THE LAST EXECUTOR SYSTEM OF FINAL JUDGMENT

Chapter Four: Clash of Executors

The night in Hollow Veil seemed to drag longer than usual as though the city itself held its breath waiting for the next blow to fall. Liam’s body still carried the ache of his last encounter, but he had little time to rest. The System did not allow him rest. It whispered relentlessly at the back of his mind, scales tilting, chains rattling in unseen spaces, demanding he move, judge, execute. The train tunnels smelled of rust and rot as he walked through them, following the faint trail the System burned into his senses. He could feel something ahead, something heavy, pressing, a presence that felt wrong in every possible way. When he finally reached the abandoned station at the edge of the city, the silence hit him like a wall. No footsteps, no vermin, no distant hum of electricity, only the drip of water and the stale scent of ash. He knew he wasn’t alone.

From the far end of the platform, a figure detached itself from the shadows, tall, broad shouldered, and wrapped in a coat that swayed as though carried by its own wind. The eyes that glowed crimson beneath the hood cut through the darkness, locking onto him like blades. “So this is the new one,” the man said, voice rough and scarred. “The fresh executor. Liam Cross. The System has not been kind to you.” Liam’s fists tightened, blue sparks flickering at his knuckles. “And you are?” The man stepped closer, boots crunching on broken tiles. “Names are shackles. But if you must chain me, call me Darius.” His smile was sharp, almost wolfish. “I was chosen long before you. I survived when others broke. But you you’re still clinging to illusions of justice. You haven’t yet realized what this power demands.”

Chains materialized around him without warning, crimson and alive, slithering across the ground like serpents. The sheer force of them made the air vibrate, and Liam felt his breath catch as though gravity itself tried to crush him. His own chains erupted in answer, blue flames sparking along their lengths, hissing with restrained fury. The abandoned station transformed instantly into a battlefield of light and shadow, the clash inevitable.

The System’s voice tore through Liam’s skull: [Executor class interference detected.] [Warning: Clash will destabilize soul integrity.] [Proceed?] Liam’s jaw tightened. “Proceed.” Darius laughed, the sound booming, mocking. “Good. Let’s see how long your ideals last.”

The first strike was cataclysmic. Crimson chains lashed out with devastating speed, tearing through concrete pillars and leaving trails of molten cracks where they passed. Liam dodged left, his blue chains snapping out to intercept, sparks exploding in a burst of searing light as fire met steel. The recoil rattled his bones. Every clash felt like a hammer against his soul. His muscles screamed, his veins burned, but he pressed forward, countering with strikes aimed to disarm rather than destroy. Darius noticed. “Still holding back?” His voice dripped with contempt. “That hesitation will kill you.”

Liam swung in a wide arc, blue fire erupting in a wave that forced Darius back several steps. Tiles shattered, smoke billowed, but Darius only laughed, his red chains tightening around him like armor. “Better. But weak. So weak. You fight for justice as though justice has ever saved anyone in this rotten place.” He thrust his hand forward, and his crimson coils shot outward, wrapping around Liam’s torso, crushing down with merciless strength. Liam gasped as his ribs creaked under the pressure, his flames sputtering. [Warning: Soul Integrity 79%.] [Degradation accelerating.] Darius leaned close, his breath hot, his eyes burning like embers. “Can you feel it? Every strike, every judgment erodes you. The System doesn’t care if you live or die. It only cares that the balance tilts. You’re a tool, Liam. A disposable one.”

Liam’s vision blurred, his chest heaving as fire erupted from within him, his blue chains exploding outward in defiance. The force sent Darius crashing back into a shattered bench, splinters scattering. Liam staggered to his knees, coughing blood, his flames dim but still alive. “If I’m a tool, then I’ll be one that ends you.” Darius rose, dusting off his coat, his grin widening. “That’s the spirit. Rage. Break yourself to pieces. Every time you resist, I grow stronger. Every soul you execute feeds me, whether you know it or not.” Liam froze, his breath catching. “What did you say?” Darius tilted his head, savoring the moment. “The System is not one voice, boy. It’s many. Fractured. Hungry. Some of us learn to bend it. To take what it refuses to give. That’s why I’m still alive. And that’s why you’ll fall.”

The chains struck again, fiercer than before, colliding in blinding flashes that tore the ceiling apart. Concrete rained from above, dust choking the air, the ground trembling under their fury. Liam’s body screamed in protest, every nerve lit with fire, his heart pounding as though trying to escape his chest. [Integrity 71%.] [Warning: Irreversible damage nearing threshold.] Still he pushed, his strikes carrying not just desperation but conviction. “You say the System breaks us. Then I’ll prove it doesn’t. I’ll prove we’re more than its pawns.”

Darius snarled, his patience thinning, his chains becoming jagged, cruel. They slashed with lethal precision, slicing through walls, carving deep scars into the platform. Liam ducked under one, rolled, countered with a sweep that wrapped his flames around Darius’s arm. For a heartbeat, he thought he had him, but Darius’s strength surged, doubling back with crushing force. Liam’s knees buckled, his breath faltered, and the System screamed. [Integrity 67%.] [Soul fracturing imminent.]

Darius’s laughter cut through the chaos like a knife. “You bleed so beautifully. That is the truth of this power it devours you until nothing remains. And yet you cling to your pitiful ideals. Tell me, what will justice taste like when you’ve burned yourself hollow?” Liam roared, pouring every last drop of his will into a desperate strike. His blue flames erupted, engulfing his chains, smashing into Darius with a shockwave that split the ground wide. The platform cracked, metal groaned, and for the first time, Darius staggered, his grin faltering.

But instead of anger, he looked delighted. “Yes. That’s it. Show me more. Burn yourself alive in the name of justice. The more you fight, the sooner you’ll understand.” His chains recoiled, vanishing into the shadows around him. His crimson eyes glowed brighter as he stepped back, retreating into the darkness. “I’ll let you live tonight. Only because I want to watch the moment you break. Remember my name, Liam Cross. Darius. The one who will outlast you.”

And then he was gone, swallowed by the shadows, leaving only the echo of chains and the stench of scorched air.

The System’s voice rang hollow, shaken. [Executor threat logged: Darius. Danger Level Extreme.] [Warning: Soul Integrity compromised. Current level 62%.] Liam collapsed onto the fractured ground, his breath ragged, his chest searing with pain. Blood dripped from his lips, his vision hazy, but he forced himself onto his knees. He could feel it, the wound in his soul, deeper than flesh or bone, a fracture that pulsed with every heartbeat. He had survived. Barely. But the cost was clear, and the questions Darius left behind gnawed at him.

Others before him. Executors who had fallen. Executors who had turned. Executors who might have been erased without a trace. Was he walking the same path? Was judgment nothing more than a slow march toward obliteration? He wanted answers, but the System offered none, only silence and the steady pulse of the scales still glowing faintly in his vision. He pushed himself to his feet, swaying, pulling his hood over his head as he limped toward the tunnel exit. The night beyond was waiting, cold and endless, the city lights like a thousand eyes watching. Justice demanded a price. Tonight he had paid in blood, soul, and certainty.

But he also knew one thing without doubt. He would not stop. Not for Marcus Veyron, not for Darius, not for the System itself. Because if he stopped, the city would drown, and Liam Cross would rather burn away than let the darkness win. He disappeared into the night, his chains fading, but the echo of their clash lingered, a warning of what was still to come.