Chapter 11: The Rank Jump
The ascent from the Under-City felt like climbing out of a grave. David and Emily emerged through a maintenance hatch in the middle of a simulated Lagos Marina. The sky was no longer grey static; it was a bruised purple, flickering with the data-stream of a dying world.
[Current Rank: 8 — David]
[Current Rank: 7 — Emily]
The system chime was constant now. The "Great Harvest" had turned the simulation into a slaughterhouse.
[Candidate 18: Expunged]
[Candidate 13: Expunged]
[Candidate 14: Expunged]
"The mid-tiers are being wiped out," Emily whispered, her eyes scanning the rooftops. "The Heavens Alliance is moving in a circle, closing the map toward the Labyrinth. They're funneling everyone left into a kill zone."
Badum-tap! Badum-tap!
David's heart gave a rapid, aggressive sequence. It wasn't the Monk this time. It was something faster, more frantic.
"Two targets," David said, his hand going to the hilt of a spectral blade he had formed from the Flame of Will. "Directly ahead. They aren't Alliance. They're desperate."
Out of the purple haze stepped Rank 15 and Rank 16—a pair of twins who had survived by scavenging the remains of others. They looked ragged, their eyes bloodshot.
"Give us your shards!" the brother screamed, his hands glowing with a jagged, unstable lightning. "The Saint said if we bring him the heads of the Rogue Pair, he'll let us live!"
David didn't feel pity. He felt the cold weight of the Primal Heart. These weren't people anymore; they were obstacles.
"Emily, don't waste your energy," David said, stepping forward. "I need to test the Flame."
"David, wait—"
The twins lunged. The brother threw a spear of lightning while the sister vanished into a blur of speed.
David didn't move. He closed his eyes and listened to the pulse of the world.
Skip-Beat.
He stepped an inch to the left. The lightning spear whistled past, incinerating a palm tree behind him.
Badum!
He reached out and caught the sister's wrist as she appeared beside him to slit his throat. She gasped, her eyes widening as David's skin began to glow with a violet hue.
[Skill Trigger: Soul-Burn]
"The Saint lied to you," David said.
He didn't punch her. He simply let the Flame of Will surge through his arm. The violet fire traveled into the girl's body, igniting her soul force. She screamed—not from physical pain, but from the agony of her very 'Will' being consumed.
The brother roared and charged, but David flicked his wrist, sending a wave of silver wind mixed with violet embers. The twins didn't just fall; they dissolved into blue light before they even hit the pavement.
[Candidate 15: Expunged]
[Candidate 16: Expunged]
[Rank Update: 8 -> 7]
[Rank Update: 7 -> 6]
David stood in the silence, the violet flame flickering in his palm. He felt a terrifying sense of clarity.
"You're getting stronger too fast," Emily said. She was standing ten feet back, her rifle lowered. There was no joy in her voice—only a strange, sharp calculation. "At this rate, you'll hit the Top 4 before we even reach the Labyrinth."
"Isn't that the goal?" David asked, turning to her.
"Of course," she said, her amber eyes reflecting the purple sky. "But the higher you climb, the bigger the target on your back. The Saint won't ignore a Rank 7 who can one-shot the mid-tiers."
David looked at his status screen.
[Opportunity 'The Lone Ancestor' – 52 Hours Remaining]
The vision from the ritual flashed in his mind again—the green blade in his back. He looked at Emily. She looked like the same partner who had bled for him in the vault. But his heart... his heart was giving a low, rhythmic vibration.
Badum... Badum...
A Neutral Pulse. She wasn't an enemy yet. But she wasn't "alive" in the way he was anymore. She was becoming part of the system's logic.
"Let's go," David said. "The Labyrinth is at the center of the city. If we're going to be in the Top 4, we need to get there before the Alliance sets the trap."
As they ran toward the towering, shifting walls of the Labyrinth that were rising out of the Lagos harbor, David felt a sudden chill.
A new message appeared on the global broadcast, one that made his blood run cold.
[Rank 1 'The Saint' has initiated the 'Final Cull'.]
[Current Remaining Candidates: 9]
[Restriction: The Gate to the 5th Blessing will only open when the number of candidates is 4.]
David looked at Emily. She was Rank 6. He was Rank 7.
There were nine people left. For the gate to open, five more had to die.
David's heart gave a heavy, singular Thump of Dread.
"Emily," David said as they reached the entrance of the shifting stone maze. "No matter what happens in there... we stick together. Right?"
Emily didn't look at him. She looked at the massive stone doors of the Labyrinth.
"Right, David," she whispered. "Until the very end."