Dev stood in the suffocating, sulfur-laced air of Tartarus-7, the two dissolving bodies of the Crimson Hand warriors leaking Soul-Essence at his feet. Before him, the third and final squad member, the (SPI)-based mage named K'thar, was on his knees, hands raised, staff discarded.
The cold, white Faction prompt hung in Dev's vision.
[FACTION MEMBER 'K'thar' (Crimson Hand)] IS ATTEMPTING A FORMAL SURRENDER.
DO YOU ACCEPT? [Y/N]
Dev's (SPI: 29) mind, a cold, analytical engine, processed the situation in a microsecond.
His mission was to 'cull' the squad. A 'Yes' might mean the Faction takes the prisoner, and Dev gets nothing. A 'No' just meant executing a defenseless target. Both options were... inefficient.
A dead mage was just a few hundred Essence. A living mage, a captured asset, was a priceless, walking database. Intel on the Crimson Hand, on their Faction protocols, on Tartarus-7, on their portal network...
His "Hunger for Strength" wasn't just a hunger for levels. It was a hunger for power. And knowledge was power.
He was Level 6. He had faced a Level 3 Punisher and a Level 5-ish squad. He was done being a pawn who just followed orders and killed on command. He would make his own assets.
He ignored the Faction's prompt. He was going to take the mage for himself.
Dev stepped forward, his black sword held low. K'thar flinched, his pale, three-fingered hands shaking. "I... I surrender! I accept Faction...!"
"Quiet," Dev commanded. His voice was flat and dead.
He reached out and placed his free hand on the top of K'thar's hooded head. The mage froze, trembling, his weaker (SPI) stat feeling the immense pressure of Dev's (SPI: 29) and (RES: 33). It was like a mouse being touched by a dragon.
"You're not a prisoner," Dev whispered, his voice a cold mist. "You're a resource."
He activated his "Hunger for Strength" (EX-Trait) offensively for the first time. He wasn't absorbing an attack; he was projecting his will. He pushed his mind, his (SPI), his very essence into K'thar's consciousness, not to destroy, but to dominate. He felt K'thar's weak mental defenses, a wall of brittle glass, and he shattered them.
K'thar let out a choked, psychic shriek of pure agony as Dev's mind invaded his, tearing through his memories, his fears. Dev was winning. He was forming a "mental shackle," a cage of his own (SPI) to lock the mage's consciousness inside...
He was about to succeed.
Then, he felt it.
A different energy, cold and foreign, buried deep within K'thar's soul. A Faction-based failsafe.
K'thar's eyes, hidden in the shadow of his hood, flashed a brilliant, violent crimson.
[CRIMSON HAND 'SELF-DESTRUCT' PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
[WARNING: HOSTILE 'ESSENCE OVERLOAD' DETECTED]
K'thar's body began to convulse, a wave of unstable energy building within him, turning him into a living bomb.
"No..." Dev hissed. Furious.
He had failed. He was too slow. His (SPI) wasn't strong enough to override a Faction-level protocol. He had lost the asset.
And now, the explosion might even destroy the Soul-Essence.
He had no choice. He made the split-second, cold, pragmatic decision.
SHING.
He didn't pull his hand back. He plunged his [Ebonguard Initiate's Sword] straight down, through his own hand on the mage's head, and through K'thar's skull, shattering his core and severing the Faction's connection before the self-destruct could complete.
The crimson light in K'thar's eyes died. The building energy overload fizzled and dissipated. The mage's body went limp, then began to dissolve.
Dev pulled his sword free, a deep, cold rage burning in his core. Not at K'thar. Not at the Crimson Hand. At himself.
He was still too weak. His failure had cost him a priceless source of intel.
A massive, final flood of Soul-Essence, the largest yet, washed over him, torn from the mage's dissolving form.
[+420 Lesser Soul-Essence]
[Lesser Soul-Essence: 180 + 420 = 600/600]
[SOUL-ESSENCE THRESHOLD MET. LEVEL UP!]
[HOST STATUS: UPDATED]
[Name: Dev]
[Level: 7]
[Faction: Ebonguard (Initiate)]
[Title: 'Indomitable']
[Sync Rate: 7.0%]
[STR: 11] [CON: 10]
[AGI: 11] [SPI: 29]
[RES: 33]
[Available Stat Points: 10]
[Nexus Shards: 14]
[Lesser Soul-Essence: 0/700]
He stood there, his (Sync Rate 7.0%) body thrumming with new power, but his mind was ice. 'Next time,' he thought, 'I won't be too weak. Next time, I will be the one who sets the protocols.'
He opened his status panel immediately. He knew exactly what he needed.
[ALLOCATE 10 STAT POINTS TO SPI?] [Y/N]
He confirmed without hesitation.
[SPI: 29 -> 39]
A new, immense wave of mental power flooded his consciousness. The world snapped into a new level of focus. His [Spatial Awareness] exploded outward, his senses sharpening to a degree that was almost painful. The thrum of the planet, the smell of the sulfur, the very texture of the air—he could feel it all.
He stood up, brushing ash from his armor, his new (SPI: 39) mind already calculating. He turned to loot the other bodies, to retrieve the greataxe and the four serrated daggers as spoils of war.
He took one step.
His new [Spatial Awareness] SCREAMED.
It wasn't a ping. It wasn't a vibration. It was a physical wall of suffocating, soul-crushing pressure. It was a signal so vast, so potent, that it made the three-man squad he just killed feel like insects. It made the Level 3 Weeping Shadow feel like a gnat.
He didn't need to look. His (SPI: 39) mind knew. It was coming from the magma river.
KRA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The river of magma, two hundred meters away, erupted.
A tidal wave of molten rock and superheated gas shot a thousand feet into the air. The ground shook so violently Dev was forced to a knee.
A creature, a colossus, erupted from the lava, its form so vast it blotted out the crimson lightning. It was fifty, maybe sixty feet tall, a bipedal golem of pure, jagged, black obsidian, held together by a burning, molten core that pulsed with power. Rivers of magma flowed like blood through the cracks in its "skin." Its head was a massive, fanged maw, and a cluster of a dozen red, burning eyes glowed with mindless, ancient hunger.
The HUD, which had been silent, flashed a single, terrifying, red skull icon.
[WARNING: LEVEL 10 WORLD BOSS 'TARTARIAN DEVOURER' DETECTED. STATS: UNKNOWN.]
[OBJECTIVE: FLEE. FLEE. FLEE.]
The Devourer, drawn by the concentrated Essence release of three Faction members dying in one spot, turned its cluster of eyes on Dev. It opened its magma-filled maw and roared.
The sound was a physical shockwave of sound and heat that tore across the basin, slamming into Dev.
It raised its two massive, obsidian fists and slammed them into the ground.
THOOM!
A crimson, magical circle, pulsing with raw power, expanded from it, washing over the entire battlefield.
This was its ability: "Bond".
The obsidian ground boiled. The rocks cracked open, and smaller monsters, bathed in lava, began to crawl out, summoned by their master.
Dev's (SPI: 39) awareness cataloged them instantly.
Dozens of Level 0 "Magma Skitterers"—spider-like bugs made of cooling, hissing lava.
A pack of Level 1 "Ash Ghouls"—fast, shrieking, humanoid forms made of superheated ash.
Several Level 2 "Obsidian Hounds"—wolf-like, armored, and fast.
And, leading the charge, two massive, 10-foot-tall "Lava Hulks"—smaller, Level 3 versions of the Boss itself.
This was the "fool's army." The Devourer just summoned them, a mindless wave of low-level chaff, and then roared again—a simple, guttural command: KILL.
The army, a massive, screeching, hissing wave of monsters, surged forward, a tide of black rock and red lava, all of it aimed at the lone, Level 7 Initiate.
The portal was gone. The Level 10 World Boss, its chest glowing like a furnace, was behind the army, blocking his only escape. He was trapped.
Dev stood up. His new (Sync Rate 7.0%) body was thrumming. His (SPI: 39) was a cold, analytical engine, his (AGI: 11) coiling his muscles, his (STR: 11) gripping his sword.
This wasn't a "flee" scenario. This was a target-rich environment.
He looked at the mindless, zerg-rushing horde. He looked at the "foolish" Boss commanding them.
"Come on," Dev whispered, a thin, cold smile touching his lips.
He raised his [Ebonguard Initiate's Sword] and charged into the wave.