They called him the Hero of Ashfall now.
The name spread like wildfire across the broken lands, a lone warrior who slew monsters that armies couldn't, whose blade burned with divine light. People whispered his name in hope. Monsters trembled when the silver glow appeared on the horizon.
None of them knew that every time he fought, time itself devoured him.
Riven Kael walked through the ruins of the southern frontier, his cloak torn and bloodstained. The once-golden spires of the fortress city of Miren lay in ruin around him, a reminder that gods had long abandoned this world.
He'd completed his first major quest.
Ten Class-B monsters slain. Lifespan burned down to three years, eight months.
And still, the System hummed in his veins, hungry.
[Main Quest: Ascension Path — Phase 1 Complete.]
[New Quest Available.]
[Objective: Cleanse the Blighted City of Miren.]
[Estimated Cost: Variable (up to 6 Months Lifespan).]
He exhaled sharply. "You never stop asking, do you?"
[Purpose: Ascension requires sacrifice.]
He ignored it and kept walking.
The city was eerily silent. Ash fell like snow. Amid the ruins, faint cries echoed, not monsters, but survivors.
He followed the sound.
A crumbled temple stood at the city's center. Its stained glass windows were shattered, but faint light flickered inside, a weak golden glow, different from his own silver.
Riven pushed open the half-broken doors. The scent of herbs and blood filled the air.
A woman knelt at the altar, surrounded by the wounded. Her hands glowed with golden light as she whispered prayers of restoration. One by one, torn flesh closed, and fevered breathing steadied.
Riven stopped in the doorway, watching.
The woman looked up. She was young, maybe his age, with dark hair tied back and eyes like soft amber flame. Exhaustion lined her features, but her focus never wavered.
When she noticed him, her expression changed, from calm to fear, then confusion.
"You… your aura," she murmured. "What are you?"
He hesitated. "Just a soldier passing through."
Her gaze hardened. "Soldiers don't carry divine energy in their veins."
Riven didn't respond. He stepped closer, and the glow from his body flickered faintly in response to hers, silver and gold, clashing and blending like opposing forces.
The wounded stirred uneasily. One whispered, "That's him… the Hero of Ashfall."
The woman frowned. "You're the one who destroyed the Hydra Nest, aren't you?"
He nodded once. "It had to be done."
"Thousands died in the blast," she said quietly. "But the blight stopped spreading. You saved more than you destroyed."
He said nothing. The silence between them was heavy, full of truth neither wanted to voice.
Then she stood and walked closer. "You're burning, aren't you?"
Riven stiffened. "What?"
"I can feel it," she said softly, pressing her palm to his chest, not in affection, but in assessment. Her light flared briefly, and she drew in a sharp breath. "Your soul's thread… it's unraveling."
[Alert: Unauthorized scan detected.]
[System interference neutralized.]
She flinched as the light between them snapped. "Your system blocked me. You're bonded to something… ancient."
Riven stepped back, eyes guarded. "Stay out of it."
She crossed her arms. "If I stay out of it, you'll die. Whatever's keeping you alive is killing you just as fast."
He turned to leave. "That's the deal."
Her voice stopped him. "A deal with who?"
He paused at the threshold, the wind blowing ash through the temple doors. "Not a 'who.' A what."
[Hero Protocol Active.]
[Mission Reminder: Cleanse the Blighted City.]
He looked back at her. "You heal people. I kill monsters. That's how we survive."
She shook her head. "No. That's how we break."
Night fell over Miren.
Riven found the source of the corruption, an enormous cyst of divine blight pulsing beneath the old cathedral. It breathed like a living heart, spreading spores of decay into the air.
[Blight Source Identified.]
[Extermination Required.]
[Predicted Cost: 5 Months Lifespan.]
He drew his sword.
"Five months, huh? Let's make it count."
Before he could activate his skill, the healer's voice echoed from behind him.
"Wait!"
He turned. She was standing at the edge of the chamber, her light illuminating the stone.
"Let me help you."
He frowned. "You'll just slow me down."
"Or I'll keep you alive," she shot back.
[Multiple signatures detected.]
[Warning: Civilian interference will increase energy cost by 30%.]
Riven clenched his jaw. "You hear that? You'll die too."
She stepped forward anyway. "Then I'll die healing instead of hiding."
Something in her tone, fierce, unyielding, reminded him of the people he'd lost.
He sighed. "Fine. Stay close."
The battle erupted like a storm.
The blight core split open, releasing twisted abominations that crawled on all fours, shrieking with mouths that weren't meant for sound.
[Skill Activation: Divine Surge.]
[-3 Months Lifespan.]
Silver light exploded from Riven's body. He met the first wave head-on, blade slicing through flesh and flame alike. Each strike burned more than his muscles, it burned time.
The healer, her name, he finally heard, was Lyra, stood behind him, weaving barriers of gold light, sealing wounds as fast as they opened.
"Your aura's collapsing!" she shouted. "You're bleeding your life away!"
He roared, cutting through a monstrous tendril. "Then patch it faster!"
[Warning: Vitality Below 20%.]
[System overload imminent.]
He felt it the edges of his consciousness burning, his heart hammering like a dying engine. Then a warm hand pressed to his back.
Lyra's power surged into him golden light threading through silver.
[External energy detected. Synchronizing resonance.]
[Lifespan decay slowed by 40%.]
Riven gasped, feeling the agony ease slightly. "What did you....."
"Sharing your burn," she said between gritted teeth. "Don't waste it."
He didn't. He drove forward, cutting through the final monster and plunging his sword into the blight core. The explosion of light turned the entire cavern white.
When it cleared, the corruption was gone, replaced by stillness.
He woke hours later. The System was already reporting.
[Mission Complete: Cleanse the Blighted City.]
[Reward: +2 Stat Growth.]
[Remaining Lifespan: 3 Years, 1 Month.]
He groaned and looked beside him.
Lyra was slumped against a wall, pale but breathing.
He stared at her for a long moment before murmuring, "You're insane."
She smiled weakly. "Takes one to know one."
He sat beside her. "You shouldn't have done that."
"You shouldn't have to do what you're doing," she countered softly. "If this 'System' kills you every time you save us… then maybe it's not salvation. It's slavery."
He looked down at his hands, silver veins pulsing faintly beneath his skin.
"Maybe," he said quietly. "But I can't stop."
"Why?"
"Because if I stop, no one else will."
Lyra studied him, the gray in his hair, the exhaustion buried beneath his eyes. "Then let me help. Even if I can't stop the clock, I can slow it down."
He met her gaze, saw the same determination that had driven him this far, and something he hadn't seen in a long time: compassion.
He didn't answer, but he didn't walk away either.
[Companion Detected: Lyra Veyne — Rank C Healer.]
[New Ability Unlocked: Shared Resonance.]
[Effect: Lifespan consumption reduced by 10% when within proximity.]
The sun rose over Miren the next morning. The city's blight was gone. Survivors emerged from hiding. For the first time in years, light touched the broken stones without burning them.
Riven stood on the cathedral steps, watching them rebuild. Lyra approached quietly beside him.
"You'll leave again, won't you?" she asked.
He nodded. "The System never sleeps."
She smiled faintly. "Then neither will I."
He looked at her, truly looked, and felt the faintest warmth in his chest, something other than the System's mechanical heartbeat.
[Hero Path Divergence Level: 5%. Monitoring.]
The System's voice faded into the background as Riven whispered to the dawn,
"If I must burn away my years to end this nightmare…"
He looked at Lyra, standing in the light beside him.
"…then let me burn bright enough to light the way."