[New Quest: Kill Ben]
[Warning: This is a Mandatory Scenario.]
[Failure to complete = Immediate Death.]
W...What?
The glowing blue text hung in the air, cold and indifferent to the sudden, violent shattering of Noen's mind. His lungs completely stopped working. He grabbed his head, his legs giving out instantly as he collapsed onto the hard floor.
He stared at the system. Kill a human?..... Kill BEN?
"Move! Get out of my way!"
Khuzar's enraged screams echoed across the silent grounds as he violently shoved his way through the perfectly ordered ranks. Hearing the absolute fury of their oppressor, the thousands of soldiers moved with terrified synchronicity. As one, they took a sharp step to the left and right, parting like a mechanical sea.
Even Ben's own squad instinctively backed away. In seconds, a massive, empty circle formed on the concrete.
Noen lay alone in the center, trembling on the ground. But when he looked up, he realized he wasn't completely alone.
Ben hadn't moved a single inch. The massive S-Rank soldier stood like an immovable mountain, positioning his broad back squarely between Noen and the approaching madman.
"Get out of my way, you son of a bitch!" Khuzar roared, storming into the open circle.
Ben stood firm, his posture completely unbroken. Khuzar snarled, reaching beneath his robes and drawing the heavy handgun, aiming it directly at Ben's chest. "I'll shoot, you idiot!"
Ben didn't even flinch. His voice was dead calm. "It's not loaded anyway, you idiot."
Dismissing the tyrant entirely, Ben turned his back on the gun and looked down at the shattered, weeping boy on the ground.
"I.. I can't do this," Noen choked out, his voice cracking in absolute despair. "Noen... no..."
Suddenly, a faint, purple flicker materialized over Noen's open palm. With a soft hum, The Shadow Whisperer dropped into his trembling hand.
Ben slowly dropped to one knee. He reached out with his massive, battle-scarred hand and gently wrapped it entirely around Noen's violently shaking fist, enclosing the dagger within their shared grip.
"Noen..." Ben started, his voice incredibly soft. He looked at Noen's tear-streaked face, and slowly, a warm, completely liberated smile spread across the giant's face. "I was always too afraid to do anything..."
He squeezed Noen's hand. "Do this for me, okay?"
Before Noen could even process the words, Ben's eyes flared with raw, unadulterated S-Rank power.
Ben exploded upward, ripping Noen's arm up with him. With his free hand, Ben lunged forward and delivered a devastating, earth-shattering uppercut straight into Khuzar's jaw. The impact cracked like a cannon shot, instantly lifting the robed tyrant off his feet and launching his unconscious body violently into the air.
But at that exact same fraction of a second, Ben's other hand—the one tightly gripping Noen's fist—moved.
With blinding speed and terrifying resolve, Ben violently jerked Noen's arm inward, pulling the venomous blade of the dagger deeply and cleanly across his own throat.
Time seemed to completely freeze as a massive spray of hot, red blood washed across Noen's face.
As Ben's massive body began to fall, a final, silent thought echoed in the space between them.
–I knew you were different, Noen... Show everyone that being different isn't being worse.–
[Quest: Kill Ben - COMPLETED ✅]
[Rewards...]