The rain began without warning — a thin, icy drizzle that painted the ruins in slick silver and muted the distant cries of the city. In the aftermath of his clash with Emperor Helan, Darrel moved through the skeletal remains of what had once been a bustling industrial sector. Towers stood like jagged teeth against the bruised sky, their windows hollow, their steel bones exposed to the cold.
The overlay in his vision pulsed faintly, as if recovering from the strain of the last battle.
[Vital Signs Stabilizing…]
[Warning: Fatigue Level – High]
Darrel's legs ached with every step, his side still burning from the impact of Helan's blade. He had wrapped the wound in makeshift bandages torn from his undershirt, but the crimson stain spreading across it told him the damage was deeper than he wanted to admit.
The fortress was far behind now, its oppressive hum fading into memory, but the Emperor's words still clung to him like a shadow.
Survive this trial… or become forgotten prey.
He ducked under a fallen beam and entered the hollow remains of a train station. Rusting tracks ran into the darkness, disappearing into tunnels that exhaled damp, fetid air. The station's ceiling dripped steadily, each droplet echoing in the silence like a ticking clock.
Darrel wasn't alone.
The faint crunch of gravel made him freeze. Slowly, he turned his head — and there, in the dim light, a figure emerged.
She was slight, wrapped in a tattered cloak, her face obscured by a half-mask made from scavenged metal. Strands of black hair escaped from beneath a hood, and her eyes — sharp, amber — studied him with the cool calculation of a predator.
"You're bleeding," she said, her voice low but steady.
Darrel kept his hand near the hilt of his knife. "And you're following me."
The girl tilted her head, then stepped closer, her boots making almost no sound against the cracked tiles. "Not following. Watching. There's a difference."
The overlay blinked again:
[Potential Ally Detected]
[Risk Level: Moderate]
Darrel didn't relax. "Who are you?"
"Name's Kaelen," she replied. "And if you want to live through the night, you'll come with me."
His first instinct was to refuse. But the rain outside was growing heavier, and something in her tone carried an urgency that wasn't easy to fake.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because the hunters are sweeping this sector. They'll be here in twenty minutes. And unlike you, I can move through their patrol lines without setting off alarms."
Darrel's jaw tightened. "And what do you want in return?"
Kaelen's eyes glinted in the dim light. "Your help. There's someone you need to meet."
Against his better judgment, Darrel followed her.
---
They slipped into the tunnels, their path lit only by the occasional flicker of dying emergency lights. The air was thick with the smell of mildew and rust, and the distant drip of water echoed like whispered footsteps.
Kaelen moved like someone who had spent her entire life in the underbelly of the city — ducking into shadows at the right moments, avoiding loose gravel that would betray their presence.
As they walked, Darrel noticed strange markings painted on the tunnel walls. Some were crude symbols — arrows, circles — others were intricate patterns that looked almost like constellations.
"What are these?" he asked.
"Guides," Kaelen said. "For those who know how to read them. The city above belongs to the hunters. Down here… it's ours."
They emerged into a cavernous space beneath the city — an abandoned maintenance hub where the ceiling soared high above, its steel beams swallowed in darkness. Flickering lanterns illuminated clusters of makeshift shelters, built from scavenged panels and cloth. The air was warmer here, filled with the low murmur of voices and the scent of cooking fires.
Dozens of eyes turned toward Darrel as they entered — eyes filled with suspicion, curiosity, and a spark of hope.
Kaelen led him to the far end of the chamber, where a figure sat at a battered metal desk piled high with maps and electronic scraps.
He was an older man, his hair silver at the temples, his face lined but alert. His coat was patched with a dozen different fabrics, and a faint scar ran from his jaw to his brow.
"This is Arden," Kaelen said. "He's the one I told you about."
Arden's gaze swept over Darrel like a scanner. "You survived Helan."
Darrel's eyes narrowed. "Word travels fast."
"In the undercity, it always does," Arden replied. "You've done something no outsider has in years. But now you're on every hunter's kill list."
Darrel crossed his arms. "And you brought me here… why?"
Arden leaned forward. "Because I think you're the key to ending this trial."
Darrel almost laughed. "You don't even know me."
"I know enough," Arden said, sliding a small device across the desk. It looked like a cube of dark glass, faint light pulsing within. "You've seen the overlay, yes? The system that marks your enemies, tracks your health?"
Darrel hesitated, then nodded.
"This," Arden said, tapping the cube, "is a fragment of the Core. The AI that runs this nightmare. With it, we can break the rules. Rewrite them."
The words hung in the air like forbidden magic. Darrel's mind raced — was such a thing even possible? And if it was, what would the system do to stop them?
Before he could ask, a siren wailed somewhere in the tunnels. The murmurs in the camp turned into shouts. Kaelen's hand went to the dagger at her belt.
"They've found us," she said.
Arden stood, his voice calm but firm. "Then we move now. Darrel, you're with me. Kaelen — take the flank."
Darrel grabbed his rifle, adrenaline wiping away the ache in his body. As the first shadows appeared in the tunnel entrance, he caught the faint red glow of hunter visors cutting through the dark.
The hunters opened fire. Bullets ricocheted off steel beams, sparks showering the floor. Darrel dove behind a crate, returning shots with precise bursts. Kaelen's dagger flashed in the lantern light as she closed the distance to one of the attackers, dropping him with a single strike.
Arden was already moving toward a side passage, the cube tucked under his arm. "Cover me!" he shouted.
Darrel vaulted over a makeshift barricade, laying down suppressing fire. His overlay blazed with alerts:
[Multiple Hostiles Detected – Engaging]
[Adrenaline Surge: Active]
He felt the rhythm of the fight settle into him — the controlled breathing, the sharp focus. A hunter charged him with a combat blade; Darrel sidestepped, using the man's momentum to drive him into a steel column before firing point-blank.
The undercity echoed with gunfire and shouts. Darrel moved with Kaelen, covering Arden as they pushed deeper into the tunnels. But as they rounded a corner, a shadow detached itself from the wall.
It was huge — taller than Helan, armored in a different style, jagged plates like the shell of some monstrous insect. Its visor glowed white instead of red, and in its hands it held a weapon unlike anything Darrel had seen — a hybrid of spear and rifle, humming with barely contained energy.
[New Threat Identified – Rank: Unknown]
[Recommendation: Evade Immediately]
Darrel's gut tightened. This was no ordinary hunter.
The creature moved with terrifying speed, striking the wall beside him, sending chunks of concrete flying. Kaelen shouted something, but the roar of the weapon drowned her out.
Darrel ducked under a second swing, firing into the gaps in its armor. The bullets sparked uselessly.
"Move!" Arden barked, throwing a small device at the ground. It exploded in a burst of blinding light, buying them precious seconds.
They ran.
The tunnels twisted and narrowed, the sounds of pursuit echoing behind them. Darrel's lungs burned, his side throbbed, but he kept going. They didn't stop until the air grew colder, the floor sloped upward, and a faint glow of moonlight appeared ahead.
When they emerged into the night, Darrel collapsed against a wall, chest heaving. Arden stood over him, the cube still clutched in his hands.
"This," Arden said between breaths, "is how we change the game. But first… we survive tomorrow."
Darrel looked at him, the rain running down his face. In the distance, the fortress loomed against the horizon, its red lights pulsing like the heartbeat of a predator.
The trial was far from over.