The air in the cramped room felt heavy, swollen with things left unsaid. A deep‑blue system warning hovered before Lucian's eyes, its icy pulse beating like a second heart. This wasn't merely a mission. It was a contract carved into his fate, an oath sealed in blood and shadow — a road with no hope of return.
Gem's voice dripped through his mind, sweet as poisoned honey. "Accept it, fool. A gift from the Abyss — a shortcut to power your father never even dared to dream of."
I don't need your permission to choose my own hell, Lucian growled inwardly, knuckles whitening as his fists tightened.
The Elder's eyes glittered with anticipation, an old hawk sighting priceless prey. Beside him, Elara stared at Lucian in horror, as if watching him teeter on the brink of a bottomless void. Her lips parted, ready to beg, to stop him.
But Lucian had already decided.
With a shaking breath he focused his will. The word yes formed in his mind, and the blue notification flared bright before vanishing, leaving a glacial brand on his soul.
[Destiny Path Accepted: The Avenger's Road][Your fate has been permanently altered. Welcome to the darkness.]
A crooked smile crept across the Elder's face — the grin of a chess master who has just sacrificed a pawn to snare the enemy king. "Wise choice, Lucian Aurelius. Your survival instincts are keener than I imagined."
"This isn't about surviving," Lucian rasped, each word dragged from a perpetual winter. "It's about ensuring those who betrayed me never survive."
"Elder, you can't do this to him!" Elara blurted, her voice trembling with rage and despair. "He's been through hell! He needs time to heal, not to become your war‑hound!"
The Elder's gaze swung toward her, cold and sharp as broken ice. "Foolish girl. Time is a luxury fugitives cannot afford. Every second he breathes under my roof has a price."
He turned back to Lucian, dismissing Elara like furniture. "Valerius's outer post in Sector Nine: a viper's nest, hub for their contraband. Level it tonight."
A brittle leather scroll landed on Lucian's bed. "Map, patrols, guard count. Strike now. Blind Valerius. Make them panic."
"Tonight?" Elara gasped. "His wounds haven't even closed! You're sending him to die!"
"If he dies, my investment was poor," the Elder said flatly. "But I suspect this boy is harder to kill than he looks. Prove me right, Lucian."
Cane tapping, he left, sealing the room in suffocating silence.
Lucian unrolled the scroll; pain vanished, replaced by a coal of hatred.Elara edged closer. "Please, Lucian. This is suicide. We can run — leave the Dome."
He laughed, a hollow rasp. "Run? To the desert and the Darkness's beasts? There's nowhere to run, Elara."
He rose, every muscle screaming. His stare pinned her, so intense she stepped back. "Only one road remains: a road paved with my enemies' corpses. I'll reclaim everything they stole."
"But at what cost?" she whispered, eyes brimming. "If you become a monster to slay monsters, what's left of you?"
Lucian scoffed. "They killed the best part of me. What's left is an empty shell filled with vengeance. Don't stand in my way — even you."
Pain flashed across her face; the proud heir with a spark of kindness was gone, replaced by something cold and frightening.
Night in the Lower District
Darkness swaddled the streets, broken only by flickering emergency lights. Stench of refuse, oil, and despair choked the air. For most, night meant hiding. For Lucian, it was an ally.
The Elder's ragged cloak swallowed his silhouette as he drifted through alleys like a phantom. The Abyss throbbed beneath his skin, a cold fire that made him feel both alive and dead.
"Twenty outside, ten inside," Gem purred. "Low‑tier evolvers. A tasty appetizer."
Lucian reached the roof of a decaying warehouse overlooking Valerius's post — a concrete blockhouse ringed with wire and watchtowers, bathed in harsh floodlights.
Their security was arrogant, riddled with holes.
"Pick them off one by one," Gem urged. "Use fear."
"No," Lucian rasped. "I want them to die confused. Valerius needs a clear message."
He inhaled, letting Abyssal energy surge. Darkness thickened, tangible. Shadows writhed, sharpened. He leapt — the night itself caught him, silencing his landing between two searchlights.
Two guards lounged by the gate, chatting. They never saw him.
Shadow tendrils lashed from Lucian's fingertips, crushing their throats. They crumpled like discarded puppets.
[Level‑1 Evolver slain. Soul Essence absorbed.][Level‑1 Evolver slain. Soul Essence absorbed.]
A warm rush bloomed in his chest. Power. Intoxicating.
He flowed through the compound; patrols vanished into nothingness. Panic bloomed in the control room.
"Report!" the security chief barked. Static replied.
The steel door exploded inward. A figure of darkness filled the frame, silver eyes gleaming.
"Who are you, you—" The chief's laser rifle rose.
Lucian answered with motion. The floor cracked as he launched forward; a sword of hardened shadow blossomed in his hand.
SLAASH!
The man's gun arm sailed away in a crimson arc. He shrieked, stumbling.
"You're no human," he sobbed, backing into the wall.
"I'm the debt come due," Lucian whispered, blade at his throat. "Retribution for all you and Valerius have done."
Black veins spidered beneath Lucian's skin, the Abyss leaving its mark. Gem's laughter echoed. "Power has a price, boy."
Worth it. He swung.
Aftermath
Lucian emerged from the blazing post, twenty‑nine corpses behind him. Blood dripped from his fingers — none of it his. Exhaustion warred with elation; the dark power sang in his veins.
At the shattered gate he stopped.Elara stood beneath a flickering lamp, face ashen. She had seen everything — the power, the change.
Silence crushed the space between them.
"I warned you not to follow me," he said, voice flat.
She stepped closer, hands trembling, not with fear but with sorrow deep enough to drown worlds.
"Lucian…" Her voice cracked. "What has that power done to you?"
The question hung in the cold night, accusation and plea in one breath. And for the first time since his betrayal, Lucian Aurelius had no answer. He had won his first battle, yet felt as though he had just lost the last shard of his soul.