The beast's corpse burned.
Black fire clung to molten flesh, eating deeper than natural flame ever could. Golden blood sizzled where it pooled across the broken plaza, filling the air with a metallic stench.
I knelt there, breathing hard, Inkblade humming like a live wire in my hand. Its hunger pulsed through me—steady, rhythmic, insistent.
"…more… more…"
My grip tightened until my knuckles whitened.
"No." My voice came out hoarse. "You've had enough."
The blade pulsed again, shadows coiling around my wrist like veins that weren't mine. My heartbeat faltered. For a moment, I couldn't tell where I ended and the Inkblade began.
✦
The survivors didn't move at first.
The boy clutched his crutch so tightly it looked ready to snap. The girl stood frozen with her crowbar half-raised, as if the battle wasn't over. The old man's lips moved in wordless prayer.
The mother—she didn't pray. She didn't even tremble. Her child pressed his face into her dress, but she stared directly at me. Not the dragon. Me.
Calculating. Measuring.
As if deciding whether I was more dangerous than the beast I'd just killed.
[ Survivor Trust Value: Fragmented. ]
Of course it was.
✦
Dev finally broke the silence. He dragged his burnt arm close to his chest and glared at me.
"Reed," he rasped, "what the hell was that?"
I forced myself upright. The Inkblade throbbed, eager to speak for me.
"…devouring… survival… strength…"
I shoved the whispers down. "It was survival," I said flatly.
"Survival?" Dev's voice cracked into a laugh. "That wasn't survival. That was—you ate fire, Reed. You drank dragonfire like it was water."
The girl swallowed. "And then the heart."
The old man whispered: "Anchor."
The word made something twist inside me.
[ Title Recognition: Anchor of Shadows – Active. ]
The system's confirmation made the air colder.
I hated that word.
✦
The Rift pulsed above.
Its edges writhed like torn flesh, widening instead of closing. My head tilted back despite myself, throat dry.
Something moved in the dark beyond.
"…first claw…" the Inkblade echoed, not my thought, not my voice. "…more to come… chain to chain…"
The survivors noticed too.
The boy pointed, voice breaking. "It's… it's getting bigger."
The girl grabbed his shoulder, dragging his hand down. "Don't look at it."
Dev followed my gaze, jaw tightening. "Tell me you've seen this before, Reed. Tell me this isn't new."
I didn't answer.
Because I had seen it before.
Not in this life. Not in this timeline. But in the fragments the Inkblade shoved into my skull when it thought I wasn't looking.
And every time, it only got worse.
✦
The dragon's corpse twitched.
Dev raised his sword instantly. The survivors shrank back, screams sharp and raw.
But it wasn't the beast moving.
It was the shadows.
My shadows.
They were still feeding, drinking what remained of molten blood. Black tendrils pierced scale and sinew, crawling deeper into the husk like roots.
The Inkblade purred.
"…we are not done… feast not complete…"
My hand shook. I yanked the blade free of the corpse with a wet sound. The shadows snapped back into me, sluggish and reluctant, like a starving animal dragged from its meal.
The body collapsed fully, golden ichor spilling across stone.
Silence fell again—heavier than before.
✦
The mother finally spoke.
Her voice was calm, clear. Too calm. "If the sword eats like that, what will it do to you?"
The question cut deeper than Dev's suspicion, deeper than the old man's prayers.
Because I didn't have an answer.
The Inkblade hissed. "…feed until none remain… until Anchor breaks free…"
I ignored it. "Doesn't matter. We're alive."
The mother didn't look away. "For how long?"
The boy flinched. The girl bit her lip, eyes darting between us. Even Dev went quiet.
The system pulsed.
[ Survivor Doubt Increased. ][ Trust Value Decreased. ]
Of course it would.
✦
The Rift groaned.
Flame-red cracks spidered through the sky above, bleeding into the night.
The old man fell to his knees, hands clasped tight. "It isn't over. Gods save us—it isn't over!"
Dev grabbed him by the collar, dragging him upright. "Pray later. Move now. Unless you want to die standing here."
The girl tugged on Dev's sleeve. "But where do we even go?"
Good question.
The plaza was rubble. The streets beyond were worse—collapsed buildings, broken statues, rivers of molten blood cutting through stone. No shelter, no barricade.
The Rift's expansion meant nowhere was safe.
[ Warning: Scenario Shift Detected. ][ Survival Condition Updating. ]
The system's voice froze my gut.
✦
Text burned across my vision.
[ Dimensional Rift: Beast Realm – Stage Two. ][ New Entity Approaching. Classification: Fang of Calamity. ][ Timer Reset: 4 hours 52 minutes until dawn. ]
The numbers hit like a hammer.
Reset.
We hadn't gained time. We'd lost it.
Four hours more. Against something worse.
The Inkblade chuckled inside me, low and hungry. "…second fang… taste sweeter than the first…"
I bit back a curse.
"Reed." Dev's voice was tight. "What did it say?"
I didn't want to answer. But the survivors were already watching, waiting, terrified. Hiding it wouldn't help now.
"A second one," I said. "Stronger."
The boy whimpered. The old man started sobbing. The girl gripped her crowbar so tightly her hands shook.
The mother only narrowed her eyes. "Then we hold again."
Everyone turned to her.
She met my gaze evenly. "That's the plan, isn't it? Survive until dawn."
The system pulsed.
[ Survivor Cohesion Stabilized. ]
✦
Dev exhaled, shaky but real. "You heard her. We keep together. We move. We don't split. That's the only chance we've got."
The girl nodded. The boy leaned on his crutch and swallowed hard. Even the old man stopped sobbing long enough to cling to Dev's sleeve.
For now, they were still with us.
But the Rift howled above, and my arm still throbbed with shadows that weren't mine.
The Inkblade whispered one last time, almost gentle.
"…chains will break… dawn will not save you…"
I stared at the widening tear in the sky.
And I knew it was right.
The Rift split wider.
Air bent wrong, heat warping the plaza stones. A sound like cracking bone rolled across the night sky.
Then the light changed.
Not flame. Not lightning. Something else.
A shadow fell across us, but it wasn't from clouds. It came from the Rift itself, stretching down like a clawed hand.
The survivors huddled closer without thinking. Dev raised his sword, burned arm trembling. The girl's crowbar clinked against her teeth as she tried not to cry.
The boy whispered, "It's coming. It's coming again…"
The system chimed, merciless.
[ Calamity Beast: Fang of Calamity – Descent Imminent. ][ Prepare for Phase Two. ]
✦
The Inkblade vibrated in my grip, shadows leaking like smoke.
"…yes… stronger prey… sweeter heart…"
I hissed through clenched teeth. "Shut up."
The survivors flinched, thinking I'd snapped at them. Dev's eyes narrowed.
The mother noticed. She said nothing—but I caught her watching, calculating again.
Always calculating.
[ Survivor Suspicion Increased. ]
Damn it.
✦
The Rift convulsed—and then it fell.
Not the Rift itself, but what came through it.
A colossal jaw slammed into the plaza, shattering stone and sending bodies sprawling. The dragon before was massive—but this was worse. Its head alone was the size of a building, teeth like pillars of obsidian, dripping molten saliva that burned through rubble in seconds.
Wings unfurled behind it, shredding the air. Scales black as night gleamed with crimson veins that pulsed like beating hearts.
Its roar wasn't sound. It was pressure. A wave that crushed lungs and rattled bones.
The boy collapsed, clutching his ears. The girl screamed. The old man's voice broke mid-prayer.
Dev grabbed the nearest survivor, dragging them upright. "MOVE!"
The Fang of Calamity lowered its head. One eye rolled toward us, molten red and alive with hate.
✦
I raised the Inkblade.
Shadows surged in response, wrapping my arm and chest, biting into skin like hooks. The hunger nearly swallowed me whole.
"…devour… devour… DEVOUR…"
I staggered under the weight. This wasn't like the lesser dragon. This thing wasn't prey. It was an executioner.
[ Warning: Anchor Synchronization 47%. ][ Risk of Overwrite: High. ]
The system's cold voice only pushed the Inkblade's whispers louder.
"…let me in… let me fight… only I can…"
I clenched my jaw. "No. Not yet."
✦
The Fang moved.
Its claw smashed down where the survivors had stood seconds before. Rubble exploded, fragments slicing through the night. Dev shoved the boy forward, catching a shard across his back with a grunt. The girl yanked the old man clear.
[ Survivor Cohesion Critical. ]
I slashed the Inkblade through the air. Shadows burst outward, forming walls around the survivors. The claw slammed into them, shattering the black barrier but blunting the force enough to keep them alive.
Pain rippled up my arm, stealing my breath.
The Inkblade laughed. "…more… more… feed me all…"
✦
The beast reared back, chest swelling. I knew that glow. That heat.
It wasn't flame. It was worse.
Crimson fire gathered between its teeth, burning with the heat of suns. The plaza warped, stone running like wax.
If it hit, there wouldn't even be ashes left.
The girl shouted, "We'll die here!"
The mother pulled her son tight, voice firm. "No. We won't."
She wasn't talking to him. She was talking to me.
The system pulsed.
[ Survivor Faith Transferred. ]
Something burned through my chest—not fire, not shadow. Something heavier.
The Inkblade hissed. "…she offers faith to Anchor… faith feeds chains…"
✦
The Fang released its breath.
A torrent of crimson annihilation tore through the plaza.
I raised the Inkblade with both hands. Shadows erupted skyward, twisting into a black maw.
The two forces collided.
Heat against void. Fire against hunger.
The ground cracked beneath me. My knees buckled. The blade screamed in my grip. Shadows writhed like serpents, devouring flame, choking it, swallowing it whole.
But the Fang's fire wasn't endless—it was infinite.
The Inkblade howled. "…MORE! Break your chains, Anchor, or we DIE!"
[ Warning: Synchronization 63%. ]
My vision blurred. For a heartbeat, I was back in the void.
✦
Chains hung everywhere. Infinite. Endless. Some broken, others whole. And in the center—the eye. Vast, red, eternal.
It blinked.
"…anchor…"
Shadows surged from the eye, dragging me down.
"…devour everything… break me free…"
The void pulled harder, chains snapping one by one.
I tore free with a scream.
Back in the plaza, the shadows roared. The Inkblade erupted.
The Fang's fire vanished into nothing.
✦
The survivors stared, wide-eyed, ash falling like snow around us.
The old man whispered, "Anchor… savior… cursed…"
The boy sobbed. The girl clung to him, trembling. Dev just stared at me, jaw clenched, sword shaking in his grip.
The mother held her child tight, but her eyes never left me.
Not with fear. Not with awe. Something colder.
Assessment.
[ Survivor Trust Split. ]
✦
The Fang roared again, furious. Its massive tail swept across the plaza, demolishing what little remained of the statues and walls.
The survivors scattered, barely avoiding the crushing weight. Dev dragged the old man clear again, his burnt arm nearly giving out.
The system chimed.
[ Time Remaining: 4 hours 39 minutes. ]
Barely any passed. And already, I was breaking.
The Inkblade whispered, softer this time.
"…four hours… or freedom now…"
My veins burned black under my skin. My grip trembled.
I knew the truth.
Without the Inkblade fully unleashed, we wouldn't survive another hour.
But if I did unleash it…
There might not be a me left by dawn.