Chapter 5 – Westgate Inferno
The outer district was a furnace.
Flames raced up the merchant walls, casting wild shadows across the cobblestones. Civilians screamed and scattered, caught in a storm of chaos. Smoke smothered the sky, turning the sun into a hazy eye of judgment.
Westgate was under siege.
Kael vaulted over a burning crate, landing beside the splintered remains of a guard tower. The stationed soldiers had been overwhelmed—some unconscious, others... he didn't look closely. The clash of steel and Qi shook the air around him.
Lys landed beside him, daggers reversed in her grip, silver eyes already scanning. She moved with the calm of someone born in battle.
He knelt behind an overturned market cart. "What are we dealing with?"
"Two teams," she said, low and fast. "Rogues, definitely. Mercenaries, from the way they're coordinated. Minimum Ambience Tier Two—maybe higher."
Kael's gut twisted.
Two tiers above him.
"You've got that... edge," she added, voice tight with unspoken meaning. "You can shift this. I'll clear space."
He didn't answer aloud. But the Gracebound System shimmered in the corner of his mind.
> Task Complete: Enter Combat at Westgate – Bonus 5 GP
Current Grace Points: 17 GP
Kael exhaled through gritted teeth. The system menu opened in his mind, smooth as always despite the chaos.
> Available Items
Crimson Fang Spell Scroll (15 GP) – Launches a piercing fire-dragon bolt.
Enhanced Weapon Buff – 10 min (12 GP) – Increases edge sharpness, Qi conductivity.
Agility Surge Pill (8 GP) – Temporarily boosts speed and reflexes.
He made his choice fast—Crimson Fang and the Agility Pill. The system deducted 15 GP, leaving him with 2.
Kael crushed the pill between his teeth.
Lightning coursed through his veins.
The world sharpened—sounds crisper, light harsher, movement slower. He lunged from cover just as the first wave emerged from the smoke.
Six of them. Battle-worn leathers. Unfamiliar insignia etched in bloodred thread. Each moved with trained precision—like predators. Not looters.
Killers.
One stood ahead of the others, a woman with a glaive forged of blackened steel. Shadow coiled around her weapon like mist. Her eyes burned violet. When she spoke, her voice carried over the chaos.
"Find the vault key. Burn the rest."
Kael didn't need her name.
She wasn't here for coin. She was here for destruction.
He turned, just in time to see a collapsed fruit cart trembling. A child crawled from beneath the wreckage, crying. A woman—his mother—screamed, pinned under debris.
Kael moved without thinking.
Three steps. Flip the debris. Grab the boy. Roll.
A bolt of dark lightning slammed into the ground behind them, tearing stone and flame skyward.
"Mommy!" the boy screamed.
Kael shoved him toward her. "Run! Now!"
A shadow fell over him.
Steel sang.
Kael turned, barely blocking a twin-saber strike. The force of it rattled his bones and sent sparks flying.
The man smirked—tall, bald, with sharp blue tattoos curling up his arms. He moved with wind-wrought grace, and his Qi thrummed with tension.
"Fast for an Aura Tier," the man said, amused. "Almost made me try."
Kael's blade shimmered red as he activated the Enhanced Weapon Buff. The air shimmered with heat.
Their blades clashed again—this time, the mercenary's saber cracked, a jagged line splitting the edge.
"What the—?" His eyes narrowed. "What kind of freak are you?"
Kael didn't answer. He raised his hand, whispering the trigger word in his mind.
> Crimson Fang—Ignite.
A runic circle flared behind him.
A dragon-shaped bolt of fire erupted forward, snarling as it raced across the air. It slammed into the mercenary, launching him backward through a burning stall in a storm of ash.
Another shadow.
A blur of violet.
The glaive-wielding woman descended like a falling star.
Kael tried to move—too late.
Her glaive hit the ground beside him like a meteor. The explosion lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing into a brick wall. Pain exploded through his ribs.
A second blade hissed through the air, aimed for his throat.
Steel intercepted it.
Lys.
"You alive?" she called, holding the attacker at bay.
"Barely," Kael coughed.
"She's not fast after her swings. We can use that."
"Think she heard you?"
The shadow-wreathed glaive spun toward them again. Vesha—Kael finally caught her name in the shouted curses—closed the gap with terrifying speed.
A second rogue dropped in behind her, launching curved shadow blades from above.
> Hidden Task Unlocked: Face a Foe Two Tiers Above Without Retreating
+25 Grace Points
> Current GP: 27
Kael grinned through bloodied teeth. "You've got timing, System."
He bought two new items mid-sprint—Spirit Barrier Rune (15 GP) and Pulseblade Shockwave (12 GP).
"Lys—on my mark!"
She vaulted over Vesha's strike, flipped, and kicked her square in the back. Vesha snarled as her stance broke.
"Now!"
Kael slammed his blade into the ground.
The Pulseblade Shockwave detonated beneath their feet—an invisible burst of sound that shattered windows and cracked the cobblestones. Vesha staggered.
The ambusher's blades rained down.
Kael activated the Spirit Barrier.
A golden rune pulsed to life around him, catching every shadow-dagger midair. They shattered in a cascade of violet sparks.
He launched forward.
Vesha turned too late.
Kael crashed into her, shoulder-first. She gasped, momentum carrying her into a crumbling wall.
He stood over her, panting, blade raised.
The System didn't respond.
But his blood surged.
Deep in his chest, something stirred. Ancient. Restless. Watching.
Flames licked up his sword—not from the Crimson Fang scroll. Not from Grace Points. From within.
His own Qi.
No system prompts.
No guidance.
Just power.
Kael raised the burning blade high.
And cut down.
The fire erupted, carving a wide arc of crimson and gold across the street. Vesha screamed as she was thrown through stone and flame alike, her glaive clattering lifelessly beside her.
Then silence.
Ash fell.
The mercenaries still standing backed away, uncertain.
Lys dropped beside him. "...What the hell was that?"
Kael looked at his sword.
The flames were gone.
Only steam and smoke.
"I don't know," he said quietly.
But he lied.
Something inside him had answered the call.
And it didn't belong to the Gracebound System.
It belonged to something older.
Something hungry.