Dawn broke cold and gray, the kind of light that makes everything look sharper and more unforgiving.
We crouched on the crest of the final hill, bellies to the damp grass, staring down at Blackspire Keep.
It wasn't pretty.
The fortress squatted on a low plateau like a bruise on the landscape—black stone walls rising thirty meters, topped with iron spikes that caught the weak sunlight and turned it mean. Four towers stabbed upward, the eastern one squat and heavy, its base disappearing into a rocky slope. Smoke drifted from dozens of chimneys. Banners snapped in the wind—crimson field, black raven clutching a broken crown. Patrols moved along the battlements in pairs. Below the main gate, a steady trickle of wagons and foot soldiers came and went.
Elara's voice was barely a breath beside me.
"Eastern tower. See the narrow postern door halfway up the slope? That's the undercroft entrance Garrick mentioned. Guards change every three hours. Next shift in twenty minutes."
I nodded, eyes on the door. Small. Iron-banded. Two sentries currently posted—one leaning against the rock looking bored, the other pacing.
Mirae, the scout, crawled up on my other side.
"Wards on the door. I can feel them from here—sharp, like needles in the air. Mage work. Probably alarm triggers if anyone unauthorized touches the handle."
Dax, bow already half-strung, whispered,
"Archers on the tower tops. At least four I can see. Good sight lines."
Torin and Kael stayed silent, but their grips on spear shafts were white-knuckled.
I exhaled slowly.
"Plan's still simple. We wait for the shift change. When the new guards arrive, I delete the old ones quietly. Then we slip in. Find the rift-anchor. Delete it. Out before anyone notices the hallway's suddenly understaffed."
Elara glanced at me.
"And if the anchor is guarded inside?"
"Then we improvise. Or I delete the improvisation."
No one laughed.
The blue box appeared in my vision, text crisp against the gray morning.
```
[Infiltration Proximity Alert]
Target structure: Blackspire Keep – Rift-Anchor confirmed within undercroft level 3.
Current administrative ETA: 3 hours 41 minutes
Nexus strain: 8.9% (approaching critical cascade threshold)
Local threat level: High (ward density + patrol density + Level 68 primary target)
Passive suggestion: Minimize visible deletions until anchor is neutralized.
Large-scale events will accelerate lockdown by 40–60%.
Alternative: Delete the entire eastern tower now.
Cascade risk: Acceptable. Time saved: Significant.
```
I mentally swiped the suggestion away.
"Not yet, Glitch. We're doing this the messy human way first."
The box pulsed once—almost disappointed—then vanished.
Twenty minutes passed in tense silence.
The relief shift arrived: four more guards, two carrying lanterns, one complaining loudly about the early watch.
The old pair straightened, handed over the post, started trudging up the slope toward the main gate.
I focused.
First on the pacing sentry.
*Delete.*
He vanished mid-step. Lantern clattered to the stone—flame guttering out.
The second sentry turned at the sound.
*Delete.*
Gone. Lantern rolled a few centimeters before stopping against the rock.
No scream. No alarm. Just two empty uniforms crumpling to the ground like discarded laundry.
The new guards froze for half a second—then one of them barked, "What in the hells—"
I didn't wait.
*Delete the four new ones.*
Four more absences. Four sets of armor and weapons hitting stone with dull clangs.
Silence again.
Elara exhaled sharply through her nose.
"That was… clean."
"Clean-ish," I muttered. "Let's move before someone looks down from the tower."
We slid down the slope on our bellies, keeping low. The postern door loomed—black iron, etched with faintly glowing runes that pulsed like heartbeats.
Mirae reached it first, fingers hovering an inch from the handle.
"Wards are live. Touch it and the whole keep wakes up."
I stepped forward.
"Let me try something."
I focused on the door—not the whole thing, just the runes.
*Delete the wards.*
The glow snuffed out like candles in a breeze. The runes faded to dull scratches.
Mirae blinked.
"You just… erased the magic?"
"Magic's just code with extra steps," I said, shrugging. "Try the door."
She pushed. It swung inward silently.
Dark stairwell beyond. Steep. Smelling of damp stone, old iron, and something faintly metallic—blood? Oil? Hard to tell.
We filed in one by one, Elara first with sword drawn, then me, then the others. Dax pulled the door shut behind us. Darkness swallowed everything except the faint glow from my own HUD.
Glitch helpfully provided a dim overlay—ghostly blue lines mapping rough stairs downward.
```
[Undercroft Access Granted]
Level 1: Storage & guard barracks (currently unoccupied)
Level 2: Armory & interrogation cells
Level 3: Ritual chamber – Rift-Anchor located central dais
Warning: Arcane sentinels (constructs) detected on level 3.
Non-biological. Deletion viable but may trigger secondary alarms.
```
I whispered to the group,
"Three levels down. Anchor's in the ritual room. Constructs guarding it. I'll handle those. Stay behind me and don't touch anything shiny."
We descended.
Level 1 was empty—crates, barrels, racks of spears. No one.
Level 2 had cells. Iron bars. Chains. One cell door hung open. Inside: dried blood on the floor, a single broken shackle.
Elara's jaw tightened but she said nothing.
We reached level 3.
The stairwell opened into a wide circular chamber. Vaulted ceiling. Pillars carved with more runes. In the center: a raised dais of black marble. On it sat the rift-anchor.
It looked like a jagged crystal spear driven into the stone—pulsing violet-black, cracks of light running through it like lightning frozen mid-strike. Around it, three floating constructs—humanoid shapes made of stone and glowing crystal—patrolled in slow circles. Each one carried a halberd that shimmered with contained energy.
Elara hissed,
"Stone golems. Enchanted. They don't tire. They don't miss."
I stepped forward.
"Stay back."
The constructs noticed me instantly. Heads swiveled. Eyes—empty sockets filled with violet light—locked on.
They moved faster than anything that size should.
I focused on the nearest one.
*Delete.*
It vanished mid-stride. Halberd clattered to the floor.
The other two charged.
*Delete.*
Gone.
*Delete.*
Gone.
Three piles of empty air and dropped weapons.
The chamber went dead quiet except for the low thrum of the rift-anchor itself.
Elara stepped up beside me, eyes wide.
"That was… too easy."
"Yeah," I muttered. "That's what worries me."
I walked to the dais.
The anchor pulsed faster now, almost angry.
Glitch's box appeared.
```
[Primary Objective in Range]
Target: Stabilized Rift-Anchor (Class III)
Deletion will reduce local nexus strain by 41–47%
Administrative ETA extension: ~72 hours
Warning: Anchor is linked to primary custodian (Lord Varn).
Deletion will alert him instantly.
Probability of immediate counter-response: 94%
```
I stared at the crystal spear.
Then at the red button.
Then back.
"Alright," I said softly. "Let's end this stupid crack in the world."
I focused.
*Delete.*
Reality hiccuped—harder than before.
The anchor vanished.
A low groan rolled through the stone. Dust sifted from the ceiling.
For one beautiful second, everything was still.
Then alarms screamed—magical, piercing, echoing up through every level.
From somewhere far above, a furious roar echoed down the stairwell.
Lord Varn had noticed.
Elara spun toward the stairs.
"We need to move. Now."
I nodded.
But the blue box flashed one final update before vanishing.
```
[Rift-Anchor Deleted]
Nexus strain reduced: 8.9% → 4.1%
Administrative ETA extended: 72 hours remaining
New title unlocked: [Fracture Breaker]
Passive effect: +25% deletion efficiency on structural anomalies
Side effect: You are now priority target #1 for Blackspire forces.
Congratulations, anomaly.
You just rang the dinner bell.
```
Footsteps thundered from above.
Lots of them.
I looked at Elara.
"Run?"
She drew her sword fully.
"Run."
We bolted back up the stairs—me in front, the others close behind.
Behind us, the roar came again.
Closer.
Much closer.