We need to become monsters ourselves.
The thought rang in my head with the clarity of a bell. Then, reality reasserted itself with the wet, heaving sound of Vikram vomiting demon sludge onto the stone floor.
I wiped my chin. My hand came away coated in black, oily residue that smelled of burnt hair and old copper. The adrenaline crash hit me like a physical blow, turning my knees to water.
"I smashed it," Vikram whispered, wiping his hands frantically on his ruined silk pants. "It... it felt like a hot watermelon. Did you hear the sound? I can still hear the sound."
"Stop it," I rasped. My throat felt like I had swallowed broken glass.
The room smelled of a slaughterhouse built inside a spice market. The rich, savory aroma of the mutton stew—the trap—had curdled, mixing with the metallic tang of Ilvala's blood and the ozone scent of the dying magic.
[ RESTORING PLAYER HP/MP... ]
The golden light of the Safe Zone wasn't warm. It was invasive.
"Ah!" Javed grunted, his back arching off the cushions.
We watched, horrified, as his broken leg set itself. There was no magic sparkle. Just the wet, grinding sound of bone scraping against bone, forcing itself back into alignment. The muscles in his calf rippled violently, knitting together with audible wet snaps.
Javed didn't look relieved. He looked violated.
"It... it just moved," Javed whispered, sweat dripping from his nose. "It just moved the bone back. It didn't ask."
"Kabir," I said, turning to the blind man. He was standing near the door, his head cocked. "The humming. It stopped."
"The gears," Kabir said softly. "They are waiting for us to clock in."
As if on cue, a chime rang out. Not a notification bell. This sounded like a hammer striking an anvil inside our skulls.
[ QUEST COMPLETE: SURVIVE THE NIGHT ]
[ ENTROPY LEVEL: RISING ]
[ CLASS SELECTION REQUIRED ]
[ WARNING: FAILURE TO CHOOSE WILL RESULT IN DELETION ]
Five pillars of light slammed into the floorboards.
"We have to choose," I said, staring at the text. "If we go back out there as Level 1 nobodies, we die. The 'Pack' is still out there."
Javed wiped the sweat from his face and stepped into the first pillar. The light turned a heavy, suffocating Bronze, hardening into translucent plates that looked like temple plating.
[ JAVED KHAN ]
CLASS: VAJRA SENTINEL (Unique)
> Patron: Indra (The Thunder King)
> Role: Tank / Fortress
> Passive: 'Weight of the Mountain' (Cannot be knocked back)
> Visual: Bronze Temple Plating
"Vajra," Javed read, curling his hands into fists. A massive, rectangular shield materialized in the air. "Like the Thunderbolt. Hardest substance in the universe."
Riya stepped up next. Her light bloomed into a Verdant Green, smelling of crushed basil and wet earth.
[ RIYA SHARMA ]
CLASS: ARANYA WEAVER (Unique)
> Patron: Aranyani (The Forest)
> Role: Healer / Controller
> Ability: 'Lifroot' (Healing manifests as rapid moss growth)
> Weapon: Living Staff
"Aranya," she whispered, clutching a wooden staff that sprouted leaves under her touch.
Then, it was Vikram. He stepped in, and the light screamed—a blinding, Prismatic White beam.
[ VIKRAM MALHOTRA ]
CLASS: SURYA'S PRISM (Hidden)
> Patron: Surya (The Sun God)
> Role: Ranged DPS / Illusionist
> Ability: 'Light Refraction'
> Passive: 'Divine Posture' (System-Assisted Targeting)
> Weapon: Crystal Greatbow
Vikram held the crystal bow. "Surya's Prism? Passive: Divine Posture?"
CRACK.
"Ow!" Vikram yelped.
His back straightened with an audible pop. His feet shuffled into a perfect archer's stance. He wasn't doing it. His body was being forced into alignment by an invisible hand.
"My arm!" Vikram panicked. "It's moving by itself! I can't put it down! I look like a statue! Make it stop!"
"It's the passive," I realized. "You don't aim, Vikram. The System aims you. You're a puppet for the light."
"I hate it!" Vikram whined. "My rotator cuff hurts!"
Kabir drifted into his pillar. The light turned a deep, cosmic Violet, swirling with geometry.
[ KABIR DAS ]
CLASS: AETHER ARCHITECT (Hidden)
> Role: Strategist / Buffer
> Ability: 'Blueprint'
> Ability: 'Aether Lattice'
> Weapon: None
"I can see the seams," Kabir whispered. "Dhruv... the world is stitched together. And the stitching is loose."
I stepped into the final pillar.
The golden light died. In its place, a heavy, suffocating Grey Fog rolled out. The System window didn't ping; it screeched—a sound like metal tearing.
[ SYSTEM ALERT: ANOMALY DETECTED ]
[ ANALYZING SOUL FREQUENCY... ]
> Compassion: 12% (CRITICAL LOW)
> Logic: 98% (ABNORMAL)
> Trauma: DETECTED
[ SEARCHING FOR PATRON DEITY... ]
... Indra (REJECTED)
... Agni (REJECTED)
... Varuna (REJECTED)
[ RESULT: NO DIVINE PATRON FOUND. SOUL IS TOO COLD. ]
[ ACCESSING FORBIDDEN ARCHIVES... ]
[ DOWNLOADING: SMASHANA PROTOCOLS ]
My breath misted in the air. No patron? Rejected?
[ CLASS ASSIGNED: ASHEN SOVEREIGN ]
> Rank: Forbidden / Hidden
> Source: Entropy
> Role: Executioner of the Cycle
> Lore: The Gods create, the Humans preserve, but You are the end. You are the wood that burns the body. You are the Ash that remains.
[ ABILITY UNLOCKED: RITE OF THE PYRE ]
> Description: You do not rule the dead; you recycle them. Burn a corpse to create an Ash Soldier.
> Constraint: Ash Soldiers are volatile. They burn out after 60 seconds. Refreshes on kill.
"Ashen Sovereign?" Vikram read the text, his voice barely a whisper. "Dhruv... you look like a corpse."
I looked at my hands. My skin was pale, dusted with a layer of fine, grey soot. I reached for my rusted iron axle. It hissed, shedding rust to reveal a matte, light-absorbing Black Iron Spear.
"Rite of the Pyre," I whispered. "It's a timer. It's not an army. It's a fire. I have to keep feeding it fuel or it dies."
CRACK.
The golden dome outside shattered.
We stepped out through the broken wall of the ashram, into the cool night air.
And froze.
They were waiting for us.
Not a pack. A horde.
Thirty Rakshasas stood in the clearing, their eyes glowing like fireflies in the dark. They weren't the skinny scouts. They were muscle-bound Marauders (Level 2).
And in the center, towering over them, was a monster clad in crude, heavy iron armor. It held a massive, spiked mace.
[ ENEMY: RAKSHASA WARLORD (Level 3) ]
"Oh," Vikram squeaked, his arm jerking to aim at the Warlord against his will. "Oh, we are so dead."
"Thirty against five," Javed said, raising his massive bronze shield. "I can't tank thirty, Dhruv."
"You don't have to," I said, stepping forward. I looked at the horde. I didn't see monsters. I saw fuel.
"Formation," I ordered. "Hold the line. I just need one kill to start the engine."
The Warlord roared, and the horde charged.
"Lifroot!" Riya screamed, slamming her staff down. Thorny vines erupted from the earth, tripping the front line.
I lunged at the nearest, stumbling Marauder.
Thrust.
The Black Iron Spear took it in the throat.
[ ENEMY DEFEATED ]
"Rite of the Pyre," I whispered.
The corpse collapsed inward, turning into a pile of grey, swirling ash. It rose up, forming a faceless soldier of smoke.
[ ASH WALKER SUMMONED ]
[ DECAY TIMER: 60s ]
A clock appeared in my vision. [ 59... 58... ]
"Spread," I commanded.
The Ash Walker didn't attack; it infected. It lunged at the next Rakshasa, shoving its smoky hand into the monster's mouth and expanding. The Rakshasa choked, its lungs filling with soot.
[ ENEMY DEFEATED ]
[ CHAIN REACTION ]
The second corpse dissolved into ash. Now I had two soldiers.
[ TIMER RESET: 60s ]
"Kill," I said.
The two soldiers leaped onto two more Rakshasas.
Two became four.
Four became eight.
It wasn't a battle anymore. It was a plague. A storm of grey ash swept through the red ranks of the Rakshasas. The monsters swung their clubs, but the Ash Walkers just reformed around the blows like smoke and suffocated them.
"Oh my god," Vikram whispered, watching the massacre. "It's... it's like a virus."
Within thirty seconds, the clearing was a whirlwind of grey dust. Twenty Rakshasas were dead. Twenty Ash Soldiers stood ready, a silent, faceless legion holding the surviving monsters down.
The Warlord roared, stepping into the fray. He swung his massive mace.
WHOOSH.
The blow scattered three Ash Walkers into dust. They tried to reform, but the impact was too heavy.
"Focus fire on the Leader!" I screamed. "Swarm him!"
The Ash Army piled onto the massive, armored leader like ants on a beetle. They scratched, they bit, they choked.
CLANG. CLANG.
Their smoky claws bounced off his heavy iron armor.
[ DAMAGE: 0 ]
"He's too thick!" Vikram shouted. He fired an arrow of light. It hit the Warlord's helmet and shattered harmlessly. "My arrows aren't penetrating! I can't hurt him!"
The timer in my vision ticked down. There were no more small Rakshasas to kill. No more fuel to reset the clock.
[ 30... 29... ]
"Kabir!" I yelled. "We need a solution! Now!"
Kabir turned his head, his blind eyes tracking the sound of the Warlord's armor plates grinding together.
"The metal is impure," Kabir said, his voice cutting through the chaos. "It has structural flaws. I can see the grid."
He raised his hands. Violet geometric lines—a wireframe grid—erupted from his palms.
[ SKILL: BLUEPRINT DETECTED ]
"Vikram! Dhruv!" Kabir shouted. "I am reinforcing your structural integrity! Strike now!"
He cast his hands forward. The violet light coated Vikram's bow and my spear.
[ BUFF: AETHER LATTICE APPLIED ]
[ WEAPONS GAIN 'AETHER' ELEMENT ]
[ ARMOR PENETRATION INCREASED ]
"Aim for the armpit!" Kabir commanded. "Under the plate! The lattice is weakest there!"
Vikram's arm snapped up, guided by the System. THWIP.
This time, the arrow didn't bounce. It appeared as a wireframe construct, phasing right through the iron shoulder plate and solidifying inside the flesh.
The Warlord screamed.
[ 10... 9... ]
"He's hurt!" I yelled. "Finish him!"
But we were too slow.
[ 3... 2... 1... ]
[ TIME EXPIRED ]
In an instant, the storm vanished. Twenty soldiers dissolved into the wind. The ash settled on the ground, inert and useless.
The clearing was empty.
Except for us. And the Warlord.
He stood there, panting, bleeding from his shoulder, but very much alive. His HP bar hovered at 40%. Enraged.
He looked at me. He grinned, exposing tusks the size of daggers.
"Run!" I yelled.
The Warlord charged. He moved terrifyingly fast for something so big.
Javed stepped in front of me. "I got him!"
He raised the Vajra Shield.
CRACK.
The mace hit the shield. Javed flew backward, his feet digging furrows into the mud. The bronze shield cracked. Javed screamed as the impact shattered his arm, but he didn't fall.
"Riya!" Javed gasped.
Riya was already there. She slammed her staff into the ground. Green light rushed into Javed.
It wasn't a gentle glow. Moss erupted over Javed's arm, binding the broken bones together like a splint. Small insects—spiritual ants—scuttled over his skin, stitching the wounds shut.
"Hold him!" Riya gritted out, sweat pouring down her face. "I'm keeping you together!"
Javed roared, pushing back against the Warlord. "I! Am! The! Wall!"
The Warlord raised his mace for a killing blow.
"Now, Dhruv!" Kabir shouted. "The armpit! The lattice is fading!"
I moved.
I didn't have an army. I didn't have numbers. I just had one shot.
I sprinted, using Javed's shield as a step. I launched myself into the air. The violet light on my spear hummed.
Thrust.
I drove the Black Iron Spear into the gap in the armor—right under the raised arm. The Aether tip phased through the metal and pierced the heart.
The Warlord froze. He looked at me, confused.
[ CRITICAL HIT ]
[ ENEMY DEFEATED ]
The giant fell, shaking the earth.
I landed in the mud, gasping for air. The violet light faded from my spear.
"We..." I wheezed. "We killed it."
A chime rang out, sweet and victorious.
[ BOSS DEFEATED ]
[ PARTY REGISTRATION COMPLETE ]
[ PARTY NAME: THE SURVIVORS ]
I looked at the UI. I saw five health bars in the top left corner. Mine. Kabir's. Vikram's. Javed's. And Riya's.
They were all green. We were alive.
"We're a team," Riya breathed, smiling, wiping mud from her face. "We actually made a party."
We relaxed. The tension left our bodies.
Then, the wind shifted.
There was no sound. No footstep. Just a blur of motion in the corner of my eye.
A shadow detached itself from the tree line. It wasn't a brute like the Warlord. It was sleek, fast, and silent.
[ ENEMY: RAKSHASA STALKER (Level 4) ]
It didn't attack me. It didn't attack the tank.
It went for the healer.
"Riya!" I screamed.
Before Riya could even raise her staff, the Stalker was on her. It didn't strike to kill. It struck a pressure point on her neck.
Riya's eyes rolled back. She crumpled.
The Stalker grabbed her, slinging her over its shoulder like a sack of grain. It looked at us once—its eyes glowing with intelligent malice—and then leaped.
It vanished into the tree line.
"No!" Vikram fired an arrow, but it hit only empty air.
"Riya!" Javed tried to run, but his leg gave out.
I scrambled to the edge of the clearing, staring into the darkness.
I looked at the Party UI.
Riya's health bar was still full. But next to it, a new number appeared. A distance marker.
[ RIYA SHARMA: 50m... 100m... 150m... ]
The number was increasing rapidly. She was being taken away. Deeper into the Khandava.
"They didn't want to kill us," Kabir whispered, horror dawning on his face. "They wanted to separate us."
I gripped my spear until my hand bled.
"We get her back," I said, my voice cold as the ash settling around us. "We hunt them down. And we burn everything."
[ QUEST STARTED: RETRIEVE THE HEALER ]
[ TIME LIMIT: UNKNOWN ]