The Undersprawl was never quiet for long.
Even when the rain stilled and the forges above went silent for a breath, the district breathed—alive with whispers, scuttling feet, and the distant wails of the dying.
Rex crouched in the shadows of a half-collapsed drainage tunnel, chest heaving as he tried to control his breath. Every muscle thrummed with wild, restless energy—like a storm barely chained beneath his skin.
The black, crown-shaped mark over his heart pulsed faintly through his torn shirt, beating in rhythm with his racing pulse.
He had run until his legs screamed, until the mana in his veins burned dry, yet it never felt far enough.
The Undersprawl had a way of shrinking the world.
No matter how far you fled, the filth always found you again.
"Shit…" he muttered, voice hoarse. Breath misted against the tunnel wall before fading into the dark.
He flexed his fingers. Strength coiled within them—unnatural, intoxicating. Just hours ago, he'd been a half-dead gutter rat: ribs shattered, leg torn open, bleeding into the street. Now, his body felt forged from steel, thrumming with power that both thrilled and terrified him.
The Devourer System had changed everything.
But Rex knew the rule of Caldrath—
Power always came with a price.
And debts here were paid in blood.
---
Footsteps echoed through the tunnel.
Heavy. Close. Getting closer.
Rex froze, melting deeper into the shadows as cones of yellow light swept across the tunnel mouth.
Three figures entered, their gutter-lamps hissing in the damp. They wore scavenged armor—stitched leather, cracked plating, and rusted scraps. Each bore a rust-red bandana tied somewhere visible.
The Spinebreakers.
Rex's stomach sank. Of all the gangs in the Undersprawl, they were the worst.
Their leader, Kragg, was said to tear men apart with his bare hands and decorate his lair with the bones.
And Rex had stolen from them.
"There!" one of them hissed, pointing at a smear of blackened blood on the stone.
Rex's blood.
"Kragg's gonna love this," another sneered. "Said bring the rat back alive if we can. Wants him talkin' about that relic job."
Rex's jaw tightened.
The relic job. The cursed haul that had cost three of his crew their lives trying to rob a noble vault.
He almost laughed—if only they'd known what that relic really was.
No way he was going back.
Shadowstep, he whispered in his mind.
The world blinked.
One heartbeat he was crouched in the dark—
The next, he stood behind the last Spinebreaker, five meters away.
---
> [Shadowstep – Activated]
→ Upgrade Progress: 18 / 100
---
The man stiffened, sensing movement. He turned—too late.
Rex's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhh."
Then the hunger surged.
A cold, violent current shot through Rex's arm as something inside him fed. It wasn't like ripping flesh—it was like tearing out the soul itself.
The man convulsed, dissolving into black ash that streamed into Rex's chest.
---
> [System Assimilation – Target Acquired]
System Type: Scrapmeld – Tier E
Assimilating…
---
The lamplight hit empty air. The man was gone.
"Bore?" one of the others whispered, voice cracking. "Where'd you go?"
"Behind us!" another barked, spinning his lamp.
Too slow.
Rex appeared in the flicker of light, his fist driving forward like a piston.
Bone shattered. Blood sprayed. The thug hit the ground, twitching.
"Shit!" the last one screamed. "He's got a system—!"
The tunnel erupted into chaos. Lamps swung wildly, blades clashed, shouts turned to screams.
Rex moved like a phantom—each Shadowstep leaving a flickering afterimage that disoriented his prey.
Every punch broke something. Every kick crushed bone.
The stench of ozone and blood filled the air.
And with every life he took, warmth surged through his veins—sweet, intoxicating, addictive.
The hunger howled for more.
---
When silence returned, it came heavy as stone.
Bodies sprawled across the tunnel floor, their blood pooling in sluggish rivers. Only one remained alive—a scrawny, rat-faced boy barely older than Rex himself. He slipped in the gore, trembling.
"P-please," he whimpered. "Kragg made me come! I didn't wanna—I swear—"
Rex seized him by the throat. The boy kicked and clawed, gasping.
Inside, the Devourer whispered:
Assimilate. Consume. Grow.
His fingers trembled. One squeeze, and he could feed again.
Power beckoned like a drug.
Then he saw his reflection in the boy's eyes—wide, terrified, human.
Rex snarled, hurling him aside. "Get out."
The boy scrambled away into the dark, leaving only his sobs and bloody footprints.
Rex stood there, chest heaving, heart hammering.
He'd made a mistake. The Spinebreakers would come back—with numbers this time.
He needed to disappear.
---
By the time he reached the rotting husk he called home—wedged between two leaning towers—his pulse had steadied, but the hunger hadn't faded. It gnawed at him, whispering promises of more.
If this was the power of one Tier E system…
What would happen when he devoured stronger ones?
His stomach growled—not for food, but for strength.
The black crown on his chest flared faintly, responding to the thought.
---
High above, in the spires of Caldrath, a single watcher knelt before the High Inquisitor.
"My lord," he whispered, trembling. "A blacklisted signature was confirmed in the Undersprawl."
The High Inquisitor opened one golden eye—cold and bright as molten metal.
"Then it begins," he murmured. "Send the Hounds."
---
Back below, Rex didn't notice the faint shimmer in the night sky—or the silent shapes descending toward the slums.
He was too busy staring at the message flashing across his interface.
---
> [Assimilation Complete – Scrapmeld (Tier E) Acquired]
Ability: Fuse junk materials into temporary weapons or armor.
Mana Cost: 13 per item
Cooldown: 2 minutes
---
A grin crept across his face.
Finally, a weapon of his own.
Then something else caught his eye—a faint violet glow beneath his tattered shorts.
The relic.
He pulled it free—a small cube etched with runes that pulsed like a heartbeat. The moment his fingers touched it, his system flared again.
---
> Relic Acquired: Forgotten Throne Fragment [1/6] (Tier SS)
Item Note: A shard of a lost relic from an ancient sovereign, long erased from history.
Additional Stats:
• Strength: +3
• Endurance: +2
• Agility: +5
• Intelligence: +2
• Mana: +20
• Luck: +1
---
Rex's breath hitched.
One of six fragments… and he held it in his hand.
He almost laughed. They'd risked their lives for fifty bronze coins—pocket change—without realizing what they'd stolen.
"No way in hell I'm handing this over," he muttered.
With the Devourer System and this relic, he wasn't just going to survive.
He was going to rise.
Even if it meant declaring war on the Undersprawl itself.