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Chapter 3: Ash and Echoes

  A wave of searing heat

  I threw up my arm, but it was useless. The force lifted me off my feet and sent me crashing into the obsidian ground. My vision blurred, pain radiating through every inch of my body.

  The sword—the Forgotten Fangshattered metal

  [Corrupted Relic Destroyed.]

  [Warning: Unstable Energy Detected.]

  I gritted my teeth and forced myself up. The beast was still alive.

  Its molten veins pulsed erratically, the wound I’d inflicted still leaking black ichor onto the cracked ground. But it wasn’t retreating. If anything, it looked stronger.

  It was feeding

  My breath came ragged. My body ached. My Defiancewould

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  I needed a plan.

  My eyes darted across the battlefield. The ground was unstable, fractured from the force of the blast. The creature’s molten blood was still burning

  A realisation hit me.

  If I can’t kill it… I’ll bury it.

  I pushed myself to my feet, legs unsteady. The monster let out a guttural snarl, sensing my movement, and lunged once more—faster, more aggressive than before.

  I ran.

  Not away. Through.

  I sprinted toward it, my feet slamming against the cracked obsidian. The monster swiped—I ducked.grazed my back

  Because right behind the creature was the largest crack in the ground.

  I pivoted

  The monster staggered back

  The weakened ground collapsed beneath it.

  For a split second, the creature’s remaining arm flailed, trying to grasp onto anything. Then, with a monstrous howl, it plummeted into the abyss below.

  Silence.

  Then, a deep rumbling

  I stared down, my chest rising and falling.

  It’s not dead.

  But it was trapped. For now.

  I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I was holding. My arms felt like lead. My legs threatened to give out beneath me.

  [Enemy Neutralised: XP Not Granted.]

  [System Recognition Denied.]

  I scoffed, shaking my head.

  Of course.Nothing.

  I wasn’t part of its world anymore.

  The wind howled through the Wastes, carrying the scent of burning stone. I glanced at the horizon—at the endless stretch of ruins, molten rivers, and shadows that moved where they shouldn’t.

  This was just the beginning.

  I turned away from the pit and kept walking.

  Because if the System had cast me out…

  I was going to find out why.

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