Chapter 20 – Cracks in the System
The storm hadn't ended. It had just shifted.
The camp was ablaze. Smoke thickened the air, mingling with the scent of blood and scorched earth. Survivors screamed orders and warnings, darting between broken tents and collapsed barricades. The wounded cried out in pain, some crawling, others too silent. Flaming debris crackled across the field. The last semblance of order had shattered.
The sky pulsed red, like the world itself was bleeding.
And at the heart of it all, two titans collided.
Dante and Robert.
Each blow between them shattered the earth. Each clash sent shockwaves rippling outward. Robert fought with cold, precise devastation. His blade cleaved in perfect arcs, his footwork military and methodical. The ground around him warped and collapsed, his Weight Manipulation crushing reality beneath invisible force.
Dante met him with burning will. Each strike thundered with rage and memory. His muscles rippled with the legacy of fallen comrades. He moved like a firestorm barely contained, his greatsword whistling with the voices of the dead.
Their fight was more than steel—it was soul against soul.
---
Robert's thoughts surged in the chaos.
He had followed orders his whole life. From boot camp to black-ops command, his path had been unwavering. Obedience brought peace. Control brought survival. He had witnessed the cost of freedom—cities razed by indecision, men dead because someone hesitated.
To him, only enforced order could save humanity.
He had fought in jungles, deserts, cities swallowed by fire. He had seen what chaos birthed.
Dante—his little brother—was everything he hated.
Even as children, they had clashed. Robert, structured and disciplined. Dante, wild and untamed. That contrast had grown with war and hardened in apocalypse.
And yet... Dante was the one they followed. The one they cheered. The one they believed in.
Robert ground his teeth. The bitter taste of betrayal never left.
Selena understood. She was the blade he had forged—precise, unswerving, relentless. She didn't just follow him—she shared his vision. They debated tactics, yes. But on one truth they agreed:
Freedom was dangerous. Control was the cure.
"You always chose chaos, little brother," Robert thought, parrying a wide swing. "And now you lead them into ruin. I'll save this world, even if it means breaking you to do it."
---
The camp spiraled into a frenzied brawl.
Clara held the west flank with teeth bared and blade drawn. Wind, fire, and frost roared around her in controlled bursts, no longer wild but still ferocious. She cut down three purge soldiers with a single arcing strike before shielding a group of wounded with a wall of ice.
Marcos' warhammer split skulls at the southern barricade, while Livia summoned cyclones of slicing wind, cutting down advancing enemies to buy time.
But still, the purge advanced. Hardened. Unrelenting.
---
Across the battlefield, Andrew and Selena dueled like phantoms.
Shadow met steel. Fire clashed with deadly silence.
Blood smeared the ground beneath them. Andrew's sword flickered with black flame, slipping in and out of the shadows with ruthless timing.
Selena danced with the wind, her daggers glinting as she moved faster than most could track.
They struck together.
Andrew's blade slashed across her right shoulder.
Her dagger tore through his left arm at the elbow.
Time seemed to fracture.
His arm hit the ground. Blood sprayed in a thick arc.
Her dagger fell as she stumbled, right arm nearly detached.
No screams. Just labored breaths and disbelief.
Then—
A hum. A shiver in the air.
---
⟦ SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT – GLOBAL ⟧
!!! Milestone Reached !!!
The First Player Has Reached Level 30.
Earth has passed the Testing Phase.
The Main Event will begin shortly. Prepare.
All Level Caps Have Been Lifted. New System Functions Unlocked.
---
All motion stopped.
Even Robert and Dante paused, breathing heavy. Magic dimmed. Weapons lowered, if only for a second.
Then Robert surged forward, roaring, blade glowing with violent pressure.
Dante met him mid-charge.
Their blades clashed.
And Dante twisted, letting Robert's swing glance past him. He stepped in close, too close—and with one last surge of his Spirit Legacy, he drove his greatsword through Robert's side.
It pierced reinforced armor. It pierced pride.
Robert gasped, eyes wide.
"You always needed control," Dante whispered, voice trembling. "But people aren't tools. They don't need chains to live."
The ground stilled. The pressure faded.
Robert stumbled back, blood running freely. For the first time, he looked… human.
---
Far away.
On a snow-covered mountain under a silver-blue sky, a figure stood among the corpses of beasts.
A tall man, regal in bearing, golden hair tousled by the wind. His muscular frame glowed faintly with system energy. He stared at the window before him, smiling.
[ Congratulations. You are the First Player to Reach Level 30. ]
[ Name: Arthur Hughes
Class: Herald Of Gods
Level: 30
Title: First Pioneer ]
A voice called behind him.
"Tch. Barely beat me to it."
Arthur turned. Zayne Akanni, dark-skinned, white-haired, towering and calm, cleaned blood from his gauntlets. His tone was deadpan, but the glint in his eye betrayed amusement.
[ Name: Zayne Akanni
Class: Fist King
Level: 29 ]
"Your kill was still limping," Arthur teased.
"Still counted," Zayne muttered.
"Children," came a soft voice.
They turned to see Himari Sato, her long black hair fluttering in the wind, eyes calm, blade humming.
[ Name: Himari Sato
Class: Chronos Blade
Level: 29 ]
Arthur grinned.
"To the victors," he said, closing his status window.
"Let's see who's worthy of the real game."
Behind them, the mountain rumbled.
And below, Earth braced for what came next.