Zone Ten was bleeding.
The corrupted fortress shook with every blow. Liam stood at the heart of it, sword raised, facing down the monstrous form of Overlord Vorn. The air was thick with heat and rot, the Blight Heart pulsing behind Vorn like a dying sun, casting blood-red light across the stone.
Vorn roared, chains snapping around his arms, eyes burning with fury.
"I unmake bonds!" he bellowed.
Liam didn't flinch.
"You'll try."
Behind him, eight wives moved in perfect rhythm. Frost swirled from Ice Queen's fingertips as she slowed the corruption spreading across the floor. Vexa slammed into Vorn's side, absorbing the brunt of his attack with brute strength. Kaelithra and Kaelith danced through shadows and flame, their blades flashing like twin storms.
Rena fought at Liam's side, sword moving in deadly arcs. Her breath came hard, but her focus never wavered.
"His core is feeding him power," she shouted. "We need to sever it!"
Sarya fired bolt after bolt from the high ground, each shot aimed at Vorn's exposed joints.
Kaelyn struck fast from the shadows, daggers cutting deep.
Elyra stood near the Blight Heart, her eyes glowing silver.
"I can weaken the corruption," she called, voice steady, seductive even now. "But you'll have to take the core yourself."
The system pulsed hard.
> [System Alert]
Blight Heart Active – Draining Bond Sync (-15%)
Buffs Reduced: All Effects -20%
Status: Vorn – 72% Vitality
Recommended Action: Core Severance – Boost All Bonds
Reward: Territory Control, Loyalty Boost, New Buff Unlocked
Liam gritted his teeth.
"Cover me."
Rena nodded. "Go."
Liam sprinted toward the Blight Heart, dodging a wild swing from Vorn's chain. The corrupted energy lashed out, burning the ground where he'd stood a heartbeat before.
Kaelithra intercepted Vorn's next strike, her blade clashing with his in a flare of sparks.
"Keep him off Liam!" she shouted.
"I wasn't going to let him touch him anyway," Elyra purred, stepping beside Liam. Her hand brushed his arm, magic flowing from her fingertips into his sword. "Take it. Take all of me."
Liam didn't hesitate. He surged forward, sword glowing with system power and Elyra's charm.
The Blight Heart pulsed, tendrils lashing out.
Liam swung.
The blade cut through, severing the heart's tether to the fortress.
A scream echoed... not from Vorn, but from the core itself.
The corruption recoiled.
Vorn staggered.
The system erupted.
> [System Alert]
Blight Heart Severed – Corruption Fading
Buffs Restored (+25%)
Bond Sync Surge: 85%
New Buff Gained: Heartbreaker – Bonus Damage vs Boss Class Enemies
Vexa roared, slamming into Vorn and pinning him against the far wall.
Kaelith leapt onto his back, driving her blade into his shoulder.
Kaelithra followed, slicing through his chain-wrapped arm.
Rena charged with Liam at her side, their blades striking together... perfect, synchronized, unyielding.
Vorn collapsed.
Liam stood over him, sword raised.
"This is my territory now."
One clean strike ended it.
Vorn fell silent, his body dissolving into system light.
> [System Alert]
Zone Ten Conquered – Territory Secured
Bond Loyalty: 90% – Stable
Buff Unlocked: Heartbreaker – Permanent
Next Signal: Zone Eleven Detected – Status: Unknown
Liam breathed hard, eyes locked on the fading glow of the Blight Heart.
Kaelithra stepped beside him, blood on her cheek, eyes wild.
"You didn't break," she said. "Good."
Elyra moved to his other side, brushing dust from his shoulder.
"You've never been stronger."
Rena wiped her blade.
"And we're not done."
Ice Queen's voice echoed through the chamber.
"A storm is coming."
Liam raised his sword.
"Then we meet it head-on."
They stood in the wreckage… eight wives, one Overlord, and a war that wasn't over.
The Blight Heart was dead, but the fortress still felt alive.
Liam stood in the center of the chamber, sword lowered, watching corrupted light fade from the cracked walls. His eight wives fanned out around him, each recovering in their own way... bloodied, breathless, but unbroken.
Kaelithra leaned against a pillar, grinning through the blood on her lip.
"You fought like you wanted to own me," she said.
Liam turned his gaze toward her, calm and unreadable.
"I do own you."
Her breath caught.
Elyra stepped in close behind him, hand trailing across his shoulder. Her voice was a purr.
"You're getting bolder, Overlord. I like that."
Rena didn't flinch. She stepped between them, sword still in hand, eyes sharp.
"He doesn't need you wrapped around him. He needs discipline."
Elyra's smile never faded.
"Jealous again? How cute."
Before Rena could answer, Ice Queen's voice cut the air.
"Enough."
Frost curled at her feet, snuffing out the last remnants of corruption.
"This isn't the time for games."
Kaelith flicked blood from her blade.
"Let them fight. It's entertaining."
Kaelithra pushed off the wall and approached Liam slowly.
"You conquered me. So what's next?"
She stepped close, too close. Her breath brushed his neck.
"Claim me… properly."
The air shifted.
Vexa cracked her knuckles.
"I'll drag her back if you don't."
Liam's eyes didn't waver.
"You're already mine."
He reached for Kaelithra, grabbing her wrist, pulling her close.
"Prove you know it."
Kaelithra's smirk faded to something sharper.
Their eyes locked.
The tension snapped.
The system pulsed hard.
> [System Alert]
Bond Reinforcement Triggered – Kaelithra
Loyalty Boost – Maximum
Buff Upgrade: Twin Reflex II (+Evasion, +Counterstrike)
Bond Count: 8 / 99
Loyalty Sync: 91% – Stable
Signal Detected – Zone Eleven Approaching
Kaelithra stepped back, flushed, breath ragged.
Rena looked away, jaw tight.
Sarya muttered, "At this rate, we'll need chains for all of them."
Kaelyn just smiled faintly, daggers spinning in her hands.
Ice Queen approached Liam, her gaze colder than before.
"Zone Eleven isn't like the others. It moves."
Liam frowned. "Moves?"
The system answered.
> [System Alert]
Zone Eleven: Nomad Fortress
Status: Mobile Stronghold
Leader: Overlord Solas – Class Unknown
Warning: Unknown Bond Structure – Rival Detected
Recommended Action: Recon, Disruption, Potential Bond Conflict
Elyra stepped beside Liam, voice low.
"Solas. I know that name."
He looked at her.
"Who is he?"
Her smile faded.
"The man who tried to bond me first."
Silence.
Rena's eyes burned.
"And you didn't mention this?"
Elyra tilted her head.
"It didn't matter. Until now."
Kaelithra stepped forward.
"Let's kill him."
Ice Queen's voice was colder than frost.
"Or outbond him."
Liam stared at the horizon, at the distant smoke drifting from Zone Eleven's path.
"No more waiting."
He turned to his wives.
"You're mine. All of you. He wants to challenge that?"
His hand tightened on his sword.
"Then I'll break him."
> [System Update]
Zone Eleven Approaching Fast
Engagement Window: 6 Hours
Bond Loyalty Challenge Incoming
Prepare: Solas Will Test Everything You've Built
The storm was coming.
And Liam had only just begun.