2025-10-16 00:25:24The arena pulsed with crimson light, the sound of thunder echoing like a heartbeat. Jayden’s sword trembled in his hand. His voice cracked. “Luna?”
The Red Hunter tilted her head, removing her mask fully. The face underneath was both familiar and wrong.
Her eyes glowed red instead of violet, her smile carved too perfectly. “Don’t look at me like that,” she said coldly. “You wanted to find me, didn’t you? Well, here I am.”
Jayden took a slow step forward. “You’re not her. You can’t be.”
Her expression didn’t change. “Then why does your system recognize me?”
A tone chimed in his ear. [Identity Confirmed: Luna Vale, Status: Corrupted Core System.]
Jayden’s breath caught. “No… no, that’s impossible.”
“It’s the truth.” Her voice softened for just a second. “When the Tower collapsed, I was rewritten. My memories, my feelings… they belong to him now.”
“The Game Master,” Jayden whispered.
Her gaze sharpened. “He gave me purpose, to protect the Core. And to erase you.”
Jayden’s sword shook. “Erase me? Luna, it’s me! Jayden! You saved me back in Zone One, remember?”
She blinked once. For the smallest moment, her expression flickered, pain, recognition, but it vanished as fast as it came. “Memories don’t matter here,” she said coldly. “Only the code does.”
She raised her twin blades. The air rippled as power gathered around her.
[Warning: Elite Entity Engaged.]
Jayden shouted, “I’m not fighting you!”
“Then you’ll die.”
She moved like lightning, blades flashing. Jayden blocked one strike, ducked the next, his breath coming hard and fast. Every hit rattled his bones. “Stop!” he yelled. “You’re being controlled!”
Her eyes glowed brighter. “Maybe control is what I need. Maybe freedom was the mistake.”
Jayden’s anger snapped. “No one gets to decide that for you!”
He surged forward, their blades clashing in a storm of sparks. “Why do you keep fighting me?” she screamed. “You don’t even know what you’re saving!”
“Because it’s you!” he roared. “Because I promised I’d bring you back!”
Their swords locked, faces inches apart, lightning reflecting in their eyes. For a second, something in her gaze trembled, an echo of the Luna he knew. “Jayden.”
He saw tears forming at the corners of her eyes, glitching red and blue. The system flashed violently.
[Core System Instability Detected.]
[Override Attempt Detected: Manual Reset in 60 Seconds.]She gasped, clutching her head. “He’s inside me… I can’t.”
Jayden caught her shoulders. “Fight it! You’re stronger than him!”
She screamed as a shadow rose behind her, a towering figure made of data and fire. [Enough sentimentality.]
The Game Master’s voice thundered through the arena. The shadow’s hand wrapped around Luna’s form, fusing into her like black ink spreading through water.
Jayden stepped back, horrified. “No, don’t you dare touch her!”
[She belongs to the Core now. And through her… so will you.]
Luna’s scream became metallic as her body transformed, armor shifting into dark crystal. Her eyes turned completely red. Jayden’s system went wild.
[Critical Threat Level: 99%]
“System!” he shouted. “Override combat lock! Access all functions!”
[Authorization Denied.]
He roared in frustration. “Then I’ll do it myself!”
He threw his sword aside and reached for her, even as she lifted a blade to his throat. “Don’t,” she warned, voice trembling under the mechanical tone. “If you come closer… I’ll kill you.”
“You can try,” he said quietly. “But you won’t.”
Her hand shook. “Why are you always like this? Always risking everything… for me?”
“Because you’re worth everything,” he said simply.
Her breath caught. The light around her flickered again, weaker now, unstable. “Stop it… don’t make me remember.”
Jayden stepped closer, ignoring the burning cuts across his arms. “Remember the first day we met? You said you didn’t believe in heroes.”
Her lips parted, trembling. “And you said… sometimes the world just needs someone stupid enough to try.”
He smiled faintly. “That’s still me.”
The arena cracked beneath them. Data rained like sparks. The Game Master’s voice thundered again: [Enough! Emotion is corruption. Emotion must be erased.]
Luna screamed as light poured from her chest. Jayden reached out, grabbing her hand. “System!” he shouted. “Link her code with mine, now!”
[Warning: Fusion unstable. Risk of deletion 89%.]
“Do it!”
Their hands clasped. A surge of light engulfed them both. Memories flooded between them, her laughter, his promises, the fights, the fear, the fragile hope, then, silence.
The red glow in her eyes flickered out. She fell into his arms, whispering faintly, “You idiot… you could’ve died.”
He laughed softly, relief choking him. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
But before he could breathe, her body stiffened. The system screamed. [Error: Dual Core Conflict Detected. Reboot in 10 seconds.]
Luna’s eyes widened. “He’s overriding me… He’ll use my body to kill you!”
Jayden shook his head violently. “No! I won’t let that happen!”
She gripped his hand, tears glowing. “Then end it.”
He froze. “What?”
“Destroy the Core. Destroy me… before he does.”
He stepped back, shaking his head. “No. Don’t you dare say that.”
“Please,” she whispered. “Don’t make my brother’s creation win.”
The countdown ticked in the air. [5… 4… 3…]
Jayden’s grip on his sword tightened. His vision blurred through tears. “I can’t,” he said weakly.
She smiled softly, that same warm smile he’d chased across every zone. “You always could.”
[2… 1…]
Her body surged with black light. Jayden screamed, plunging his blade through her chest, through the Core.
The explosion tore through the arena, a storm of white and crimson code swallowing everything. “Luna!”
Her fading voice echoed through the chaos, soft and calm. “Find me… where it all began…”
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
Chapter 324
They looked nervously into the shadows. They had all heard the rumors. They had all heard the story of Knox and the factory. But the real danger was not on the ground.High above the street, on the roofs of the tall brick buildings on both sides of the checkpoint, were the snipers.There were six snipers. They were the absolute best marksmen the government had. They wore dark, waterproof camouflage. They lay flat on their stomachs in the freezing rain. They looked through advanced thermal scopes that could see heat through the darkness. Their heavy rifles were loaded with phase-anchored, anti-magic bullets.Sniper One lay on the roof of an old bank building.The rain bounced off his helmet. He kept his eye pressed against the green, glowing scope of his rifle. He scanned the empty, wet street far below."Sniper One, checking in. Sector Alpha is clear," he whispered into his radio."Sniper Two, checking in. Sector Bravo is clear," the radio crackled in his ear."Sniper Three, clear."
Chapter 323
The bright, white lights of the underground military bunker in Washington, D.C., were painful to look at. The room was made of thick, cold steel. It smelled like old coffee and nervous sweat. General Marcus Hayes paced back and forth across the grey floor. His heavy black boots clicked loudly. Click. Clack. Click.Sitting at the center of the metal table was Knox.Knox was a tough, cruel mercenary. He was a man who used to laugh while hurting people. But right now, Knox was not laughing. He was wrapped in a thick, grey wool blanket. He held a small white paper cup of hot coffee in his hands. His hands were shaking so violently that the hot coffee spilled over the edges, burning his fingers. He did not even feel the burns.Knox’s eyes were wide. They stared blankly at the metal wall."Tell me again," General Hayes demanded, stopping his pacing. He leaned over the table, glaring at the shivering mercenary. "Tell me exactly what happened in that factory."Knox swallowed hard. His teeth
Chapter 322
From inside the thick black smoke, a hand reached out. The hand grabbed Brody by the throat.Jayden stepped out of the explosion. He was completely untouched. There was no soot on his face. There was no burn mark on his coat. He was flawless. He was indelible. He lifted the massive, heavy Brody off the floor as easily as a child lifting a doll."You..." Brody choked, kicking his legs wildly. His face turned purple. "You're a demon!""I am the end of your hunt," Jayden whispered.Jayden threw Brody. He threw the giant man thirty feet through the air. Brody crashed head-first into a thick, solid brick wall. The impact knocked the mercenary completely unconscious. He slumped to the ground, out cold, his jaw broken and his fight finished.Only one man was left.Knox.The cruel, arrogant leader of the Purge Squad was on his knees. His flashlight had rolled away into a puddle.Knox’s hands were shaking violently. He stared at Jayden walking slowly toward him.Knox reached for his pistol.
Chapter 321
Trent swallowed hard. His hands were sweating inside his tactical gloves. He followed Wyatt closely, keeping his gun raised.They walked behind a massive, rusted car-building machine. The machine was the size of a small house. It cast long, terrifying shadows on the wet floor. The rain dripped from the ceiling, splashing loudly in the puddles. Splash. Splash."I don't like this, Wyatt," Trent whispered. "It is too quiet.""Shut up," Wyatt hissed. "Shine your light over there."Trent pointed his flashlight at a pile of broken wooden crates. Nothing was there."There's no one here," Wyatt said, sounding disappointed. "It was probably just the wind knocking a pipe down. Let's go back."Wyatt turned around. He expected Trent to be standing right behind him. But Trent was gone.Wyatt blinked. He looked left. He looked right. "Trent?" Wyatt asked quietly.There was no answer. There had been no scream. There had been no sound of a struggle. Trent had simply vanished into the thin, cold air.
Chapter 320
At the edge of the city, near the dark, freezing water of the river, stood an old, abandoned car factory.The factory was massive. It was made of thick brick and heavy rusted steel. The roof had large holes in it. The cold rain poured directly through the holes, creating deep, muddy puddles on the concrete floor inside. The air smelled like old motor oil, wet rust, and dead leaves.Inside the dark factory, four men were walking. They were a Purge Squad. They worked for Director Smith and the world governments. They wore sleek, dark grey tactical suits, similar to the armor of the faceless Executors. But these four men were not lobotomized robots. They were not empty shells.They were normal human mercenaries. They had been hired by the government to hunt down anyone who still had a piece of magic inside them. They were allowed to keep their emotions. They were allowed to keep their greed and their cruelty. They were the hunting dogs of the new world. Their names were Knox, Wyatt, B
Chapter 319
DIRECTIVE UPDATED, the internal computers of the Executors buzzed.CONTAINMENT IMPOSSIBLE.ESCALATING TO ISOLATION.The forty Executors did not charge at Jayden with their titanium blades. They knew swords would not cut him.Instead, they reached to their belts. They pulled out thick, heavy black canisters.These were not bombs. They were Rapid-Hardening Stasis Foam grenades.The foam was an advanced military tool. When the foam hit the air, it expanded instantly. Within two seconds, it hardened into a material that was five times stronger than solid steel. It was used to seal massive holes in spaceships.The Executors threw the black canisters simultaneously. Forty canisters flew through the rainy sky, landing in a perfect circle around Jayden.PSSSSSHHHHH! The canisters exploded. A massive, thick mountain of dark grey foam erupted from the ground. It expanded wildly, rising twenty feet into the air. It rushed toward Jayden like a tidal wave of wet cement.Jayden did not run. He sto
You may also like
Monster Hunters
Datdepressedguy 17.1K viewsDivine Cultivator: Rebirth of the God Emperor
Dragonix Loki42.6K viewsHoly Demon God
LuoFeng91521.6K viewsI Shall Eat The Heavens
Daoist Of Lies30.7K viewsTHE WARLORD'S SURVIVAL HAREM SYSTEM
Kal Royalty437 viewsThe Crippled Son-in-law? Try Immortal Emperor
Passionate Hero112 viewsTALES OF THE SERPENT TAMER
titilola87 viewsRejected by the Cosmic Order
Evanscapenovel1.0K views