The city felt broken.
Ashvale's streets, once filled with shouts and desperate cries, had grown so silent that even their footsteps felt too loud. The survivors who had made it this far knew the truth: silence in this place was never safety. Silence was the warning.
Aelric moved with his pipe resting on his shoulder, his corrupted arm twitching every few steps. The veins crawled higher, faintly glowing as if whispering beneath his skin. Elara walked behind him, her breaths quick, her eyes scanning every corner like a trapped bird.
Three nights left. Only three.
That number haunted them more than the Hollow screams.
---
"Don't slow down," Aelric muttered without turning. His voice was sharp but tired, like a blade worn thin.
"I'm not," Elara whispered back. Her hand brushed her wrist, where her timer burned with cruel honesty. [3 Days: 0 Hours: 11 Minutes]
It was a reminder that hope was shrinking with every step.
She bit her lip. "Aelric… what if tomorrow's night isn't about fighting? What if it's something worse?"
Aelric chuckled under his breath, though it was humorless. "Worse? Elara, everything here is already worse. Doesn't matter what shape it takes."
"But—"
He stopped suddenly, raising his arm. Elara froze. The silence deepened.
A sound slithered out from the darkness of an alley. Not footsteps. Not growls. But… chains dragging.
---
From the alley emerged figures. Dozens. Survivors—at least, they looked like survivors. But their faces were empty, their eyes hollow voids, and their wrists shimmered with broken timers. Chains of black iron connected their bodies together, linking one after another like prisoners.
Elara's breath caught. "What… what are they?"
The System's cold voice answered for her:
> [System Notice: Chainbound detected.]
Failed Survivors. Absorbed by the Silence.
Break the chain or be bound.]
Aelric narrowed his eyes. "So… these are the ones who couldn't keep walking."
The figures shuffled forward in eerie unison, chains scraping the stones. Their mouths opened, but no sound came out. Pure silence. It pressed down like a weight, making even Elara's heartbeat feel muffled.
Her hands shook. "We… we can't fight all of them!"
Aelric's grin flickered back. "No. But we can break the chain."
---
The first Chainbound lunged, faster than its shuffling form suggested. Aelric swung his pipe, cracking its head sideways—but the body didn't fall. The chain yanked it back upright, forcing the broken head into place as if nothing happened.
Elara screamed. "It—It can't die!"
Aelric hissed as he parried another swing. "It's not about them—it's the chain!"
His corrupted arm throbbed violently. For a heartbeat, he let the infection flow, black tendrils sparking across his skin. He grabbed at the iron link nearest him. The corruption hissed against the chain—burning, cracking. The Chainbound screamed silently for the first time, a horrible shrill without sound.
The link shattered. One body collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.
"See?" Aelric spat, sweat dripping down his face. "Cut the leash, not the dog."
---
But the others surged forward, dozens more, their chains rattling louder now, forming a cage of iron around them.
Elara's pulse raced. She summoned the small blade she'd scavenged, her knuckles white as she slashed desperately at the links. The blade bounced off uselessly.
"It's not working!" she cried.
The System chimed coldly again:
> [Corruption attuned weapons required.]
Elara's face paled. She only had steel. Normal, fragile steel.
Aelric snarled, pulling her back behind him. "Then it's me. I'm the only blade we've got."
His corrupted veins glowed darker, his arm pulsing like a beast about to burst free. Every time he seized a chain, his flesh screamed, but the links cracked and broke one by one. Each time he shattered one, another Chainbound collapsed lifelessly.
But the price was steep.
> [Corruption Surge: +6%]
Current Level: 81%
His body shook violently. His eyes blurred. For a moment, he swore he saw his reflection in the hollow faces—himself, already bound, already hollow.
You belong with us.
The whisper slithered through his skull.
---
"Aelric!" Elara's voice cut through again, sharp and desperate. "Don't listen! You're not one of them—you're not hollow!"
Her words struck deeper than the whispers. Aelric clenched his teeth so hard his jaw ached. "Damn right. I'm the chainbreaker, not the chained."
With a roar, he drove his corrupted arm into the thickest knot of links, veins flaring as black tendrils erupted outward. Metal shrieked. The chain snapped apart in a spray of fragments, collapsing half the horde in a single motion.
Elara gasped, covering her face as the pieces dissolved into static dust.
---
But it wasn't over.
At the center of the broken formation, a massive figure dragged itself forward—ten feet tall, covered in chains from head to toe, its timer shattered into glowing shards across its chest. The remaining survivors' chains were all bound into this single beast.
The System's voice echoed like a death bell:
> [Chainbound Warden has appeared.]
Break its core chain to survive.]
The giant raised a hand. Dozens of loose chains lashed out, whipping across the ground like serpents. One caught Elara around the ankle, dragging her off her feet. She screamed as the cold iron burned against her skin.
"Elara!" Aelric lunged, but more chains snapped at him, wrapping around his corrupted arm, biting into the flesh. He fell to his knees, the tendrils fighting against the iron.
The Warden pulled, dragging both of them closer.
---
Elara struggled, tears blurring her vision. "I—I can't—Aelric—"
He roared back, veins bulging. "Don't you dare give up now! Kick—fight—scream—I don't care, just MOVE!"
With sheer desperation, Elara slashed at her chain again, her blade sparking uselessly. She sobbed in frustration. "It's no use!"
Aelric's eyes burned. His grin split his bloody face. "Then use me."
"What?!"
"Your blade. Aim at my arm. My corruption will eat the chain. Just DO IT!"
Her hands shook violently. "But if I cut you—"
"DO IT, ELARA!"
---
She screamed as she swung. The blade struck his corrupted flesh—and instead of blood, black tendrils burst outward, devouring the chain coiled around him. Both links and flesh hissed in unison, but the chain dissolved into dust.
Aelric staggered forward, now free, his corruption raging wildly. He launched himself at the Warden, chains whipping across his body, tearing flesh, but he didn't stop. His corrupted arm plunged into the monster's chest, straight into the glowing shards of its timer.
The Warden convulsed, the chains thrashing wildly—then with a soundless scream, they all shattered into fragments.
---
The silence broke.
All the Chainbound collapsed into dust, their bindings gone. The Warden crumbled last, collapsing like stone, leaving only a hollow crater in the street.
The System's voice echoed:
> [Chainbound Warden defeated.]
Corruption Stabilized: -4%]
Current Level: 77%
Survivors preserved: 2.]
Elara scrambled to Aelric's side, her hands trembling as she clutched his shoulders. He was bleeding, his face pale, his corrupted arm smoking violently.
"You… you nearly—"
He cut her off with a hoarse laugh. "I told you. Chains don't hold me. Nothing does."
But even as he said it, his arm trembled, his eyes flickering with exhaustion. Elara held him tighter, tears streaking her face.
"Three nights left," she whispered, almost a prayer. "We can still make it."
Aelric leaned his head back, staring at the broken sky above. His grin returned, sharp as ever.
"Then let's break the next chain tomorrow."