The forest looked like a battlefield carved by ancient gods—craters, uprooted trees, fissures glowing faintly with residual spiritual energy. Mist rolled through the ruins as Jason Wu darted between shattered rocks, Longwu Sword blazing in his grip.
Behind him, the Seeker crashed through a stone pillar like a furious avalanche wearing armor.
Jason spun on his heel. "OKAY—hold on—can you STOP destroying the scenery for three seconds?! This forest didn't offend you!"
Longwu snorted.
["Boy, that thing doesn't care about scenery. It barely cares about physics."]
Jason ducked as a void blade sliced clean through a boulder behind him, splitting it like a melon.
"NO KIDDING!"
The Seeker wasn't just fighting harder now—it was fighting wilder.Every movement jittered between precision and chaos, as if two different instincts were wrestling for control inside one body.
Its voice glitched again as it advanced.
"Anomaly… target…Terminate—Recover—Punish—Why… did you run?"
Jason blinked. "I DIDN'T RUN! STOP ACCUSING ME OF CARDIO I HAVE NEVER DONE!"
Longwu vibrated.
["Jason—its inner conflict is worsening. That memory echo from earlier is ripping through its code."]
Jason winced as the Seeker's blade narrowly missed his head.
"So that's good, right? He's falling apart?"
["Yes, but also no. Unstable Riftbound tend to explode."]
Jason stopped mid-step.
"…Explode explode? Or like, emotionally explode?"
["The kind that erases a valley."]
Jason stared at the Seeker, who currently looked like a malfunctioning haunted fridge.
"…You couldn't have told me this BEFORE I decided to taunt it?"
THE CRACKS SPREAD
The Seeker lunged again—but this time, Jason didn't retreat.
He shifted sideways, planted his foot, and slashed directly at the widening crack across the Seeker's chest.
KRRAAAK!
Void energy shot outward like black lightning.
The Seeker staggered back—and its mask finally split down the center.
Behind it, Jason expected nothing.
But instead—
He saw a face.
A human face.
Pale. Cracked like porcelain. Eyeless except for faint glowing rings.But still, undeniably human-shaped.
Jason froze.
"Longwu… what—what am I looking at?"
Longwu's voice lowered.
["…A failed hybrid."]
Jason's blood ran cold."A WHAT?!"
["Half-human, half-Riftbound. Probably grown in a lab. Meant to hunt anomalies like you."]
Jason gaped. "And people think I'm the problem?! Who MAKES these things?!"
The Seeker suddenly spoke—not in the cold mechanical voice.But in a voice that sounded painfully… small.
"…I…was forced…to remember."
Jason took a cautious step backward.
"Remember what?"
The void aura around the Seeker fluctuated violently.
"…My first hunt…My true designation…My name—"
It choked.Literally choked.Like speaking a forbidden word.
Longwu clicked his tongue.
["Someone hard-coded his identity. Locking it. Breaking it."]
Jason felt a surprising surge of anger.
"…That's messed up."
The Seeker lifted its trembling blade.
But this time—it wasn't aiming at Jason.
It was shaking—like it was fighting itself.
Jason whispered, "…It's not trying to kill me now. It's trying to stop whatever is controlling it."
Longwu hummed.
["He's… breaking."]
Jason shook his head."No. He's fighting."
THE SEEKER'S SELF-DESTRUCTION
The Seeker's fractured voice screamed.
"STOP.STOP THE PROTOCOL."
Black lightning exploded from its limbs.
Jason shielded his face as energy tore through the ground.
The Seeker slammed its hand into its own chest—digging into the cracked core where void and human essence merged.
Jason's breath caught.
"…He's—he's trying to tear out the control node."
Longwu sounded almost sympathetic.
["That will kill him."]
Jason yelled, "HEY! Don't—you don't have to do that!"
The Seeker turned slightly.
Not with hostility.
But like a wounded soldier glancing back one last time.
"…You…are not… the one I hunted."
Jason blinked.
"Then who—?"
The Seeker's hand shoved deeper into its own chest.
Void energy burst outward, creating a miniature vortex.
Longwu shouted.
["Jason—MOVE!"]
Jason leapt backward just as the Seeker's aura detonated.
Not an explosion—
A collapse.
Like the space around him folded inward.
Trees, soil, shattered rocks were all sucked toward him before suddenly stopping just inches away, frozen in a suspended halo.
Jason gasped. "WHAT—WHAT IS THAT?!"
Longwu's voice tightened.
["A Riftfold. A self-imposed lockdown. He's trying to trap the code infecting him."]
Jason's eyes widened.
The Seeker looked up—face cracked, human features barely holding shape.
"…I remember…their faces…the ones who made me…"
Jason felt a chill.
"The administrators?"
The Seeker shook, collapsing to one knee.
"…higher."
Longwu's voice dropped to a whisper.
["Jason… something above the Administrators made him."]
Jason felt nausea twist inside him.
"…There's something above the Administrators?"
["More than one."]
Jason stared.
The Seeker trembled, sparks of void and human qi bursting from his cracked body.
He reached toward Jason—not as an attack, but as if pleading.
"…Don't…become what they fear."
Jason stepped forward instinctively.
"Hey—wait—don't—"
The Seeker's voice warped.
"…Run…before the real hunter comes."
Jason froze.
"…There's a REAL hunter?!"
Before he could get an answer—
The Seeker slammed its hand onto the ground.
The Riftfold core shattered—
FLASH—!
Void light erupted.
Jason shielded his face—
When the radiance cleared—
Only dust remained.
The Seeker was gone.
No body.No trace.Only a faint, lingering whisper in the air:
"…The hunt… was never meant for you."
Jason stood there, gripping Longwu tightly.
His voice trembled—not with fear, but with anger.
"…They took someone once.""…Forced him to hunt versions of me.""…Destroyed him when he remembered."
Longwu murmured softly.
["Boy… the Wu bloodline has deeper enemies than you know."]
Jason's jaw clenched.
"Then we'll deal with them."
THE SUNSET
Jason stepped out of the ruined forest.The last rays of sunlight washed across the hillside where he stood alone.
Not entirely alone.
Longwu pulsed calmly.
["Jason."]
"Yeah?"
["…You did good."]
Jason blinked."…Are you praising me?"
["…Don't get used to it. I might vomit."]
Jason cracked a faint smile.
"Let's go home."