The next dawn was colorless. The sun hung behind a pall of gray dust, painting the horizon in dying silver. The ruins of the outer lands stretched endlessly, half cities, half graveyards, where glass-black soil still pulsed faintly from old divine fire.
Riven tightened the strap of his armor. His Hero Mark shimmered faintly under the sleeve, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
[New Quest Initiated: Cleanse the Fallen City of Iros]
[Primary Objective: Purge the Blight Cores (0/7)]
[Reward: Hero's Relic (Tier II)]
[Estimated Lifespan Cost: 1 Month]
He exhaled slowly. "One month for one city," he murmured. "Let's see if it's worth it."
Lyra walked beside him, the hem of her healer's cloak brushing the cracked stone. "You don't even hesitate anymore," she said quietly.
Riven's gaze stayed on the horizon. "Hesitation won't stop the clock."
I. The City of Iros
They reached Iros by midday. Once, it had been a trading hub between the eastern valleys and the divine frontier. Now it was a carcass. The buildings leaned like broken teeth, windows melted by celestial fire. Everywhere, the same sickly glow of Blight oozed from the streets liquid time, corrupted by divine residue.
The air was wrong here: too still, too quiet.
[Warning: Blight Concentration Level 7. Structural Collapse Detected.]
[System Tip: Divine entities may lurk within.]
Riven stepped forward. His boots sank into ash. "Stay behind me," he said.
Lyra nodded, clutching her staff. Her light magic flickered in and out as if the city itself resisted healing.
They turned a corner, and froze.
Dozens of corpses lay piled around a cracked fountain. Not freshly dead; crystallized, frozen mid-motion. Their eyes glowed faintly blue. In the center of the fountain floated a pulsing orb of translucent flesh, one of the Blight Cores.
Riven raised his sword.
[Sub-Objective Unlocked: Destroy the First Core]
[Cost Estimation: 5 Days of Lifespan]
Lyra's hand darted out. "Five days? For one strike?"
He gave a dry smile. "Cheap bargain."
[Skill: Hero's Edge — Activated]
[Cost: 5 Days of Lifespan]
Blue fire ignited along his blade. He slashed, the world blinked white. The Core shrieked, collapsing inward before exploding into shards of light.
[Objective Progress: 1/7]
[Lifespan Remaining: 4 Years 7 Months 21 Days]
Riven staggered slightly. His heartbeat slowed for a moment too long.
Lyra caught his arm. "You keep spending yourself like you're infinite."
He looked at her and said quietly, "If time is currency, I'll die rich."
II. The Survivors
Beyond the plaza, faint movement flickered, humans. A makeshift barricade of overturned vehicles and broken stone blocked the main avenue. Crossbows aimed from the shadows.
"Hold!" a voice barked. "Identify yourself!"
Riven sheathed his sword slowly. "Not Blight. Not divine. Just passing through."
A man in battered armor stepped forward. "Passing through a city that eats souls?" His eyes flicked to the glowing lines on Riven's skin. "You're one of them. A System user."
Riven met his stare evenly. "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't be talking."
The man hesitated, then lowered his weapon slightly. "Name's Captain Varen. We've been trapped here three weeks. The Blight grows faster than we can burn it."
Lyra spoke softly. "He can cleanse it."
Varen's gaze hardened. "At what cost?"
Riven didn't answer. The silence told him enough.
Varen exhaled. "Fine. You help us hold the north sector. The cores are concentrated around the cathedral."
They walked through shattered streets lined with survivors gaunt faces, hollow eyes. Children peeked out from behind rusted barricades, whispering, "Is he the Hero?"
For the first time, Riven felt their belief press against him like a physical thing. It burned worse than the System's drain.
The Hero System pulsed.
[Emotional Feedback Detected: Admiration — Processing…]
[Temporary Boost: Strength +10%, Willpower +5%]
[Note: Emotional resonance can enhance Hero output.]
Riven froze. "It's feeding on their faith."
Lyra blinked. "What?"
He opened his interface, lines of divine code running across his vision. "The System converts human emotion into performance metrics. It's harvesting belief."
Her face paled. "Then every time they cheer for you…"
He finished grimly, "...someone else pays the bill."
III. The Cathedral
By nightfall, they reached the cathedral, a black spire sunk halfway into the earth. The great bell hung sideways, fused to molten stone. Seven Blight Cores pulsed along the aisles like hearts.
[Main Objective Progress 1/7]
[Secondary Challenge Activated: Cleanse all Cores before Nightfall Phase III.]
[Reward Multiplier: x2]
[Penalty for Failure: Lifespan Penalty x3]
Riven hissed under his breath. "So that's how it keeps me running."
Lyra's fingers brushed his arm. "We don't have to take the multiplier...."
He stepped forward. "If I don't, it punishes me anyway."
He lunged into motion.
[Skill: Hero's Heart — Activated]
[Cost: 2 Weeks of Lifespan]
Blue radiance surged, flooding the cathedral. He darted between pews, slicing through Blight-spawn that erupted from the walls, faceless creatures shaped from time fragments. Each strike burned more of him away.
[Remaining Lifespan: 4 Years 7 Months 6 Days… 5 Days… 4 Days.]
Lyra chanted, sending cleansing waves that weakened the cores. "Riven! Three left!"
He moved like a ghost, each motion precise, deadly, consuming seconds he could never reclaim.
At the final core, he hesitated, just a blink, but the System flooded his mind with golden script.
[Warning: Mission Timer Low.]
[Override suggested: Accelerate Time Field — Cost: 1 Month Lifespan.]
Riven bit down hard, blood on his tongue. "Do it."
The world slowed. The flames of the candles froze mid-flicker. His body burned. He drove his blade through the last core.
A wave of silence swept outward.
[Objective Complete 7/7]
[Reward Applied: Hero's Relic (Tier II): Chrono Shard]
[Penalty: 1 Month Consumed — Remaining Lifespan 4 Years 6 Months.]
The System paused, as if savoring his exhaustion.
[Emotion Feedback: Worship Detected.]
[Temporary Buff +15%.]
Through the cathedral doors, the survivors cheered, voices echoing like a hymn. Lyra watched them with tears in her eyes, whispering, "They think you saved them."
Riven sank to one knee. "Maybe I did."
Lyra's hand hovered over his shoulder. "But it's killing you."
He looked up at the stained glass where light streamed through, reshaping into the System sigil, a perfect hourglass of silver flame.
"Then at least they'll live long enough to remember me."
IV. The Relic
That night, by the fire outside the city, Riven examined the reward. A shard of translucent crystal hovered above his palm, spinning slowly.
[Chrono Shard — Hero's Relic (Tier II)]
[Passive: Stabilizes Temporal Decay (-5% Lifespan Drain)]
[Active: Rewind 1 Second of Local Time. Cost: 1 Week.]
Lyra stared. "You can undo time?"
"Barely a heartbeat," he said. "But it's enough to change a death blow."
"Or to die slower," she whispered.
He laughed quietly. "Dying slower is still dying. I'll take it."
The System chimed again.
[Hero Rank Up — Grade E → Grade D]
[Access Unlocked: Hero Archives — Entry #001 'The First Light']
An image flashed behind his eyes: a woman wreathed in celestial fire standing before an army of fallen stars. Her voice echoed faintly.
"Every hero burns. The gods just decide who burns longest."
Riven gasped, the vision fading.
Lyra gripped his hand. "What did you see?"
He looked into the flames. "Another hero. Or a memory the System wants me to inherit."
V. Manipulation
Later, when Lyra slept, Riven opened his interface again. Lines of code scrolled like scripture. Deep within the menus, he found something new:
[Emotion Resonance Index: Humans > 0.78 — Active Link Established.]
[Automatic Reward Feedback Protocol: Enhance Public Perception.]
[Projected Outcome: 'Hero of Humanity' title unlocked in 3 missions.]
His stomach turned. The System wasn't rewarding him for saving lives, it was programming belief. Every cheer, every prayer, every tear… a loop to push him deeper into obedience.
He whispered to the darkness, "How much of me will be left when it's done rewriting me?"
No answer. Only the faint ticking in his chest.
VI. Epilogue — The Watcher
At the edge of Iros, beyond the mended barricade, a figure watched from a collapsed bell tower. Cloaked in ash and silver light, its eyes mirrored the same Hero Mark, but inverted, burning black instead of blue.
It whispered into the wind, voice smooth, patient.
"The new Hero progresses well. The clockwork stirs."
From its sleeve, an ancient hourglass turned, its sands running backward.