The order echoed like thunder in the void.
"Release the Chain."
Marruk the Boneharvester sat atop his throne of fused skulls, watching a dozen screens—each one displaying Kiel: fighting, bleeding, surviving.
Not even the Black Maw could consume him.
The council murmured in alarm.
"The Chain hasn't been deployed since the Collapse."
"He's just a rogue hybrid. Why waste it?"
Marruk raised a finger.
The room fell silent.
"He is not a rogue. He is an ascendant," Marruk said, voice like bone grinding on steel. "And ascendants must be broken."
---
Far away, in the storm-ravaged ruins of Old Genos, a prison opened.
Not a door. Not a gate.
A shackle.
Buried in the earth, forgotten by time, an ancient lifeform stirred.
It wasn't man.
It wasn't beast.
It was The Chain—a bioweapon from the Apex Wars. Designed to pursue one target. Evolve with it. Mirror it. Consume it.
The Chain's single eye blinked awake.
It had a name now.
Kiel.
---
Kiel stood atop a fractured bridge, watching the digital remains of the Black Maw dissolve into the wind. Seris was calibrating sensors when the System pinged:
> [Warning: Apex Predator Countermeasure En Route – Codename: The Chain]
Estimated Time to Arrival: 06:59:00
Origin: Unknown. Evolutionary Tier: Undefined. Behavior Pattern: Adaptive Parasitism.
Advisory: Run.
"Run?" Kiel muttered. "Never heard that one from you."
> Correction: Fight. Then run.
Seris looked up. "What's happening?"
Kiel showed her the System prompt.
She paled.
"There's no data on the Chain. Only myths. It's an organism that doesn't kill you outright—it learns you. Evolves with you. And then... replaces you."
"So it's me," Kiel said. "But worse."
"Exactly."
He smirked. "Finally. A worthy fight."
---
They had hours to prepare.
Kiel meditated, digging deep into his mutation tree. The Maw Fragment pulsed in his inventory.
> Use Void-Class Mutation Path? Warning: This will permanently alter biological baseline. Side effects unknown.
Yes / No
He hesitated.
Then clicked Yes.
---
> Mutation Unlocked: Abyssal Rebirth
– Blood becomes semi-sentient.
– Immune to void-based effects.
– Gains ability: [Devour Thought] – Consume neural residue to gain skills.
Warning: You are now incompatible with 98% of humanity.
His blood turned black.
Not metaphorically—literally. It writhed under his skin like ink alive. His eyes glowed faint violet. His mind split and reformed like a puzzle.
He was becoming something... else.
Something worse.
---
Seris ran simulations. None ended well.
"The Chain adapts faster than anything on record. Every move you make—it copies. Faster. Smarter. Stronger."
Kiel cracked his neck. "Then I just have to be unpredictable."
"That's not a strategy."
"It is when you're me."
---
At hour six, the sky changed.
Not dark. Not red. Just wrong.
A pressure dropped over the zone like an invisible ocean. Concrete cracked. Birds fell. The air twitched.
And then came the sound.
Metal dragging on bone.
A silhouette rose from the horizon. Twelve feet tall. Covered in tendrils. Face smooth, reflective like a black mirror—Kiel's face staring back.
> [The Chain has arrived.]
---
No introductions. No taunts.
The Chain lunged.
Kiel met it mid-air. Fist against claw. Blood against shadow.
Each strike echoed like thunder. Each wound closed too fast. Every move Kiel made—the Chain copied.
But Kiel had something it didn't.
Pain.
He bled on purpose, forming blades from his living blood. He screamed, drawing on Abyssal energy. He moved with rage, fear, joy—chaos.
Things the Chain couldn't replicate.
Yet.
But it was learning.
Fast.
Seris screamed from the sidelines. "Kiel! If you're going to win—do it now!"
He roared.
And unleashed something not even he understood.
His blood exploded into wings.
And he flew.