The elderly man's smile wasn't a welcome; it was the cold, calculating smile of a predator who had just located its prey. Kaito was paralyzed. The clock on the System panel, which was previously the greatest threat, read 02:40 minutes until the Shadow Guild's attack, but the Above Rank S Cultivator was the immediate danger, the very definition of a Cultivation Trap.
"Master, protect me! (Kaito gasped, his voice failing, pulling Wulfrina behind a cart of rotten fruit). His Status is… it's unreal! Domain of Entropy! He controls Chaos! We fled right into his territory!"
Wulfrina, however, was not afraid. The awakening of the Optimized Eternal Frost had erased fear from her code. She assumed a defensive stance, the cold, dense aura contained by Kaito's control.
"The General obeys, Master. (Wulfrina replied, her voice deep and steady). The Domain of Entropy uses chaos as a power source. If we attack here, we feed him. We have to leave! He is a Raid Battle Enemy!"
The Cultivator, still sitting on the shack, stood up slowly. He wore ragged clothes, perfectly integrated into the scene of disorder. His name, Kaito realized with the Lycan Analyst Eye, was Master Haron.
"Don't run, children"
(Haron said, his voice calm and melodious, but every word seemed to distort the sounds of the Slum, making the loud music slow down and the shouting become clearer).
"What a waste of energy. The Anchor General… Optimized Eternal Frost? She's a rare piece! So chaotic, so unstable. Your Pactum is the anomaly I've been waiting for."
Haron climbed down from the shack, and the air around him vibrated. Kaito noticed that the trash, the sewage, the exposed wires all the mess of the Slum seemed to lean slightly toward Haron, as if Entropy were paying homage to its master.
"The Eternal Frost is Absolute Purity. Primitive Fury is Absolute Chaos,"
(Haron continued, walking unhurriedly. With every step, a chaotic item a bottle, a plastic bag disintegrated into green energy dust that he absorbed)
"You, human, tried to hack Purity with Logic (INT). The result is High-Grade Chaotic Energy. I will harvest the General. She will give me the power to rise in Rank. Surrender."
"Surrender? (Kaito laughed, a forced laugh, feeling the icy terror on his spine). That word doesn't exist in my game dictionary.
General, attack! Mission: Disrupt! Attack the ground to create an Ice Repulsion Zone!"
Wulfrina didn't hesitate. She stomped on the dirt and mud floor, and the contained aura exploded into a circle of dark-blue ice. The Primitive Fury was released in a targeted area attack.
[SystemNotification: Anchor General activated Optimized Eternal Frost (Level1). AreaDamage: Rank A.
Effect: Immediate Matter Freezing ]
The Slum floor instantly froze. The mud turned to solid ice, paralyzing Haron up to his waist. Wulfrina jumped back, ready for the next command.
Haron looked at the ice around him and smiled.
"Ice? Purity? (Haron shook his head, disappointed). Useless. In Entropy, Purity is just static order. It is weak."
With a slow movement of his hand, Haron didn't break the ice. He reversed the process. Instead of shattering, Wulfrina's ice instantly melted back into mud, vapor rising, and the ground returning to its original state of disorder.
[SystemNotification: Attack Repelled. Optimized Eternal Frost was Consumed by the Domain of Entropy. Master Haron's Cultivation Energy Increased by 5 Points ]
"See, General? The attack failed and gave him loot! (Kaito shouted, pulling her into a narrow hallway). The Rule is: Do not attack the Domain of Entropy with Purity! We have to use chaos against him!"
Haron began to chase them, but he didn't need to run. The Slum itself was moving to block their escape. Exposed wires swayed menacingly, and trash cans tipped over to close the path.
"The Domain of Entropy is activating a Chaos Labyrinth! (Kaito shouted, feeling the pressure of time: 01:50 minutes). He's surrounding us with disorder!"
Kaito had to think faster than Haron could manipulate chaos. Haron was using the filthy environment as a weapon. Kaito had to do the same.
"Master, we don't have XP to buy an escape buff! (Wulfrina warned, her voice tense, dodging a falling clothesline). What are we going to do?"
"We don't buy an escape buff,"
(Kaito hissed, his eyes glued to the System screen)
"We buy a Contamination buff!"
Kaito had 3.1 XP.
He opened the 'MasterServices' tab and searched for any low-cost transaction that could use Entropy to his advantage.
[Option: Essence Micro-Transaction (RankF) - Cost: 3.0XP ]
[Description: Injects a small dose of Human Essence (Disorder, Anxiety, Physical Chaos) into the Anchor General, temporarily contaminating the Lycan Purity.
Effect: Allows the Anchor General to move invisible in High-Chaos Zones.
Duration: 30seconds]
(Kaito didn't hesitate. It was the only chance to hack Haron's Rule). "Buy! Use on the General! Contamination Activated!"
[SystemNotification: Micro-Transaction executed. 3.0 XP Deducted.
Remaining XP: 0.1. Anchor General received Contamination Aura (Level1). Duration: 30seconds]
Wulfrina shuddered, feeling a wave of human filth and disorder envelop her. But, suddenly, she was no longer a target of Purity. She became part of the Chaos.
"I am… I am part of the filth! (Wulfrina exclaimed, with a mixture of disgust and surprise, noticing that her body, now covered by a dirty and vibrant aura, blended perfectly with the shadows of the hallway). I am invisible to the Domain of Entropy!"
"Great! (Kaito gasped). Now, General, use the Contamination to reverse the trap! Make the escape route toward the Water Tower! It's the highest and cleanest point in the Slum! He would never think a contaminated Lycan would go there!"
Wulfrina darted ahead, her speed amplified by the lack of resistance from the Domain of Entropy. Haron, who was closing the alley with a pile of rubble, stopped. His green eyes, of the Master of Entropy, could no longer find Wulfrina.
"Vanished? (Haron muttered, surprised, his voice for the first time holding a hint of irritation). You contaminated her purity? What a disgusting move, human! You are a Master of Filth!"
"I am the Master of Data Optimization, Haron! (Kaito shouted, now visible, but with Wulfrina beside him, protecting him with the dirty invisibility). You are predictable! You only know how to use Chaos! I use the Chaos Algorithm!"
The Chaotic Escape to the Water Tower began.
The Purification Twist
As they ran, Kaito felt the Dark Frost intensify. The clock was at 00:45 seconds.
"He is arriving, Master! (Wulfrina warned, her voice tense). The Purification Protocol is hitting the industrial zone!"
Haron laughed, a dry, grating sound that seemed to rip the very fabric of the Slum.
"You are running to your death, Master of Optimization! (Haron shouted, his figure moving with surprising speed, ignoring the Chaos Labyrinth he himself created). You think the Shadow Guild is hunting you? How cute! They are hunting the Dark Essence I left on them!"
(Kaito stopped, his body shaking. This was the game-changing twist). "What? Kael… he's your pawn?"
"Of course! The Dark Frost is my food! (Haron explained, his voice full of triumph). Kael and his pathetic purity zealots are just my essence miners! They freeze the city, concentrate the energy of death and order, and I harvest the Entropy that the reaction generates! The Purification Protocol is my Harvest Ritual! They are clearing the board for me!"
"So… Kael doesn't hate filth,"
(Kaito murmured, the Analyst Eye working on overload)
"He serves the Master of Entropy who needs the filth to feed!"
They reached the base of the Water Tower. The clock was at 00:15 seconds.
"Climb! (Kaito ordered, pushing Wulfrina). If we climb up, Chaos won't follow us! It's a point of Static Order!"
Wulfrina began to climb the rusty ladder of the Water Tower with the speed of the Optimized Fury. Kaito tried to follow her, but Haron was now ten meters away, radiating an Entropy power that made him stagger.
"Enough running, human! (Haron growled, raising his hands). You irritated me! You stole my harvest! Now, I will mark you so that all the Chaos in the world comes to hunt you!"
Haron channeled the environment's energy. A beam of pure green disorder shot at Kaito.
Kaito didn't have time to move. The beam hit his chest. The pain was unbearable, not physical, but systemic.
[SystemNotification: Received Permanent Status Curse of Unknown Rank: Target of Chaos (Level1).
Effect: Increases the probability of encounters with Entropy/Chaos Cultivators by 1000%.
Tracking: Master Haron activated Permanent Tracking ]
"Now you are mine, Kaito! (Haron laughed, triumphant). Chaos will follow you! You have nowhere to run!"
Kaito was wounded, but alive. He used the last bit of his INT to analyze Haron one last time. He had to understand his enemy.
(The Lycan Analyst Eye flickered, trying to scan the Cultivator's Lineage).
NPC: Cultivator (Lineage: Ancestral Lycan - Shadow Family)
"You… (Kaito whispered, his voice failing). You are a Lycan! You are from the Shadow Family! You are an Elder! Kael serves you!"
Haron didn't confirm, but his smile became malevolent. He had been discovered.
[SystemNotification: Time Elapsed.
Mass Purification Protocol: ACTIVATED ]
The world outside exploded in a white and silver cold. Kael and the Dark Lycans, who were waiting on the periphery, fired the massive attack. The Dark Frost hit the industrial zone, and the ground trembled.
Haron, the Master of Entropy, disappeared in the smoke and disorder of the approaching attack, satisfied to have marked his prey.
Wulfrina reached out her hand from the top of the Water Tower. "Master! Quick!"
Kaito climbed up, exhausted and with the curse burning in his chest. He looked at the horizon: the city was being frozen by Kael.
However, Kael's Dark Frost stopped a few meters from the Slum's Wall of Chaos.
Haron's Entropy was absorbing the attack.
The last second on the clock, 00:00, blinked. Kaito and Wulfrina were safe on top of the Water Tower. But the Status Curse: Target of Chaos was the new rule of the game.
Kaito and Wulfrina survived, but the price was high: Kaito was now marked with the Target of Chaos Curse and discovered that the Cultivator Haron was an Ancestral Lycan from the Shadow Family, manipulating Kael and the entire Guild. While Kael's Dark Frost froze the periphery, Kaito, exhausted and out of XP, had to decide: Fight Haron in his Domain or flee the Curse? The Water Tower was too clean a target, and the Master of Entropy was still nearby.