to normal, but now, only threats and magical artifacts flickered in his vision.
[SystemNotification: AnalysisFilterActivated.
INTStability: 100% ]
The Wall of Chaos
They left the industrial zone. The clock showed 05:10. There were just over five minutes until the Dark Frost consumed the city. The air began to feel colder, a cold that didn't come from Wulfrina, but from the purification that was approaching.
In front of them, the Crown Slum rose: a chaotic tangle of colorful houses, exposed wires, loud music, and the dense smell of oil, spices, and disordered human life. It was the perfect Safe Zone.
"It's here. (Kaito gasped, his hand on his chest, feeling the relief. Chaos was salvation). Disorder is our armor. Kael won't come here. The Dark Frost will freeze everything around, but the Heat of Entropy will protect us inside."
They entered the Slum. The flow of people was intense. Kaito saw dozens of { NPC: Common Citizen with different Status: Occupation and Essence: 0/10 } It was the only place where they would blend in perfectly. Wulfrina visibly relaxed, her Primitive Frost calming down with the excess of impurity around them.
"We are safe, Master. (Wulfrina said, her voice almost returning to normal, her relief palpable). Kael tracks us by the trail of purity we leave behind. Here, we are invisible."
Kaito nodded, but his Lycan Analyst Eye was still on. He was looking for any trace of Dark Essence Kael might have left.
The clock showed 03:00
They walked down the main street of the Slum, trying to find a secure hiding spot. Kaito felt the stability, but the analyst mind wouldn't stop.
Suddenly, Kaito's Analyst Eye blinked with a red and orange alert. It wasn't coming from the periphery of the Slum, where Kael's Dark Frost should be. It was coming from the center.
Kaito stopped. Wulfrina stopped too, sensing her Master freeze.
"Master? What is it? (Wulfrina asked, her voice alert, sensing the change in tension). It's not Kael. His aura is moving away."
Kaito was paralyzed, looking at the central square, where there was a small improvised market.
Perched on top of a wooden shack, sitting and observing the chaos, was an elderly man, wearing simple clothes, but his eyes were a fluorescent green.
Kaito's Analyst Eye projected the man's Status. The information made Kaito's blood run cold.
NPC: Cultivator (Lineage: Unknown)
Status: Idle, Observing Chaos
Essence: 100/100 (Chaotic Energy Generation)
CultivationPower: Rank Unknown (Above S)
CultivationRule: Domain of Entropy
"No… it's not Kael"
(Kaito muttered, his voice failing, fear returning in a totally new and overwhelming way)
"We miscalculated, Wulfrina. We didn't flee the predator. We fled into the predator's nest."
The elderly man looked at the street and, with absolute precision, his green eyes fixed on Kaito. He didn't see Wulfrina, nor the filth, but the Pactum and the Optimized Eternal Frost inside her.
The Cultivator Smiled.
The elderly man, an Above Rank S Cultivator with the power of the Domain of Entropy, smiled, recognizing Kaito and Wulfrina in the middle of the chaos. Kaito and Wulfrina weren't just fleeing the Shadow Guild's Annihilation Protocol (which was approaching with 02:40 minutes remaining); they had fallen directly into the territory of an entity of incomprehensible power, who saw Wulfrina's Primitive Fury as a source of energy to be exploited. The Safe Zone was, in fact, a Cultivation Trap. They had to fight the new enemy or be crushed before Kael arrived.