The Hunter writhed beneath Kieran's will, its limbs trembling as if gravity had doubled. It snarled through jagged teeth, but the submission in its eyes betrayed it. The other Hunters stepped back—silent, calculating.
Kieran's heart pounded. Not from fear. From power.
[Override Timer: 00:06...]
His fingers twitched. He could end it—order the Hunter to rip out its own heart. The thought came unbidden, dark and seductive.
"Do it," Elias said, watching him.
Kieran blinked. The timer ticked.
[00:04...]
"Is that who I am now?" he murmured. "A tyrant?"
Elias didn't answer. He didn't need to.
[00:02...]
Kieran clenched his fist. "No. Not like you."
He canceled the command.
The Hunter collapsed, gasping for breath, but alive. The others snarled and lunged.
Kieran moved faster than before—his instincts sharpened by Dominion. He dodged, struck, turned one attacker's blade back into its own throat. The rest hesitated again. Not from fear. From respect.
Elias stepped forward now, blades humming to life.
"We test your control," he said, voice low. "Now we test your limits."
The battle began.
Blades clashed. The tunnel echoed with war cries and the grind of metal against bone. Kieran fought like a storm, precise and relentless. The system highlighted each weakness—joints, rhythms, missteps.
But with every kill, he felt the hunger grow.
[System Alert: Emotional Saturation Approaching Critical Levels.]
[Warning: Dominion Path Accelerating Neural Integration.]
He didn't know what it meant. But he didn't stop.
As the final Hunter fell, bleeding and broken, Kieran stood over the wreckage.
"I can control it," he said.
Elias's eyes were shadowed. "For now."