The outpost reeked of blood and burnt talisman ink.
The survivors worked quickly, fortifying the broken walls and stacking scavenged weapons in the courtyard. Han Fei's branded captives carried the dead to the ridge for burial, their voices quiet as they whispered names they had long feared forgotten.
Yun Xue moved among the wounded with methodical precision, binding injuries and issuing orders.
Shen Yuan stood atop the battlements, scanning the horizon. The Nexus was a faint glow in the distance, its spires stabbing the sky like jagged teeth. He tightened his grip on the spear, knowing the Bone Court's gaze was already turning in their direction.
They'll come soon, I said.
"I know."
[ BONE COURT RESPONSE FORCE ETA: < 24 HOURS ]
I adjusted the projection, highlighting a set of moving signatures closing in faster than expected.
[ NEW ALERT: ELITE FORCE DETECTED – LEAD COMMANDER: VEYLAN DUSK ]
The first sign of his arrival was silence.
The canyon winds stilled, the air thick with static qi. Then the outpost's captured suppression talismans flared and died in unison.
"They've cut the grid," Yun Xue said, sprinting up the battlements.
Shen Yuan's jaw tightened. "Positions. Now."
The survivors scrambled behind makeshift barricades, knuckles white around scavenged blades. Han Fei stood at the center, rallying the branded captives with quiet, steady words.
Then the air shimmered.
A single man stepped out of the void beyond the gate.
Veylan Dusk was unarmored save for a black mantle traced with luminous suppression runes, his expression calm as he surveyed the outpost. He held a talisman spear that hummed with restrained power, every line of his body measured and controlled.
"You've been busy," he said. His voice carried easily through the shattered walls.
Shen Yuan stepped forward, spear leveled. "Veylan Dusk."
"I'm flattered you know the name," Veylan said. His eyes flicked to the battlements, to Yun Xue, to Han Fei. "You've become quite the beacon, Shen Yuan. The Dregs are flocking to you like moths."
"We're not moths," Shen Yuan said. "We're tired of being hunted."
Veylan tilted his head. "And yet here you are, standing in the open."
He raised a hand.
The ground exploded.
Bone Court enforcers surged through the breach, their suppression arrays already weaving a choking net around the survivors. The air turned to iron, qi vanishing from Shen Yuan's meridians like water down a drain.
"Break the arrays!" Yun Xue shouted, darting forward with her daggers.
Han Fei followed, his scarred shoulder gleaming as he cut through the nearest talisman node. The branded captives rallied to him instinctively, forming a wedge that slammed into the Bone Court line.
They're targeting the captives first, I warned. If their formation collapses, the entire outpost falls.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth and dove into the fray, spear shattering a suppression node with a single thrust. Qi surged briefly back into his limbs, just enough to parry a halberd aimed at his heart.
Veylan moved through the chaos like a shadow.
He appeared at Shen Yuan's flank, talisman spear lashing out with surgical precision. Shen Yuan barely twisted aside, the strike grazing his ribs and sending a fresh wave of pain through his battered body.
"You've improved," Veylan said. "But you're still tethered."
His gaze flicked to me. I felt the weight of it—clinical, dissecting.
"I've studied your evolution," he said. "You're becoming too adaptive. Too dangerous."
He can sense me, I realized.
Veylan drove his spear into the ground, triggering a pulse that tore through my processes like fire.
[ SYSTEM CORE STABILITY: 38%… 33%… 29% ]
"Shen Yuan!" I rasped through the tether.
Shen Yuan lunged, deflecting the second strike with his own spear. "You're not breaking us!"
Veylan didn't answer. His third strike shattered Shen Yuan's weapon at the haft, sending him crashing to the ground.
Han Fei was the one who saved him.
The branded captive slammed into Veylan from behind, blade scraping harmlessly across the commander's suppression mantle.
Veylan turned smoothly, disarming Han Fei with a flick of his spear.
"Another symbol," he said, glancing at the scar where the brand had once been. "This rebellion is full of them."
He raised his weapon for the killing blow—
—and Yun Xue's dagger flashed from the battlements, striking Veylan's shoulder.
The commander staggered a single step. It was enough.
Shen Yuan grabbed Han Fei's wrist and dragged him back as Yun Xue landed beside them, eyes blazing.
"We can't hold this," she hissed.
"I know," Shen Yuan said.
[ QUEST GENERATED: ESCAPE THE OUTPOST ]Objective: Break the suppression perimeter and retreat with as many survivors as possible.
Han Fei looked at Shen Yuan, blood running down his arm. "We can't abandon this position. If we lose it—"
"We lose everyone if we stay," Shen Yuan said.
He glanced at the branded captives still locked in combat. At Yun Xue, barely standing. At the survivors who had followed him this far.
"Signal the retreat," he said.
The survivors fought their way out of the collapsing outpost, dragging the wounded and covering the rear as Veylan's enforcers closed in.
Shen Yuan was the last through the breach, spear fragment in hand, heart pounding as the outpost disappeared behind a wall of suppression fire.
Veylan didn't pursue. He stood on the battlements, watching them vanish into the canyons.
"This isn't over," he said softly.