The Executioner's massive blade came down like a falling mountain.
Aiden didn't dodge.
He charged into it.
CLAAAANG!
His fists—raw, bleeding—slammed against the flat of the blade and deflected it off-course.
The impact sent a shockwave tearing through the cavern.
Elara's unconscious body slid across the stone from the force.
The Executioner's masked helm tilted slightly.
"Impossible."
Aiden didn't respond.
He lunged.
His fist hammered into the Executioner's torso.
A normal punch would've done nothing.
But LIMIT BREACH wasn't normal.
BOOOOM!
The Executioner was thrown back, boots grinding furrows into the stone floor as he skidded twenty meters before stopping.
Aiden staggered, clutching his ribcage.
Pain ripped through him like knives.
His vision flickered.
[WARNING: Internal micro-tears detected]
[Heart rate unstable]
[Limit Breach time remaining: 42 seconds]
He didn't care.
He just breathed—and charged again.
The Executioner steadied himself.
"Your body cannot sustain this. You will die before you kill me."
Aiden spat blood.
"Better than dying on my knees."
The Executioner moved.
This time, Aiden could see it—
the subtle shift of weight,
the twist of the torso,
the micro-second before the blade came.
He sidestepped and delivered a brutal elbow strike to the Executioner's arm.
CRACK.
A dent appeared in the black armor.
The Executioner froze.
"You… damaged a Ranker's armor?"
Aiden didn't let him finish.
He smashed a knee into the Executioner's abdomen, followed by a hammer punch that slammed into the helmet.
BOOM.
The Executioner stumbled.
Aiden's vision blurred again.
His heart thrashed painfully.
[Limit Breach time remaining: 29 seconds]
He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.
The Executioner straightened.
"I underestimated you."
His blade rose again—this time wreathed in black energy.
Aiden's eyes widened.
"Oh hell—"
WHOOSH!
The slash ripped across the cavern, cutting stone pillars clean in half.
Aiden barely dove aside.
The shockwave caught him and sent him flying.
He hit the wall so hard the wind was knocked from his lungs.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His vision doubled.
[WARNING: Cardiac strain approaching rupture threshold]
Aiden pushed himself up with shaking arms.
The Executioner appeared in front of him instantly, blade raised for a decapitation.
"This ends—"
Aiden's hand shot up and caught the blade.
Caught it.
Bare fingers on black steel.
His skin tore open immediately—blood streaming down his arm.
His knees buckled.
His bones screamed.
The System blared:
[WARNING WARNING WARNING]
[Major muscle tear]
[Right hand fractures: 6]
[14 seconds remaining]
The Executioner pressed down.
Aiden held.
Veins bulged under his skin like ropes.
Teeth gritted.
Breath shaking.
The Executioner's voice deepened:
"Your resistance is meaningless."
"Yeah," Aiden choked out, "well—"
He wrenched the blade sideways, slamming his shoulder into the Executioner's torso.
BOOOOM.
The Executioner flew backward, crashing into a pillar.
Cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.
Aiden collapsed to one knee.
His heart pounded like a drum about to burst.
[7 seconds remaining]
He forced himself up, swaying.
The Executioner marched toward him, slower but furious.
"You damaged my armor twice. That is enough."
He lifted the blade—
—and froze.
The cavern trembled.
Deep.
Low.
Unnatural.
Aiden blinked sweat and blood out of his eyes.
"What… now…?"
The System flickered violently:
[ALERT: Unscheduled Event Detected]
[Apex Entity Approaching]
A shadow appeared behind the Executioner.
Something massive.
Something ancient.
Something that made both Aiden's and the Executioner's systems scream.
The Executioner turned sharply.
"That's impossible—this floor isn't authorized for—"
A clawed hand—three times the size of a human's—closed around the Executioner's torso.
Aiden's heart dropped.
The Executioner—
the man who nearly killed him—
the Ranker—
the unstoppable death machine—
was lifted into the air like a toy.
His blade fell from his grasp.
A crackling, monstrous voice echoed through the cavern:
"Anomaly detected.
Unauthorized Executioner identified."
Aiden stared in horror.
The creature stepped forward into the dim light—
and the System whispered in a terrified monotone:
[Entity Identified: PRIMAL WARDEN — Floor Guardian]
It crushed the Executioner like snapping twigs.
Blood splattered across the cavern.
Aiden stumbled back.
His Limit Breach timer hit zero.
His vision blurred.
His heart skipped a beat.
"No… not now…"
He collapsed onto one knee.
The PRIMAL WARDEN slowly turned its glowing, ancient eyes toward him.
Aiden whispered weakly:
"…Seriously…?"
The monster took one thunderous step toward him.