"Come on! Just a little closer, you overgrown rock-hided mutt!" Leon shouted."[Warning: Physical parameters of host are currently insufficient for direct confrontation with a Tier 2 entity. High probability of critical damage or death to the host,]" the Sin Eater System chimed."Shut up, System! I don't have a choice! If I run, it'll tear Jax to pieces!" Leon yelled back."Look out, Leon! It's leaping! Get out of the way!" Jax screamed."Get back, recruit! That's a Tier 2! You'll get yourself slaughtered in a single bite!" Captain Vargas roared, slamming his shield. "I'll hold this bastard off! Jax! Grab Leon and get up to the battlements right now! The green bastards are scaling the eastern wall, and the guards up there are dropping like flies!""On it, Captain! Come on, Leon, get up! Get your damn legs moving!" Jax shouted, pulling him upward."Damn it... my body... it's so sluggish," Leon muttered, stumbling. "Why won't my legs move faster? My mind knows exactly where to step, but

"Four in the morning," Leon whispered, pulling himself tighter into the shadow of the armory wall. "That’s when he leaves. System, how much time do we have left?""[Answering. Exactly seven minutes until Commander Kael initiates his perimeter patrol,]" the mechanical voice chimed in his mind. "[Host physical parameters are currently stabilized. Goblin Reflexes passive stealth enhancement is active.]""Good. My chest doesn't burn anymore, but my hands are still freezing," Leon muttered, rubbing his palms together. "Stealing from a Tier 4 Master Warrior... if I get caught, there won’t be a trial. Kael will execute me on the spot.""[Survival is the priority. To alter the timeline and defeat the Hero Ares, acquiring the Purified Stone of Light is a non-negotiable step,]" the system responded coldly."I know, I know. You don't have to remind me," Leon grumbled under his breath. He watched the heavy wooden door of the commander's office. "Just keep scanning for any sudden movements. I can'

"Get back, Thomas!" Leon screamed, his voice cracking against the damp, heavy fog."Leon! Above you! Look out!" Thomas shrieked, pointing upward with a shaking finger."I see him!" Leon yelled. He planted his back foot deep into the mud and thrust his iron spear upward with both hands. "Come on, you overgrown mutt!"The massive alpha Shadow Wolf slammed down. Its giant, yellow fangs clashed directly against the iron tip of Leon's spear.CRACK."Gah! Damn it!" Leon groaned, his knees buckling under the sheer, crushing weight of the beast. The impact sent a violent vibration rattling up his arms, turning his elbows to jelly."Leon! It's going to crush you!" Thomas screamed, frantically waving his sword but too terrified to step closer. "Push it off! Push it off!""I'm trying!" Leon grunted, his teeth grinding together as he stared into the wolf’s saliva-dripping jaws. "Get out of the way, Thomas!""[Warning: Structural integrity of standard iron spear has dropped to thirty percent. Shaf

The clinic smelled of acrid herbs and stagnant blood. Leon sat on a wooden stool, his palms wrapped in rough, stained linen, watching the door. The air inside the garrison was suffocating; it was the heavy, static silence that preceded a lightning strike.Kael’s parting words echoed in the small, dim room. Every recruit is being questioned."Leon? You in here?"The voice was thin, reedy, and frantic. Thomas poked his head inside, his face pale and blotchy from crying. He hurried over, ignoring the healer who was busy with a row of wounded soldiers further down the hall."Thomas? What are you doing here? You should be in the barracks resting," Leon said, keeping his voice low."I can’t sleep, Leon. They’re everywhere. The MPs—they’re walking up and down the halls with lists. I heard them talking. They think it was an inside job by someone who knew the guard rotations for the inner keep," Thomas whispered, his hands trembling. "They’re checking everyone’s lockers. They searched Jax’s st

The courtyard of the garrison was a symphony of splintering wood and rhythmic, wet tearing. Leon moved like a specter of violence, his boots sliding through a slurry of mud and viscous black ichor. Beside him, Jax swung his shield with a frantic, uncoordinated desperation, his breath coming in sharp, serrated gasps."Leon! Behind you! Left!" Jax screamed, his voice cracking with the strain of holding his position.Leon pivoted without looking, his short-sword whistling through the air in a perfect horizontal arc. The blade carved through the neck of a lunging Rift Stalker before it could close the distance. "Don’t watch the ones in front, Jax! Watch the shadows! They move through the dark!""I can't see them! It’s too chaotic! How are you even spotting them?" Jax yelled, parrying a snap from another creature’s mandibles."Focus on the rhythm! Every time they strike, there's a hum in the air! Listen for it!" Leon barked, his eyes darting across the courtyard, his veins pulsing with the