2025-09-22 09:12:07The bullies’ footsteps faded into the night. The room trembled with silence again, broken only by the harsh rhythm of breathing.
Desmond pressed his back against the wall, chest heaving, sweat dripping into his eyes. His knuckles throbbed from the fight. He had never raised a hand in his life, yet here he was, alive, still standing.
The system’s voice echoed: [Mini-Challenge Complete.]
The women stared at him. Not as the pitiful nobody they first saw, but not as a savior either. Something in between. Something unsettled.
Lysandra finally broke the silence, her voice low, sharp. “You’re bleeding.”
Desmond glanced down. His elbow was scraped raw. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing gets you killed,” she retorted. She moved closer, eyes narrowing. “Hold still.”
He stiffened as she tore a strip from her sleeve, pressing it to the wound. The cloth tightened, and pain shot through him. He hissed.
“Don’t whine,” she muttered. Then, softer: “You struck with hesitation. That’s how bones break. Next time, commit.”
Desmond blinked. “Next… time?”
Her gaze flickered with something unreadable. “There’s always a next time.” Her thoughts pressed against him, unguarded: “…he’s untrained, but not cowardly. Maybe I can mold him. Or maybe he’ll die before he learns.”
Desmond’s chest tightened. She didn’t trust him yet, but she hadn’t dismissed him entirely. Selene scoffed from the corner, arms folded, eyes glinting like a blade. “Touching. The general’s daughter playing nursemaid for the beggar.”
Lysandra shot her a glare. “Better than sitting useless.”
Selene’s chin rose higher. “Useless? I was not raised to patch scraps of skin. I was raised to command respect.” Her eyes cut to Desmond, sharp as steel. “And I do not respect you.”
Desmond swallowed, forcing himself to meet her gaze. “Then what would make you respect me?”
Her lips curved in a cruel smile. “Nothing. Respect is earned over years, through birth, status, reputation, all things you lack. A gutter rat cannot rise into nobility.”
But her thoughts whispered differently: “…yet he fought back. He dared stand where others kneel. That frightens me more than I’ll admit.”
Desmond leaned forward. “You say nothing could change your mind, but I heard the truth. You saw me fight, and for a moment you doubted yourself.”
Her face paled, just slightly. “You presume too much.”
He didn’t press further. The system chimed anyway: [Trust Progress: +4%. Current total: 16%.]
Selene turned away, her pride cracking, even if only by inches. The quiet settled again. Mira sat by the broken chair leg she’d wielded earlier, hands folded in her lap.
She glanced up at him, hesitant. “You’re hurt everywhere, aren’t you?”
He gave a faint laugh. “I’ve been worse.”
Her brows knitted. “You’ve… fought before?”
“No,” he admitted. “But pain? Being beaten down? That I know well.”
Something in her softened. She shifted closer. “When they pushed you, you didn’t break. You protected us, even though you were afraid. That’s what matters.”
Her thoughts wrapped warmly around him: “…he’s fragile, but not heartless. If he keeps protecting, maybe I can believe in him.”
Desmond smiled faintly. “Why are you so kind to me?”
She looked down, voice trembling. “Because… no one else is.”
The system chimed again. [Trust Progress: +6%. Current total: 22%.]
For the first time, hope flickered inside him. But the night wasn’t done testing him. Outside, dogs barked. Guards’ voices echoed faintly, searching. The city never slept, and dawn was still hours away.
Selene shifted uneasily. “If they return, if the guards discover this, do you even have a plan? Or are we to wait here like lambs for slaughter?”
Lysandra’s smirk cut through the tension. “Maybe he does. Or maybe he’ll surprise us again.”
Desmond straightened, forcing steadiness into his voice. “If they come back, I’ll face them. And this time, I won’t hesitate.”
The system pulsed, cold and final. [Time remaining: 4 hours, 3 minutes.]
Desmond clenched his fists. Four hours left. Three women who barely tolerated him. He had to dig deeper, to earn something more than scraps of trust.
The long night pressed on. Every word, every glance mattered now.
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Chapter 14 – After the Blast
The world was soundless at first. Only white light and the faint smell of burning dust. Then, a heartbeat. Another.Desmond’s ears caught up before his eyes did. Wind howled through the collapsed ruin. Every breath tasted of grit and smoke.He tried to move and felt pain flash through his ribs, not sharp, but deep, like someone had rung a bell inside him. “System…” he whispered hoarsely. “Status…”Nothing answered. Just static in his mind. He pushed at the broken stone on his chest until it shifted. Dim daylight leaked through a crack above him.His fingers brushed something warm, not stone. Flesh. “Mira?”A faint groan. Relief cut through the fog. He clawed through the rubble, hands bleeding on rough stone until he uncovered her face, streaked with soot but breathing.Her torch had gone out; the stub of it still clung to her fingers. Desmond hauled himself upright and scanned the wreckage. The ruin’s far wall was gone.Beyond it lay scorched earth and half-melted armor fragments, the
Chapter 13 – The Last Ten Seconds
The system’s red glyphs burned in Desmond’s vision.[CRITICAL DECISION: 10 … 9 … 8 …The hum outside was no longer a hum, it was a scream, the air itself vibrating. The ruin shook as if something enormous were breathing against its walls. Mira clutched his sleeve. “Desmond!”Lysandra’s sword hovered over the assassin’s chest. “Say it! Fight or flee!”Selene leaned in close, her breath steady even as dust rained down. “Decide, husband. Your kingdom of ruin waits.” 7 … 6 … 5 …Desmond’s heart pounded like a drum. Images flickered, Mira’s pleading eyes, Lysandra’s fierce stance, Selene’s calm venom, the assassin’s twisted grin. Enough.He raised his voice above the noise. “We fight. All of us.”The system flared gold. [Choice Locked: Fight as a Unit.][Group Synchronization + 20%. Shared Combat Protocol Activated.]The doorway exploded inward. Shadows poured through the breach, skeletal outlines of smoke and light, their eyes burning green. The temperature dropped so fast the torch gutte
Chapter 12 – The Choice and the Siege
The ruin quaked again. Dust sifted down from the ceiling. Outside, that hum swelled into a living roar. The system’s voice blared in Desmond’s skull: [Decision Required. Assassin’s Fate.]Mira’s wide eyes pleaded. “Keep him alive, please!”Lysandra’s blade glittered. “Kill him now.”Selene’s lips curved. “Use him. Then dispose of him when it suits us.”Three voices. One heartbeat. The assassin, bleeding and bound, smirked through cracked teeth. “Choose, boy. Or the Serpent chooses for you.”Desmond’s chest tightened. His head pounded with the weight of the choice. He saw the system prompt shimmering in his vision, three paths branching in front of him like a broken trident.For a heartbeat, silence. Then his voice cut through. “No more stalling.”He stepped toward the prisoner. Mira held her breath. Lysandra’s grip on her sword trembled, poised. Selene’s eyes gleamed, hungry.Desmond’s hand closed on the assassin’s chin, forcing those slit-pupiled eyes to meet his.“I keep you alive,”
Chapter 11 – The Fracture Within
The ruin still trembled with the echo of armored boots. Their sound seemed to linger, ghostlike, in the morning air. Even with the guards gone, the walls pressed close, suffocating.Desmond hadn’t moved. His chest rose and fell as though each breath weighed a stone. He could still feel the captain’s eyes on him, sharp as a blade pressed against his throat.And then Mira’s voice broke the silence. “You lied,” she whispered. “You lied to them. We should have given him over.”Her hand trembled where it clutched her cloak. “The Serpent hunts us, Desmond. The King watches us. You’re balancing fire on both hands, and”“and you’d have us hand over our only chance at answers?” Lysandra cut in, voice hard. She stood near the bound figure in the corner, one hand gripping her sword’s pommel, her eyes lit with fury. “Better to risk our necks than let the Serpent vanish into the King’s dungeons, untouchable. At least this way, we keep control.”Selene leaned against the wall, arms folded, her smil
Chapter -10- B– At the Mercy of the Crown
The first light of dawn bled across the ruin’s broken stones, gray and thin. Mira had dozed against the wall, her breathing shallow.Lysandra kept her hand on her sword even in sleep, posture tense. Selene leaned awake in the corner, eyes sharp, as if she’d expected this moment. The moment when bootsteps thundered in the street outside.Desmond stiffened, instinct dragging him upright. “Wake them,” he hissed.Mira stirred with a start as Lysandra’s eyes snapped open, hand instantly gripping her blade. Selene’s lips curled into a cold smile. “Finally. I wondered how long it would take them to arrive.”The doorless arch of the ruin flooded with armored figures. Gleaming helms caught the pale dawn. Spears lowered in unison.“By order of His Majesty, King Dorian,” barked the captain, “you are to step forward and account for last night’s disturbance.”Lysandra stepped into position before Desmond, blade drawn, voice sharp. “Disturbance? We defended ourselves.”The captain’s eyes flicked to
Chapter 10-A – Shattered Silence
The torch had burned low, leaving the ruin steeped in long shadows. The assassin lay bound in the corner, chest rising in shallow, uneven rhythm.But the room’s real weight wasn’t the prisoner, it was the silence between Desmond and the women.Mira broke it first. Her voice was soft, fragile. “Desmond… what was that? The green light, the voice…”Desmond rubbed his temples. His skull still throbbed from the battle in his mind. “The Serpent. Or something tied to it. Whatever it was, it wanted inside.”Mira shuddered, arms wrapping around herself. “I felt it too. Like… like a snake in my veins.”Selene scoffed, though it lacked her usual bite. “Convenient. Very convenient. The assassin whispers nonsense, you groan dramatically, and suddenly you’re the hero who saved us all?”Lysandra bristled. “You saw the glow in his eyes. You heard the voice. Don’t you dare call that nonsense.”Selene’s gaze sharpened. “And you don’t dare ignore that power is dangerous. He’s carrying something none of
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