Chapter 4 – The Price of Power
The temple ruins trembled as the last fragments of the Void Devourer dissolved into corrupted mist. A heavy silence followed, broken only by the flickering glow of Kael's interface and the low hum of the system rebooting after the boss's defeat.
Selis watched Kael from across the stone platform, her staff lowered but her body tense.
"You hijacked its core," she said slowly. "That's not a normal system function."
Kael nodded, trying to ignore the pounding in his skull. His vision still glitched at the edges—flickers of code, static flashes of something that shouldn't be there.
"Yeah," he said hoarsely. "It's not normal. But it worked."
She hesitated. "And if it didn't?"
Kael didn't answer. He wasn't sure he could.
---
They made camp again, this time in a sheltered chamber deep inside the temple, where the air was slightly clearer and the corruption didn't crawl along the walls. Kael sat cross-legged near a broken pillar, studying the Void Lash skill fragment he'd absorbed.
> [Skill: Void Lash – Tier 2 (Unstable)]
A tendril of raw corrupted energy lashes at a target, disrupting their interface for 3 seconds. Effect scales with Corruption Sync %.
His corruption was climbing faster now—already at 12%.
"Selis," Kael asked, eyes fixed on the skill description. "How much do you know about Corruption Sync?"
She looked up from her bandaging. "It's not part of the standard system. I've only seen it mentioned in old Warlock files—back when they experimented on users to fuse corrupted data into skills. Most died. The rest lost their minds."
Kael frowned. "So I'm walking a tightrope."
"More like running across one with a blade at your back," she said. "But you're not showing the usual signs. You're thinking, adapting... not mutating."
Kael sighed. "Yet."
---
Later that night, Kael had a dream.
He stood in a void—a space without light, gravity, or sound. Yet he could feel a presence. Watching. Waiting.
Then it spoke, not in words but code:
> [You are an anomaly. You should not exist.]
[Yet here you are.]
Kael turned, but there was nothing to see. Only that voice in his mind—digital, ancient, and cold.
> [The system cannot contain what it cannot define.]
[Continue down this path, and the world will call you enemy.]
Kael clenched his fists.
"I didn't choose this," he growled. "You rejected me."
> [We did not reject you.]
[We feared what you might become.]
And just like that, the dream shattered.
---
Kael jerked awake, sweat running down his face. The static in his vision was worse now—lines of red code running through his interface like cracks in glass.
Selis was already up, staring at the doorway with her staff in hand.
"We're not alone," she whispered.
Kael stood, unsheathing his blade. His corrupted senses twitched—something invisible was watching them.
Then—
> [New Presence Detected: ???]
[System Override: Identification Blocked]
A ripple ran through the air.
A figure stepped into view, cloaked in black and red robes. His face was masked, but Kael could feel his gaze—like it cut straight through his soul.
"You're not supposed to be here," the stranger said, voice calm, curious. "But here you are. Glitched. Evolving. Dangerous."
Kael raised his hand. "Who are you?"
"I am one of the Arbiters," the man replied. "We clean what the System cannot. And you... are a stain."
Without warning, the Arbiter moved—so fast Kael barely saw it.
Selis shouted and launched a Lightbind Bolt, but the spell shattered mid-air as the Arbiter flicked his hand.
Kael instinctively activated Void Flare, but the corrupted fire barely grazed the man's cloak.
> [Warning: Threat Level - Unknown. Retreat Advised.]
The System itself was telling him to run.
The Arbiter extended one finger—and a beam of red code surged toward Kael.
He dove to the side, the energy scorching the ground where he'd stood. His interface glitched hard, screaming warnings and errors.
Selis reached out, casting a barrier just in time to absorb the next attack.
"We can't win this," she hissed. "He's here to test you, not kill you. We survive—that's the win."
Kael's mind raced. The Arbiter hadn't gone all-out. He was holding back. Watching.
Judging.
> [New Objective: Survive 60 seconds against Arbiter Protocol Agent.]
Kael gritted his teeth. "Fine. Let's dance."
---
The next sixty seconds were a blur of chaos.
Kael used Void Lash to disrupt the Arbiter's casting for a split second, buying time. Selis used everything she had—light barriers, healing bursts, and blinding flares to slow the man down.
The Arbiter's attacks were precise, non-lethal. Like a predator toying with prey.
But they endured.
When the timer hit zero, the Arbiter stepped back, cloak fluttering.
"Interesting," he said. "You're more stable than I expected. But that won't last."
Kael stood tall, blade smoking, breathing hard. "Tell me why you're really here."
"To see what you are," the Arbiter said. "And to deliver a message."
He pointed a gloved hand at Kael's chest.
> [The Glitch King is awakening.]
[When he rises, all anomalies will be hunted. No exceptions.]
Then he vanished, consumed by static.
---
Silence.
Kael sat down hard against the wall, eyes wide.
"The Glitch King?" he muttered. "That's not just some corrupted monster... is it?"
Selis shook her head slowly. "It's a myth. A corrupted player who fought the system during the Dungeon Collapse Wars. Said to have fused entirely with a dungeon core and lived."
Kael looked down at his hands. At the glitch pulsing under his skin.
Maybe it wasn't a myth anymore.
---
End of Chapter 4
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