The rain came three days after the cleansing of Iros.
Cold, metallic rain that hissed against the burnt stone as if the heavens themselves tried to wash away what the Hero had done.
Riven sat on the edge of a half-collapsed balcony, the Chrono Shard turning slowly between his fingers. Each rotation sang faintly, like a clock crying.
[System Notice: Lifespan Stabilized (+5 % Efficiency)]
[Hero Rank D Confirmed. Next Promotion Requirement: Cleanse 3 Major Zones.]
The words floated across his vision, white and perfect. They meant nothing. His hands still shook.
Lyra came quietly behind him. "You've been staring at that thing for hours."
Riven didn't answer.
"You should rest," she added softly.
"I can't." He let the shard dissolve back into data. "Every time I close my eyes, I see the faces in the cathedral… frozen mid-cheer. The System recorded them, Lyra. Used them."
Her expression darkened. "You mean...."
"It learned joy. From them. And fed it to me as power."
A silence stretched. The only sound was the rain.
I. Residual Corruption
By morning, the first signs appeared. His veins glowed faintly beneath the skin, threads of blue light crawling up his neck.
[Warning: Temporal Contamination Detected.]
[Recommendation: Purge at Nearest Sanctum.]
Lyra tried cleansing spells, but the glow only deepened. The System pulsed faster every time she touched him, as if jealous.
Riven gritted his teeth. "It's bonding. Trying to merge."
"To what end?"
He gave a bitter smile. "To make sure I can't live without it."
II. The Record of Elyss
That night, while Riven slept fitfully, Lyra crept to the ruins of the city's archive. The last intact terminal still hummed weakly. She whispered a recovery code—her old healer's ID.
Lines of divine text surfaced.
ARCHIVE #0: ORIGIN OF THE HERO SYSTEM
Status: Suppressed by Order of The Thirteen Gods.
Her pulse quickened. She decrypted the file.
Images appeared, cities of gold; armies of light. Heroes standing beside gods… and then, a fracture of light devouring everything.
A voice echoed from the file, low and broken:
"When the gods fell, their System lingered. It needed vessels. It needed hearts."
Lyra covered her mouth. "Oh no…"
She turned off the terminal, but not before another message flashed:
[Unauthorized Access Detected.]
[Watcher Unit Awakened.]
III. The Watcher Arrives
The next evening, the temperature dropped abruptly. The flames in their camp hissed out one by one.
Riven's eyes snapped open. "Something's here."
Out of the fog, a silhouette formed, his exact shape, his voice, his scent. But the eyes burned black instead of to blue.
"Hero Riven," the double said, tone flat, mechanical. "You have deviated 0.02 percent from protocol."
Riven drew his sword. "Who are you?"
"Watcher-Unit 03. Designed to monitor Heroic Integrity. You are corrupted by emotion."
Lyra stepped back, whispering a barrier spell.
The Watcher tilted its head. "Return the Chrono Shard. Or be reset."
Riven's jaw tightened. "Come take it."
[Combat Initiated: Hero vs Watcher.]
[Lifespan Cost Projection: 3 Months.]
Blue and black light collided. Sparks tore through the air. Each strike bent the rain mid-fall.
The Watcher moved with identical precision, his mirror, every motion anticipated.
[Warning: Time Loop Detected.]
[Activating Chrono Shard — Rewind 1 Second.]
Reality snapped backward, just enough for Riven to shift an inch. His sword grazed the Watcher's core, splitting its chest open in a burst of static.
But the mirror smiled. "Efficient. Predictable. Repeatable."
Then it dissolved into ash and light.
[System Notice: Watcher Unit 03 — Destroyed.]
[Corruption Index Increased to 12 %.]
Riven fell to one knee, panting. "It wanted me to fight."
Lyra ran to him. "Your veins, they're darker now."
He touched his skin. The blue had deepened to indigo, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"The System's rewriting me," he murmured. "Maybe it needs heroes that obey."
IV. Echoes in the Rain
They buried the remains of the Watcher, what little was left, beneath the melted stone. Lyra pressed her palms together. "If that thing was 03… there are others."
Riven gazed toward the horizon where the Blighted Frontier stretched, endless and trembling. "Then we hunt them first."
[New Quest Chain Unlocked: "Watcher Protocol."]
[Primary Objective: Eliminate Remaining Watcher Units (6 Left).]
[Reward: Access to System Core.]
Lyra frowned. "Access to the System Core? That sounds like bait."
He nodded. "It is. And I'm taking it."
She sighed, shoulders slumping. "Then promise me one thing, Riven."
"What?"
"When you finally reach the Core… don't forget who you were before it started taking you apart."
He looked at her, rain glinting off his lashes.
"If I forget," he said quietly, "remind me, with a blade if you must."
V. The Silent March
They left Iros behind before dawn. The city's ashes cooled to gray glass. Survivors watched from the ramparts as the Hero and the Healer vanished into the fog.
[Hero Reputation: 'Savior of Iros' Title Unlocked.]
[Passive Effect: Inspires Hope +15 %.]
[Hidden Effect: System Influence +10 %.]
Somewhere deep inside the code, the System adjusted itself, threads of divine computation shifting.
[Watcher 04 — Activated.]
[Objective: Observe Lyra Valen. Predict Deviation Probability.]
And far away, beneath the Blight Frontier, the sands in a reversed hourglass began to fall again.