**[ROOFTOP]**
Alex backed up to the edge of the rooftop, heels touching the parapet.
Behind him—a four-story drop into a dark alley. The ocean beyond, waves breaking against the dock.
Ahead—Kael Darkwind, twin blades gleaming under moonlight.
Above—the black Wyvern circling, cutting off any aerial escape.
There was no way out.
Grim (Awakening Form, 2.5 ters) tried to reach Alex—
The Wyvern dove, talons extended.
**CRASH.**
Grim and the Wyvern collided in midair, falling together onto the adjacent rooftop.
**"MASTER!"**
Then they disappeared from view, their own battle beginning two buildings away.
Alex was alone.
Kael walked forward slowly, confidently. A man who had captured thirty-seven fugitives without a single failure.
"Impressive that you’ve lasted this long," he said conversationally. "Most collapse in the first thirty seconds."
Alex didn’t respond. Every breath hurt. His shoulder was bleeding where Kael’s blade had cut. His ribs were probably fractured from an earlier kick.
**[Alex HP: 820/1,020]**
"Last chance," Kael continued. "Surrender. Co quietly. The Temple only wants to question you about the Fragnt. Cooperate, and they may show rcy."
"And after?" Alex spat blood. "After the interrogation?"
Kael shrugged. "After isn’t my problem. My job is to deliver you alive. What they do with you..." He paused. "...is the Temple’s business."
Execution. They both knew it.
Alex considered for a second—genuinely considered surrendering.
Living one more day. Maybe finding a way to escape Temple custody.
Then he thought of Raven. Emily. Grim.
If he surrendered, the Temple would hunt them too. Fragnt 3 carrier. Traitorous ex-healer. Fragnt 1 in the shape of a skeleton.
All of them dead or captured.
"No," said Alex.
Kael sighed—and seed genuinely disappointed.
"Then the hard way."
He attacked.
---
**[THE REAL BATTLE BEGINS]**
This ti, Kael held nothing back.
**[Twin Fang Strike]**—both blades cutting simultaneously in a lethal pattern.
Alex blocked the first with his sword—
**CLANG.**
The impact drove him back three steps.
The second blade swept toward his throat—
Alex ducked, the edge passing milliters above his head.
He counterattacked—a strike at Kael’s flank.
Kael blocked it without looking, his knee driving into Alex’s stomach.
**WHAM.**
**[Alex HP: 820 → 730/1,020]**
Alex coughed blood, stumbling backward.
"Fifteen levels of difference," Kael said clinically. "You can’t win. Every exchange damages you. Every second favors ."
True. Brutal, simple truth.
Alex invoked **[Blood Weapon]**—a second sword materializing from crimson energy.
Dual wielding now. Maybe—
Kael used **[Shadow Pursuit]**.
He vanished.
Reappeared behind Alex.
A kick to the lower back.
Alex flew forward and landed hard near the rooftop’s edge.
**[Alex HP: 730 → 650/1,020]**
"And now," Kael said, walking forward, "I mark you."
**[Predator’s Mark]**
One of his blades glowed, slicing through the air—
An invisible mark struck Alex, sinking into his chest.
**[DEBUFF APPLIED: PREDATOR’S MARK]**
**[EFFECT: ENEMY CAN TRACK YOU THROUGH STEALTH/TELEPORT ABILITIES]**
**[DURATION: 1 HOUR]**
"Now you can’t hide," said Kael. "Every use of **[Shadow Step]**, I know exactly where you’ll appear."
Alex tried anyway—
**[Shadow Step]**—teleporting ten ters to the left.
Kael was already there waiting.
His blade cut—
Alex blocked desperately—
His sword **shattered**.
Literally split in two, the tal giving way under superior force.
**[WEAPON DESTROYED]**
Alex was left holding a useless half-blade.
"It’s over," Kael declared.
The poml of his sword toward Alex’s head—a knockout blow.
Alex couldn’t dodge in ti—
**CRACK.**
His vision exploded into stars.
**[Alex HP: 650 → 520/1,020]**
He dropped to his knees, the broken sword falling from his numbed hand.
Blood running down his face from a cut across his forehead.
Disard. Bleeding. Exhausted.
Losing.
---
**[NO OPTIONS LEFT]**
Kael placed his boot on Alex’s chest, pressing him down until his back hit the cold tiles.
"It’s over, Carter."
He pressed harder—Alex felt his ribs protest.
"Sleep. When you wake up, you’ll be in a Temple cell."
He raised his sword for the final knockout blow—
And then Alex heard it.
A voice. Not from outside. From *within*.
The Fragnt.
*Are you going to die like this? Weak? Pathetic?*
"Shut up," Alex murmured.
*LET HELP. OR YOU DIE HERE. NOW.*
"No... I’m not going to use—"
*AND WHAT ABOUT RAVEN? EMILY? GRIM?*
A pause.
*IF YOU DIE, THEY GET HUNTED TOO. CAPTURED. EXECUTED.*
True. Horrible truth.
*USE MY POWER. JUST THIS ONCE. SURVIVE.*
"I can’t... I’ll lose control..."
*THEN CONTROL IT. BUT FIRST—LIVE!*
Kael noticed sothing—Alex’s eyes beginning to glow faintly crimson.
"What—?"
Too late.
Alex, vision blurring, death seconds away, made a decision.
"...Fine. Just this once."
He accepted.
---
**[PARTIAL AWAKENING – ACTIVATION]**
Dark energy **EXPLODED** from Alex.
A pure shockwave—it pushed Kael back five ters, boot leaving Alex’s chest.
**[SYSTEM – CRITICAL ALERT]**
**[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]**
**[USER HAS ACCEPTED DIRECT FRAGNT INFLUENCE]**
**[INITIATING PARTIAL AWAKENING OF FRAGNT 1]**
**[CORRUPTION: 68% → 83%]**
**[WARNING: CRITICAL ZONE REACHED]**
**[WARNING: CONTROL SEVERELY REDUCED]**
**[WARNING: PERMANENT CHANGES INEVITABLE]**
Alex stood up.
No—sothing carrying Alex’s body stood up.
Eyes completely black. Not even the white of the sclera remained.
Only a deep void-like black.
With bright crimson rings in place of pupils.
The Fragnt’s mark on his chest—usually barely visible—now **BURNED**.
Glowing through his shredded clothing. Pulsing with every heartbeat like a second heart.
Alex’s voice changed—a deep, unnatural echo, like two voices speaking simultaneously.
**"ENOUGH."**
It didn’t even sound human.
---
**[FULL TRANSFORMATION]**
**[FRAGNT PARTIAL AWAKENING – TEMPORARY STATISTICS]**
**DURATION:** 10 MINUTES
**COST:** CORRUPTION 15%, EXTRE EXHAUSTION AFTER
**STAT BOOSTS:**
Strength: 103 → 168 ( 63%)
Agility: 110 → 178 ( 62%)
Max HP: 1,020 → 1,470 (temporary)
Current HP: 520 → 820/1,470 (partial restoration)
**SKILLS UNLOCKED:**
**[Reaper’s Aura]** – Enemies within 10m suffer -20% to all stats
**[Death’s Grip]** – Immobilizes enemy with necrotic energy
**[Necrotic Burst]** – Dark energy explosion (AOE)
**[Life Sense]** – Reveals enemy vital points
**[Fear Aura]** – Induces fear in enemies (passive)
A dark aura—visible, tangible—emanated from Alex.
Like black mist swirling around his body.
The tiles beneath his feet began to crack, necrotic energy corroding them.
Kael stepped back twice—pure instinct.
In thirty years as a hunter, he had faced everything.
Mages. Assassins. Monsters. Minor demons.
But this...
"Fragnt," he whispered, genuine alarm in his voice for the first ti. "You’re using the Fragnt’s power directly."
The thing that had been Alex turned toward him.
Fluid, unnatural movent. Too perfect.
Black eyes with crimson rings fixed on him—and Kael felt sothing he hadn’t felt in a decade.
Fear.
Real, primitive, visceral terror.
Like being watched by an apex predator.
**"YOU,"** spoke the distorted voice, **"WANTED. TO FIGHT."**
Dark energy condensing in his hands.
**"NOW. YOU FIGHT."**
And it attacked.
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