Betrayed Son-in-Law: System Awakening

Chapter 07

The metal door shook under the first heavy blow.

Kael stood in front of Theo with both hands free. The temporary shield felt like thin glass over his skin and the boy’s. He could still move, but he knew it would only last ten minutes.

Seren pulled a short blade from her coat. Rook checked his gun and shook his head. “Too many on the other side. We cannot win a straight fight.”

Kael looked at the old maps on the wall. One showed a second exit that led to the river tunnels.

“There,” he said. “We go that way.”

Another blow hit the door. The metal bent inward. A blue glow leaked through the cracks.

Dariac’s voice came clear and cold. “Time is up, nephew.”

The door exploded open. Three figures stepped through the smoke. Dariac stood in the middle. The two others had the same empty eyes as Lila. Hollow System hosts.

Kael moved first.

He grabbed Theo and ran toward the side tunnel. Seren and Rook covered them. Rook fired twice. One Hollow host staggered but did not fall. The blue light around its body absorbed most of the bullets.

Seren’s blade flashed and cut the second host across the arm. The wound closed almost at once.

“Go!” she shouted.

Kael carried Theo into the narrow tunnel. The air grew colder and smelled of wet stone and river water. Behind them the sounds of fighting mixed with Dariac’s calm voice giving orders.

The system spoke.

[Time remaining on shared shield: 7 minutes.]

Kael kept running. Theo held on tight, face buried against his father’s shoulder.

The tunnel opened into a wider space with dark water moving on one side. An old maintenance bridge crossed to the other bank. Kael stepped onto it. The metal creaked under his weight.

A blue spear of light shot past his head and hit the wall. Stone chips flew.

Dariac stood at the tunnel entrance. Only one Hollow host remained beside him. The other two were missing. Seren and Rook had slowed them.

Dariac raised his hand. “You cannot keep paying forever, Kael. Sooner or later the system will take the last memory that makes you fight.”

Kael did not answer. He kept moving across the bridge.

The Hollow host ran forward faster than a normal person. Kael felt the shared shield tighten as the enemy got close. He turned, still holding Theo with one arm, and kicked the host hard in the chest. The shield flared. The host flew backward into the water.

Dariac’s face stayed calm. He walked onto the bridge.

“Give me the rings and the boy. You can still walk away.”

Kael’s free hand went to his pocket. The two dull rings were there.

The system flashed a new option.

[Emergency override available.]

[Sacrifice the temporary shield early.]

[Gain one focused strike that ignores Hollow defense.]

[Cost: One memory of Theo sleeping safely in your arms will be erased.]

Kael looked at the boy’s face against his shoulder. He could still feel the weight and the warmth. He knew that memory would hurt to lose.

He whispered, “Do it.”

The shield around them vanished. At the same time a sharp, clear power settled into Kael’s right arm. The memory of Theo sleeping against him disappeared. The empty space was quiet and cold.

Dariac stepped closer, confident.

Kael moved.

He closed the distance in one step and drove his fist into Dariac’s chest. The focused strike ignored whatever protection the man had. Dariac’s eyes widened. He flew backward off the bridge and hit the water hard. The remaining Hollow host jumped in after him.

Kael did not wait to see if they surfaced. He ran the rest of the way across the bridge and into the next tunnel.

Seren and Rook caught up a minute later. Both were breathing hard. Seren had a cut on her cheek. Rook’s sleeve was burned.

“They will recover,” Seren said. “Hollow hosts do not stay down long.”

Kael kept walking. “How far to the surface?”

“Ten minutes if we stay quiet,” Rook answered.

They moved through the dark tunnels in silence. Theo had fallen asleep again from exhaustion. Kael felt the missing memory every time the boy’s head shifted against him. He knew the weight was familiar, but the picture of the boy sleeping safely was gone.

They climbed a rusty ladder and pushed open a metal grate. Night air and rain hit their faces. They were on the riverbank, far from the train yard.

Seren pointed to a dark van parked under a bridge. “That one is ours. Clean plates. No trackers.”

They climbed in. Rook drove. Seren sat in front. Kael stayed in the back with Theo.

The system spoke again.

[Mission complete.]

[Theo protected for the required time.]

[Permanent resistance to mental attacks unlocked.]

[Warning: Dariac has reported your location to the Circle.]

[Next Hollow force will arrive sooner than expected.]

Kael looked down at his son. The boy’s face was peaceful in sleep. Kael could not remember the last time he had watched him sleep without fear. That picture was gone now.

Seren turned in her seat. “You keep giving pieces of yourself away. At this rate there will be nothing left of the man who started this.”

Kael met her eyes.

“As long as he is alive, I can lose the rest.”

Rook spoke from the front. “We need a new safe place. The Circle has people in every major district.”

Seren nodded. “There is one location they do not know. It belonged to your father. He never wrote it down. Only blood can open it.”

Kael frowned. “Where?”

Seren looked at him carefully.

“It is under the house where you grew up. The same house Dariac burned when he first tried to take the rings from your father.”

Kael’s hands tightened around Theo.

He had not been back to that place since he was a child. In his mind the house was only ash and broken walls.

The system gave a soft pulse.

[New main mission available at dawn.]

[Mission: Open your father’s hidden vault.]

[Warning: Something is already waiting inside.]