System Activated: Rise of Liam Mercer

Chapter 7: Rise of the Underworld

London’s night was heavy with fog, a pale glow of streetlights cutting through the mist. Liam Mercer crouched atop the roof of an abandoned nightclub, his eyes fixed on the figure below.

He had been tracking him for days, a man known only as Kael Draven, a minor warlord in the underworld who had recently acquired supernatural enhancements from the Divine Houses. 

Rumors said he had taken Core Fragments for himself, bending their power to his will. And he had crossed Liam first.

“You don’t know me,” Liam muttered, wind curling around his fists, “but you will remember this night.”

Below, Kael laughed, a cruel, high-pitched sound that carried across the foggy streets. “So, the little courier thinks he’s a storm now? Come down and face me, Wind Boy.”

Liam’s lips twisted into a grin. “Face me? No, I’m going to teach you respect.”

The air around Liam coiled, responding to his intent. Cyclones formed around his body, lifting debris, tossing rain into spinning blades. 

The fog seemed to twist into sharp arcs, slicing across the rooftops. Kael’s eyes glowed faintly red, similar to the Acolytes but darker, more corrupted. 

He raised his hands, summoning a jagged barrier of shadows, the street beneath him cracking with energy. “Pathetic,” Kael sneered. “You think wind can hurt me?”

“Watch me.” Liam’s voice was low, steady, deadly. He dashed forward using Gale Step, leaping from rooftop to rooftop with unnatural speed. 

The wind carried him, slicing through Kael’s barrier with a precise air strike that slammed the warlord backward into a rusted railing. 

Kael hissed, pain flashing across his face. “You, little pest!”

Liam landed lightly, eyes glowing, fists coiled with wind energy. “You thought you could cheat the Houses, steal fragments, and terrorize this city? Not anymore.”

Kael surged forward, striking with shadow-infused fists. Liam twisted mid-air, letting the wind guide him like a predator. 

Every dodge, every strike was calculated, a rhythm of motion and intent. “You’ve gotten faster,” Kael growled, “but speed alone won’t save you!”

Liam laughed, letting the wind whip violently around him. “Speed? No. Precision. Power. And retribution.”

He summoned a vertical cyclone, lifting Kael into the air. The warlord thrashed, energy sparks flying off his shadow-infused armor. 

Liam struck again, wind slicing through the darkness, tearing at Kael’s defenses. “You think this is revenge?” 

Liam’s inner monologue roared, anger, pain, and pride colliding. “You humiliated me. You laughed at me. Tonight, I’ll make you regret every second.”

The cyclone intensified, wind lashing, debris spinning into Kael like knives. The warlord’s barrier faltered, shadows splitting and screaming under the force of Liam’s mastery.

Kael landed hard, coughing, eyes wide in disbelief. “I, I won’t be beaten by a courier!”

“You will,” Liam said coldly. “And you’re going to remember why.”

The wind surged around Liam’s arms, fists, and legs, responding to his thought, anticipation, and fury. 

He struck again, precise, calculated, a perfect combination of Tier Three Wind Mastery and synchronized Core Fragments. 

Kael was thrown across the rooftop, crashing through a stack of crates, face scraping against jagged metal.

“Face-slapping revenge,” Liam thought grimly, a rush of satisfaction coursing through him. “This is for every slight, every insult, every time they thought I was worthless.”

Kael groaned, struggling to rise, but Liam was already above him, coiling the wind like a living whip. 

He struck once more, lifting the warlord into the air. The wind forced Kael to face the city, sky, and fog as if showing him the vastness of what he had underestimated.

“You should have stayed in your alleyways,” Liam spat. “You should have never touched what wasn’t yours.”

Kael’s face contorted, realizing for the first time that he had misjudged the courier-turned-storm. 

He tried to summon energy, but the wind intercepted, crushing his attacks mid-air. The System pulsed in Liam’s mind.

Combat Efficiency: Maximum. Core Fragment Synchronization: Optimal. Threat Neutralization: Imminent.]

Kael’s eyes widened in terror, and for a fleeting second, Liam saw the superiority complex shatter, the arrogance replaced by fear. “Good,” Liam thought. “Feel it. Every moment of it.”

But before Liam could strike the final blow, shadows flickered across nearby rooftops, additional forces, stronger than the Acolytes he had faced before. The city wasn’t done testing him yet.

Liam’s grin widened, eyes glowing brighter. “Alright, let’s see who else wants to learn what happens when they cross me.”

The wind coiled, rising into a towering vortex, the first act of underworld dominance setting the stage for chaos and power.

The wind screamed around Liam, spiraling in response to his intent. Fog twisted into jagged arcs, rain slicing through the night like sharp blades. 

The additional forces that had appeared across the rooftops weren’t ordinary; the Divine Houses had sent their enforcers. 

But Liam’s focus remained on Kael Draven, whose arrogance had cost him dearly. 

Kael struggled to stand, blood streaking his face, shadow energy sputtering weakly from his palms. “You, little, ” he gasped, wind tearing through his words.

“Shut up,” Liam said, voice cold and unrelenting. He extended a hand, summoning a whirlwind of precision air blades that encircled Kael, lifting him slightly off the ground. 

The shadows twisted violently, but Liam’s mastery held firm. “This is for every time they humiliated me,”

Liam’s inner monologue burned. “Every insult, every strike of arrogance, I’ll make you feel it.”

Kael’s eyes widened, realizing his attacks were useless. “No, I’m not going down to, ”

A vertical cyclone formed beneath Liam’s feet, carrying him skyward. He struck Kael mid-air, sending the warlord slamming into the rooftop’s edge. 

Debris scattered violently, yet Liam’s storm remained controlled, precise, and merciless. “You thought I was worthless,” Liam spat, wind lashing like whips around his fists. “You thought I could be pushed around, humiliated, ignored. Now, look at you.”

Kael groaned, eyes bloodshot, shadows faltering. The superiority he had wielded like a weapon was gone, replaced with raw fear.

Liam’s fists glowed with the synchronized energy of three Core Fragments, wind twisting like living steel around them. 

He struck again, lifting Kael higher, forcing him to face the city, the fog, and the cold drizzle, a humbling view of the world he had tried to dominate.

“You see this?” Liam growled. “This is what happens when you cross someone you underestimated. This is your lesson.”

Kael screamed, shadow energy flickering uncontrollably, but the wind refused to relent. Liam’s grin widened. “Face-slapped,” he thought. “Every ounce of pride, shattered.”

The battle drew attention, Acolytes and minor enforcers scattered across nearby rooftops, unsure how to respond to the chaos of wind, rain, and whirling debris. 

Liam didn’t care. His gaze was fixed on Kael, his fury now refined into a precise instrument of dominance.

He summoned the full force of his Tier Three mastery. Cyclones merged into a single, massive vortex, controlled with surgical precision. 

Every movement, every strike, every push of air was synchronized with the fragments’ energy, lifting Kael, pinning him mid-air, powerless and exposed.

“You’ll remember this,” Liam hissed, voice low and lethal. “Every slight, every insult, burned into memory. London will know not to cross me.”

Kael’s body slammed into the rooftop once more, then a second time, the sound echoing like a gunshot across the empty streets. 

Blood and debris littered the surrounding area. He lay sprawled, defeated, the arrogance drained from his face completely.

Liam stepped forward, wind coiling around him like a living aura. “Now, tell me, Kael, do you understand?”

Kael looked up, trembling. “Y-Yes, I, I understand.”

“Good,” Liam said, a cold satisfaction curling in his chest. “Remember this humiliation. Let it teach you how it feels to be beneath someone who was worthless, but refused to stay that way.”

The wind surged, dispersing the fog, signaling the end of this duel. The remaining enforcers scattered, unwilling to confront the fury of a fully awakened Tier Three Bearer. 

London itself seemed to pulse in recognition, the storm carrying Liam’s declaration of dominance across the rooftops.

But before he could savor the victory fully, a distant rumble shook the city. Shadows shifted across the skyline.

Figures larger and more formidable than Kael, moving in synchronization, approaching with intent.

Liam’s grin sharpened, eyes glowing brighter than ever. “Good,” he muttered, wind coiling around him like a living blade. “The game’s just beginning.”

The city held its breath. Liam Mercer, once the worthless courier, now a storm incarnate, stood atop the rooftops, prepared to rise through the underworld.

And somewhere in the darkness, the Divine Houses watched, aware that a new force had emerged, unstoppable, unrelenting, and ready to claim everything.