The forest lay quiet, yet Andrew's breath was ragged. His clothes still bore the cuts of his humiliation, his pride bled more than his flesh. Andy's face—his triumph, his bond with Nia—burned in Andrew's skull until it seared him awake at night. He wandered, drawn by bitterness more than direction, until the trees thinned and the ground broke into jagged stone.
The air grew heavier. Not the weight of weather, but of memory.
Whispers stirred, low and patient, as though waiting centuries just for him.
"You bleed not because you are weak," a voice coiled through the darkness, smooth as oil on water. "You bleed because the world itself denies you your rightful crown."
Andrew staggered, his hand tightening on the sword that felt more useless now than ever. "Who's there? Show yourself!"
The shadows answered—not with form, but with eyes, thousands of them, blinking open in the cracks of the rock.
From the center, a figure stepped forward. Cloaked in fragments of smoke and flame, faceless yet towering, a presence both human and dragon, yet neither. The ground hissed where its feet touched.
"I am what remains," it said. "I am the wound that balance forgot. I am the fire that eats itself—yet never dies. You may call me… Corruptor."
Andrew's breath hitched, but his pride flared hotter. "If you're here to mock me, know that I will kill you the same way I'll kill Andy."
The figure laughed, the sound splitting into echoes like a choir of despair. "No, Andrew. I do not mock. I offer."
The shadows bent, forming chains of black flame around him, and with them came the system's echo—not like Andy's chime of light, but a twisted reflection:
[Corrupted Protocol Detected]
[Designation: Vessel Candidate]
[Compatibility: 92%]
[Offer: Power in Exchange for Oath]
Andrew froze. His system… it had never sounded like this. But in his heart, envy roared louder than caution.
"What oath?" he demanded.
The figure leaned closer. "Only this—forsake the bond you could never have. Deny the chain that rejected you. Be mine, and I will carve you a throne from the ashes of your enemies. Even… from the ashes of him."
Andrew's lips twisted into a smile, broken and sharp. He clenched his fist, nails biting into his palm. "If it means destroying Andy… then I'll give you everything."
The shadows surged, chains of black flame branding themselves into his skin, sinking into bone, rewriting blood. Andrew screamed—but it was not pain alone. It was rebirth.
[Corrupted System Awakening…]
[Designation: Black Chain Protocol]
[Skill Unlocked: Abyssal Flame Surge]
[Hidden Feature: Devour Bond]
The figure's laughter shook the stones, cracked the trees, turned the stars pale.
"Rise, Andrew. You are no longer a shadow cast by another man's fire. You are my vessel. And the world… will remember your hunger."
As the last word fell, the forest went silent again. Only Andrew remained—eyes burning with black fire, smile edged with madness.
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