The underground vault was colder than expected.
Elias stood in silence as the walls of ancient obsidian pulsed faintly with a red glow. The room had no visible source of light, and yet everything shimmered with an ominous hue—as if the chamber itself was alive, breathing with every flicker.
In front of him, a circle was etched into the stone floor, glowing with blood-colored runes. At its center floated a black shard—slender, sharp, and humming with malicious energy.
"This is the Heart of Ruin," spoke the voice behind him.
Elias turned. Standing there was Master Vorran, the mysterious overseer of the Obsidian Crucible, the faction Elias had temporarily allied with to gain access to this sealed chamber. Vorran's face was covered by a crimson mask, and his robes were embroidered with forbidden glyphs—symbols Elias now understood partially thanks to the Protocol.
"Why does it feel like it's watching me?" Elias asked, narrowing his eyes toward the shard.
"It is," Vorran replied without emotion. "This shard contains a fragment of Ruin's consciousness—a Primordial of decay, entropy, and madness. Tread carefully."
Elias stepped toward the circle.
Every cell in his body screamed at him to stop. But the Ascension Protocol pulsed gently at the back of his mind, indicating that this was a pivotal Milestone Event—an unrepeatable opportunity to gain power beyond the current bounds of his Class.
Milestone Quest Triggered:Ruinbound ReforgingAccepting this pact will fundamentally alter your evolution path. Risk of corruption: High.Proceed?[YES] [NO]
He didn't hesitate.
[YES]
The moment the choice was made, the circle ignited with a burst of runes that twisted midair. The shard shot forward—not piercing Elias—but merging with him, sinking directly into his chest like a dagger made of shadow.
Elias gasped, stumbling backward as black tendrils surged through his veins, burning away old resistances and reshaping his core.
System Notification:
⚠ Warning: Foreign Entity Detected. Initiating Containment Protocols.⚠ Corruption Resistance: 72%... Holding.☑ New Path Unlocked: Pact of the Ruinbound
His HUD flickered. New stats. New abilities. But one phrase stood out.
Subclass Gained: Ruinbound Ascendant
Pain subsided. Slowly.
And in its place came a clarity—like seeing a hundred timelines splintering from a single action. He could feel decay now, like a tangible force. He could influence entropy, break bonds, unravel energy flows.
It was terrifying.
It was exhilarating.
Elias turned to Vorran. "Why help me? This kind of power… you could've taken it."
Vorran didn't answer immediately. Then, with a sigh, he lowered his mask.
Elias's eyes widened.
He wasn't human.
His face was etched with runes carved directly into bone. His eyes glowed blue, but no pupils remained. A living corpse—no, something beyond undeath.
"I was once like you," Vorran said. "Until I took too much of the shard. It reshaped me, hollowed me out. I can no longer ascend—but I can guide others who still have the spark."
Elias could sense the regret behind those words, buried beneath layers of cold pragmatism.
"Will it consume me too?"
"That depends on your will, Elias." Vorran replaced the mask. "But now that you bear its mark, you've attracted attention."
The walls of the vault trembled.
Boom.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
"What was that?" Elias asked, stepping back.
Vorran's eyes narrowed. "They found us faster than expected."
Suddenly, Elias's comm crystal glowed.
Zyra's voice crackled through. "Elias! We're under attack—Crimson Vultures and Herald-class beasts. They're not after us—they're looking for you!"
Elias gritted his teeth. "I'm on my way."
Vorran placed a hand on his shoulder. "Use your new power. But do not trust it fully. It wants to break you."
With that cryptic warning, the vault door dissolved, revealing chaos beyond.
The Battle Above
Outside the Crucible complex, smoke and blood painted the horizon.
The Crimson Vultures—a notorious mercenary legion of augmented killers—swarmed like hornets. Their leader, a woman in blazing red power armor, floated above the battlefield on an anti-gravity platform, barking orders.
Behind them, emerging from black portals, came the Heralds—monstrosities of bone and ash, shaped like mutated angels with broken halos and wings made of writhing limbs.
Zyra fought fiercely at the front lines, her teleportation daggers flickering through enemies, but even she was slowing down.
"Where's Elias?!" she shouted.
Then, the ground exploded.
Elias emerged from below, his right arm now veined with shadows, the air around him warped by entropy.
"I'm here," he said, voice echoing unnaturally.
The battlefield paused—just for a moment—as all eyes turned to him. The Heralds tilted their heads, as if recognizing him.
Then they howled.
Dozens surged forward.
But Elias raised his hand. The air shimmered. Time rippled.
He snapped his fingers.
A wave of decay exploded outward, stripping armor, unraveling spells mid-cast, and disintegrating lesser Heralds instantly.
It wasn't just magic—it was conceptual erasure.
"Holy hell," Zyra muttered, blinking. "What did you do down there?"
Elias didn't answer. He turned toward the Herald commander—a ten-foot tall creature of pure malice wielding a sword made of screaming souls.
It lunged.
Elias didn't dodge.
Instead, he stepped inside the swing, let the blade strike his chest—and the moment it did, the shard pulsed.
A black burst engulfed the area.
When the smoke cleared, the Herald's blade had shattered, and half its body was decaying mid-air.
Elias reached forward, touched its chest, and whispered, "Return to Ruin."
The Herald imploded—folding into itself like collapsing dimensions.
The battlefield fell silent.
The Crimson Vultures began retreating immediately, their commander screaming for extraction.
But Elias wasn't done.
He pointed at their fleeing skiff.
Entropy bent.
The ship's core flickered—and then it fell from the sky in a burst of unstable plasma.
The Obsidian Crucible warriors around him stared in awe. Even Vorran, watching from the upper balcony, clenched his fists.
"This... changes everything."
Aftermath and New Paths
Later that night, Elias sat by the ruins of the courtyard, staring at his reflection in a shattered mirror.
His eyes now glowed faintly red.
His aura was... different. He could feel it. People stepped cautiously around him. Zyra avoided meeting his gaze too long. Even Calen—the fearless artificer—was quieter than usual.
Was this the cost?
He didn't regret it.
The Protocol had updated.
Ruinbound Ascendant – Level 1 UnlockedPassive: Entropic Field – Nearby enemies suffer accelerated degradation of magical constructs and physical armor.Active: Ruin Spike – Summon a jagged entropy lance to pierce enemy resistances and reduce regeneration.Unique Trait: Timeline Divergence – Gain brief foresight into enemy actions once per battle.
But alongside the upgrades was a quiet, ominous notice.
Corruption Threshold: 18%Crossing 50% may trigger uncontrollable mutations.
He had to be careful. Power always came at a price.
Elias clenched his fist. He had walked through fire, made a pact with ruin, and survived. But now a darker path lay ahead—full of promise, peril, and unknown tests of will.
If he could master the Ruin within, perhaps he could wield it for more than destruction.
Perhaps it could be the key to breaking the world's cycle.