The crimson light grew with every step.
Not faint. Not distant.
Alive.
Pulsing like a heart beneath the world's skin.
Every beat rattled the stone, shook the ruins, bent the trees. The Abyss fissures quivered like they were afraid of it.
And yet everything else—the predators, the ruins, even the air—existed only to keep me from reaching it.
The Core.
The marrow of the fracture.
✦
I cut down another knight, his armor dissolving into sparks. Blood sprayed across my chest, hot and sticky. My arms screamed with every swing, ribs grinding with every breath.
But the thread burned brighter in my vision, and the path remained clear.
Forward.
Always forward.
✦
The Inkblade shivered in my grip, shadows writhing with hunger.
"…you feel it, don't you? The Core calls not just to the script… but to me… to us… it knows what we are…"
I spat blood, staggering as a Murim warrior's strike grazed my shoulder.
"What we are is stubborn."
The blade laughed, low and delighted.
"…then let's see how long stubborn lasts against gods' marrow…"
✦
Arjun's ember flickered in my arms. The faint light trembled, his voice barely a whisper.
"…Ishaan… that place… it isn't meant for us…"
"I know," I muttered, slamming shadows through an Abyss-shadow, unraveling it into ash.
"But that never stopped me before."
The ember pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat in my hands.
Weak. But alive.
Alive because I carried him.
Alive because I hadn't stopped.
And I wasn't going to now.
✦
The predators thickened as I neared the Core.
Whole knights with blazing swords. Murim masters with qi sharp enough to slice stone. Abyss-born tighter, sharper, laughing in perfect unison.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Endless.
They swarmed, not like hunters now—but like guardians.
The Core wasn't prey.
It was treasure.
And they were the walls.
✦
The system's voice cracked like thunder.
[ Scenario escalation: Fracture's Core proximity confirmed. ][ Warning: Entities bound to protect the Core will not relent. ][ Objective: Reach the Core alive. ][ Optional: Sever it. ]
Optional.
Always optional.
My lips twisted into a bloody grin.
"Guess that's where I'm headed."
✦
The Inkblade hissed eagerly, shadows surging.
"…oh yes… cut it… devour it… and the leash itself will snap… the gods will tremble when the marrow is gone…"
"Or it'll kill me first."
The blade purred.
"…every good gamble does…"
✦
Fracture Sense burned brighter than ever, threads filling the air like a web. White cords straining, crimson lines glowing, knots twisting violently. The Core itself was a mass of tangled light, pulsing in time with my heartbeat.
Every predator had cords leading into it.
Bound to it.
Not hunting me.
Defending it.
Which meant—
If I reached it, they'd collapse.
I grinned, blood dripping from my chin.
"Then I just have to make it."
✦
I lunged forward, shadows exploding outward, cutting a path through the horde.
Knights shattered into sparks.Murim masters faltered, their qi ripped apart.Abyss-shadows shrieked as their cords unraveled.
Every step tore me apart, every breath left fire in my lungs. My body screamed to stop, but the Core pulsed louder, brighter, dragging me closer.
And then I saw it clearly.
✦
The Fracture's Core floated above the stone, massive and perfect.
A sphere of crimson light, veined with white fractures, pulsing like a living heart.
Each beat shook the world.
Each glow pulled the threads tighter.
It wasn't just holding the realms together.
It was rewriting them.
I staggered to a halt, chest heaving, blood soaking every inch of me.
And whispered:
"…so that's what you are."
The Fracture's Core throbbed like a heart torn out of something too large to name.
Every pulse dragged at my bones. Every glow threatened to tear my skin apart from the inside.
The predators had thinned, not because they'd given up—but because they didn't need to anymore.
The closer I came, the stronger the Core itself pressed down on me.
A weight heavier than any blade.
A gaze sharper than any god.
✦
Arjun's ember quivered against my chest, its faint light nearly extinguished. His whisper reached me, strained and fragile.
"…Ishaan… this is… wrong…"
I nodded once, blood dripping from my chin.
"I know."
The Inkblade pulsed violently, shadows clawing up my arm, nearly to my throat.
"…wrong? No… perfect… do you not feel it? This is the marrow of the story… the script's spine… cut it, fracture, and there will be no leash left to hold you…"
"And if it breaks me first?"
The blade hissed in delight.
"…then at least you'll die free…"
✦
Fracture Sense burned like fire in my skull.
Threads screamed across my vision—white cords vibrating to the edge of snapping, crimson lines spilling light across the ruins, knots twisting violently around the Core.
Every predator left was tethered to it.
Every realm here was stitched by it.
It wasn't just a Core.
It was a prison.
And a key.
✦
The system's voice bled through the roar of the Core.
[ Objective reached: Fracture's Core. ][ Options available: ][ 1. Endure until stabilization. ][ 2. Sever the Core. ][ Warning: Outcome of severance unknown. ]
My chest rattled with a bitter laugh.
"Unknown, huh? Even you don't know what happens next."
✦
The predators circled but did not advance. Their cords were bound too tightly now.
They weren't guarding me anymore.
They were guarding the Core from me.
Because I was the only one who could touch it.
The prey who had broken the hunt.
The fracture who could cut the marrow.
✦
I limped forward, ribs grinding, vision blurring. Every step closer made the pressure worse. My lungs felt like they'd collapse, my skin like it would tear.
But the Core pulsed louder, brighter, faster.
Waiting.
Daring.
I raised the Inkblade, shadows screaming against the crimson glow.
Arjun's ember flickered violently, his faint voice trembling.
"…if you cut it… will you still be you?"
I froze, chest heaving, blade trembling.
The question echoed deeper than the Core's pulse.
Would I?
Or would I become the thing the gods feared?
✦
The Inkblade whispered sweetly.
"…don't you want to find out?"
✦
My hand trembled.
Every thread in my vision quivered, begging to be severed.
The system pulsed one last time.
[ Decision required. ][ Endure. Or Sever. ]
I pressed Arjun's ember closer, blood dripping across its faint light.
And whispered:
"Not yet."
✦
I staggered back, blade still raised but unmoving.
The Core pulsed violently, shaking the ruins, the forest, the fissures. Threads screamed in protest.
But I didn't cut.
I endured.
✦
The predators shrieked as cords snapped around them. The Core's pressure howled, then dimmed. The crimson glow faded, settling into a steady throb.
And the system's voice rang sharp.
[ Core stabilization complete. ][ Hunt of Realms: Cleared. ][ Reward: Cross-Realm Access unlocked. ][ Title retained: Hunter of Threads. ]
My knees buckled, blood spilling into the dirt.
Cleared.
I survived.
Barely.
✦
The Inkblade hissed in fury, shadows lashing violently.
"…coward… you had the marrow in your hands and you let it breathe… you could have devoured gods, and you chose chains…"
I coughed blood, grinning weakly.
"No. I chose me."
The blade went silent, seething.
✦
I looked up at the Core one last time.
It pulsed faintly, no longer dragging the realms, no longer binding predators.
Stabilized.
But not safe.
Because I knew the truth.
It was still there.
Waiting for someone brave—or foolish—enough to cut it.
And I had almost been that fool.
✦
Arjun's ember stirred faintly, his voice barely audible.
"…you…didn't…"
"Not yet," I whispered, pressing him close. "But one day… maybe."