Ezekiel's finger hovered over the unread message.
[ "You are not the first to awaken." ]
His instincts screamed trap. But hesitation wouldn't give him answers. He tapped the message.
The screen flickered.
Then, a voice—not text—played in his mind.
A woman's voice. Urgent, strained, but unwavering.
"If you're hearing this, you're already too deep."
"The system will not allow you to exist. It will erase you, like it did the others."
"You need to reach the core before it locks you out. Before—"
Static cut through the message, distorting the voice into an unreadable mess. Then—
Silence.
The message self-destructed.
Ezekiel's jaw clenched. He had expected a clue, but this?
Someone else had tried to fight back.
And they had failed.
No More Waiting
He turned toward the ruins of the tower. That was where the answers were.
But the system wasn't going to let him walk in.
His instincts prickled a second before the air itself fractured.
[ System Override Engaged. ]
[ Emergency Protocols Activated. ]
Ezekiel spun, muscles coiling—
Too late.
The world broke.
A Place That Shouldn't Exist
When his vision cleared, he wasn't in the city anymore.
He stood in an endless white void.
No sky. No ground. Just emptiness.
And in front of him—
A figure.
Not an Enforcer. Not a system drone.
A man.
Dressed in obsidian-black robes, his face obscured by a blank, silver mask. But Ezekiel could feel the sheer weight of his presence.
This wasn't an executioner.
It was something older.
Something that had been watching long before the system found him.
The figure tilted its head.
"You are progressing too fast."
Ezekiel's muscles tensed.
"That is… inconvenient."
The space shattered.
And Ezekiel fell.
The Descent Into the Unknown
He crashed back into reality, body slamming into hard stone. The ruins of the tower loomed over him.
The system had teleported him here.
Not to stop him.
To accelerate him.
Whatever he was about to uncover—
He wasn't the only one trying to reach it first.
Ezekiel exhaled sharply. No more hesitation.
He pushed himself up—
And sprinted toward the entrance.
Because whoever that masked figure was—
He had just confirmed something Ezekiel had suspected from the start.
The system wasn't the only force in this world.
And not all of them wanted him dead.
---
The ground beneath Ezekiel's feet trembled.
The ruins stretched endlessly before him—broken towers, shattered roads, remnants of a civilization long erased. But it wasn't just destruction. It was erasure.
Data flickered where walls should be. Structures shifted, glitching in and out of existence like they were being overwritten in real time.
The system was still cleaning up.
Still trying to hide its mistakes.
Too bad. He was already here.
[ Warning: Anomaly Detected. ]
A system alert.
Not for the ruins.
For him.
Ezekiel's grip tightened.
He wasn't alone.
A Shadow Within the Ruins
A flicker of movement.
He turned sharply.
A black lance streaked toward him—silent, precise, deadly.
He twisted mid-step, barely dodging as it pierced the stone behind him with a sharp, metallic shriek.
His attacker stepped into view.
A woman in dark armor. Her face was hidden beneath a visor, a system insignia glowing on her shoulder.
Not an Enforcer. Not a drone.
A Hunter.
Ezekiel's lips curled into a smirk.
"So the system's done watching."
She didn't answer.
She raised her hand—
And three more lances materialized in the air.
No hesitation. No warning.
She attacked.
A Battle on System Grounds
The lances fired. Faster than before.
Ezekiel moved.
A blur of motion. Sidestep. Twist. Dodge. The air split apart as each lance barely missed, carving deep scars into the already ruined ground.
The moment his feet touched solid ground again, he launched forward.
A direct clash.
Her reaction was instant. She pivoted, slashing out with a thin, blade-like projection from her gauntlet.
Ezekiel blocked it with his forearm, the impact reverberating through his bones.
She struck again. And again. Each attack faster than the last.
He gritted his teeth.
She wasn't just strong.
She had trained for this.
But so had he.
Ezekiel twisted mid-block, his knee snapping upward—
And slammed it into her ribs.
A sharp crack.
She skidded back.
She landed smoothly, unfazed. Blood dripped beneath her visor, but she didn't slow down.
No hesitation. No fear.
This wasn't a fight to subdue.
It was an execution.
The System Has Decided
Ezekiel exhaled. He rolled his shoulders.
Alright. No more testing.
He clenched his fists, stepping forward.
The system wasn't trying to study him anymore.
It had decided—
He couldn't be allowed to exist.
His smirk widened.
Then let it try
---
The air between them tensed, thick with silent intent.
The Hunter adjusted her stance. No wasted movements. No hesitation.
She wasn't an executioner.
She was an assassin.
Sent by the system.
To erase him.
Ezekiel's pulse steadied. If the system thought he would die here, it had made a mistake.
He rolled his shoulders, a slow grin forming.
"Alright. Let's see if you can finish the job."
She didn't answer.
She moved.
A Battle of Skill, Not Strength
One moment she was still—the next, she disappeared.
Not teleportation. Speed.
Ezekiel's instincts roared. He pivoted—
Just in time to block her blade-arm strike.
The impact sent a shockwave through the ruins.
He dug his heels in, the stone beneath him cracking from the sheer force. But instead of retreating, he countered—fast.
His elbow lashed out—
She ducked.
His knee snapped upward—
She twisted away.
Not just speed. Precision.
Her every move was calculated. No wasted effort. No excess motion.
She wasn't just strong—
She had trained for this.
Ezekiel exhaled sharply.
Then he grinned.
Perfect.
Testing the System's Limits
She struck again. Faster. Sharper.
A relentless barrage of high-speed attacks.
Ezekiel moved.
Dodge. Block. Counter. Adapt.
Each exchange carved away hesitation. Each clash revealed more.
Her movements—system-assisted.
Her reflexes—boosted.
Her techniques—flawless.
But something was missing.
Ezekiel sidestepped a killing thrust, his mind piecing together the final detail.
She fought with precision. With overwhelming efficiency.
But not instinct.
Not like he did.
She moved like an extension of the system.
Predictable.
Ezekiel's eyes flickered with understanding.
Then, for the first time—
He attacked first.
The Moment Everything Turned
She saw it coming. She adjusted.
Too late.
Ezekiel feinted.
A single break in rhythm. A momentary hesitation in the perfect pattern she followed.
Her body tried to adapt. The system tried to calculate.
But human instinct wasn't something it could process.
Her balance broke.
Ezekiel exploited it instantly.
His fist drove into her gut.
The impact detonated.
She flew back, smashing through a cracked pillar, debris collapsing around her.
Dust and silence filled the space.
Ezekiel straightened, exhaling slowly.
Not dead.
But down.
For the first time in this fight, she was on the ground.
The Warning Before the End
The rubble shifted.
The Hunter rose, slower this time. A thin trail of blood dripped from her visor.
She exhaled sharply. Then, for the first time—
She spoke.
"You are past the point of return."
Her voice was smooth. Controlled.
"The system does not forgive anomalies."
Ezekiel smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Guess I'll have to return the favor."
She didn't answer.
But her next action told him everything.
She stepped back.
Not retreating. Not escaping.
But activating something.
Ezekiel's instincts screamed.
The ruins around them shifted.
No—
They were being rewritten.
[ System Priority Override: Zone Reset Initiated. ]
A pulse of energy rippled outward.
And then—
The world reset.
---