The Freebound did not announce war.
They never did.
Crossreach Bastion woke to smoke, screaming, and the sound of steel tearing through reinforced gates.
Kieran felt it before the alarms sounded—a tightening in his chest, a pressure behind his eyes as the System spun probabilities faster than he could track.
[EMERGENCY EVENT DETECTED]
FACTION CONFLICT: FREEBOUND INCURSION]
PRIORITY DIRECTIVE: SUPPRESS]
Lyra was already armored when he reached the outer ring. Vanguard squads poured into the streets in disciplined lines, shields interlocking, casters forming support lattices behind them.
Across the square, chaos reigned.
The Freebound came in packs—augmented fighters, rogue casters, dungeon-mutated brutes barely recognizable as human. They wore no uniform beyond scars and stolen sigils.
And at their center—
A man stood atop a broken transport wagon, arms spread wide, laughing as arrows shattered against an invisible barrier.
"King," someone whispered near Kieran.
The Freebound King.
Raze.
He was taller than Kieran expected. Lean, almost casual in posture, with pale hair tied back and eyes that glowed faintly gold—not System-sanctioned, but something else.
Power taken, not granted.
"Vanguard!" Raze shouted, voice carrying unnaturally far. "Still guarding your cages? Still pretending the leash is armor?"
Lyra raised her blade. "Form up!"
Kieran stepped forward—
And the System hesitated.
That alone sent a chill down his spine.
[THREAT ASSESSMENT… INCONCLUSIVE]
Raze's gaze snapped to him.
Interest sparked instantly.
"Well," Raze said, smiling. "There you are."
The first clash was brutal.
Freebound shock units slammed into Vanguard lines with suicidal ferocity, detonating stored mana on impact. Shields cracked. Bones broke. Blood sprayed the stones.
Kieran moved with them—through them—his body remembering what his mind was being trained to forget.
Approved targets fell easily.
Too easily.
The Voidblade drank deep, power flooding his limbs—and then stopping abruptly, capped by invisible constraints.
[POWER FLOW REGULATED]
"Cowards," Raze muttered, watching from afar. "They won't even let you stretch."
Kieran turned toward him instinctively.
Pain flared.
Not enough to stop him.
Raze raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
They locked eyes across the battlefield.
For a heartbeat, the world narrowed.
Then Raze vanished.
Impact came from the side.
Kieran barely raised his blade in time as Raze's fist crashed into it, shockwaves rippling outward. The ground cratered beneath their feet.
Kieran skidded back, boots tearing furrows in stone.
Raze grinned. "Good. You're real."
"Fall back!" Lyra shouted.
Raze ignored her completely.
"You feel it, don't you?" Raze said conversationally, circling. "The way it tugs when you think too hard. The way it hurts when you care."
Kieran lunged.
The System screamed.
[VIOLATION WARNING]
Pain tore through him, but he forced the strike through—barely grazing Raze's shoulder.
Blood splashed the ground.
Raze froze.
Then he laughed.
A deep, delighted sound.
"There it is," he said softly. "You bled for that hit."
He struck back.
Kieran blocked—but too slow.
Raze's knee slammed into his ribs, snapping something. The System dampened the damage, but the pain still tore a gasp from Kieran's throat.
Raze leaned in close. "Tell me. Does it still hurt when you fall for the wrong reasons?"
Kieran's vision blurred.
Lyra charged.
Raze backhanded her away without even looking.
That—
That did something.
Kieran roared and swung with everything he had.
The System intervened too late.
The Voidblade cut deep, cleaving through Raze's barrier and carving a line across his chest.
Raze staggered back, eyes wide—not with pain.
With recognition.
"…They're afraid of you," he breathed.
The System slammed down hard.
[FORCEFUL COMPLIANCE ENGAGED]
Kieran collapsed to one knee, convulsing.
Raze raised a hand—and stopped his own fighters with a gesture.
"Enough," he said. "This isn't our fight today."
The Freebound began withdrawing immediately, melting back into the alleys and tunnels they'd prepared.
Lyra struggled to her feet, blade shaking. "You think you can just leave?"
Raze looked at her for the first time.
Really looked.
"Captain," he said politely. "You're still choosing a side. I respect that."
Then his gaze returned to Kieran.
"You," he said quietly, "are already at war."
Raze turned—and vanished into smoke.
The aftermath was worse than the battle.
The System evaluated casualties with cold efficiency. Injured were triaged. The dead were marked for resource reclamation.
Kieran sat against a wall, ribs knitting themselves back together under forced regeneration.
Lyra approached slowly.
"You disobeyed orders," she said.
"I know."
"You pushed past a restriction."
"I know."
She exhaled sharply. "Do you know what that means?"
Kieran looked up at her. "That I can't do it again."
She shook her head.
"That you can."
The realization settled between them like a blade.
Raze hadn't attacked to win.
He'd attacked to confirm something.
That night, Kieran stood alone on the bastion wall.
The city below burned quietly as repair drones erased the damage.
Nihra stirred.
He is not wrong, the Voidblade murmured.
"About what?" Kieran asked.
You are already at war.
"With the System?"
With everyone who benefits from it.
Footsteps approached.
Not Lyra this time.
A woman leaned against the parapet beside him—short hair, sharp eyes, a Freebound sigil burned into her neck like a brand.
She smiled sideways. "Relax. I'm not here to kill you."
Kieran didn't turn. "You're brave."
"Stupid," she corrected. "Name's Veyra. Raze's lieutenant."
Kieran's grip tightened on the railing.
She shrugged. "He sent me to ask a question."
He finally faced her.
"And if I don't like it?"
She smiled wider. "Then you'll try to kill me. And the System will scream."
"What's the question?"
Veyra's eyes gleamed.
"When they finally tell you to choose—" she said softly, "who do you think they'll make you sacrifice first?"
The System chimed faintly, as if amused.
[LONG-TERM CONFLICT PATH UPDATED]
Veyra stepped back into the shadows.
"Think about it, Voidbearer," she said. "Rivals don't save you."
"Only choices do."
She was gone.
Kieran stared out over the city, chest tight—not with pain.
With clarity.
For the first time since his reincarnation, he understood something completely.
The System wasn't trying to break him.
It was trying to decide what kind of monster he'd become.