[ACCESS GRANTED]

The door hissed open, and Selene slipped inside.

“Kiera,” she said softly, her voice cutting through the oppressive silence.

I lifted my head weakly, shadows curling faintly at my feet as I locked eyes with Selene. Relief washed over me, and my chest tightened as tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

“Selene…”

She moved quickly, kneeling beside me as she began working on the restraints. The cuffs hissed as they powered down, fading with faint metallic clatters.

“Can you stand?” Selene asked her voice firm but gentle.

I nodded weakly, my shadows stirring slightly as blood rushed back into my arms. Selene helped me to my feet, steadying me with her firm grip.

From somewhere nearby, the sound of Devon’s voice echoed through the metal corridors.

“SELENE! GET HER OUT OF HERE!”

Kaiden’s sharp, mocking laughter followed immediately after.

I met amber eyes with mine, fierce and determined. “We’re not leaving him behind.”

She grunted in reply, agreeing with me.

But then, suddenly, the world trembled as the first roar split the air. It wasn’t human—it wasn’t even alive. It was raw, corrupted energy-given form, something primal and broken, echoing through the stronghold like thunder rolling across a glass sky.

I staggered forward as Selene pulled me from my restraints.

“What was that?” I whispered, my voice barely audible over the rising alarms.

Selene didn’t answer. Her amber eyes were sharp and focused as she tugged me toward the corridor. “I don't know. Let's go find Devon and move—now.”

The door hissed open, and we were immediately greeted by chaos.

The stronghold was in shambles. The sleek, sterile hallways had turned into warzones bathed in flickering crimson warning lights and glitching holographic projections. Shadows and fiery red distortions painted every surface as demonic creatures clawed their way out of corrupted rifts tearing open along the walls and floor.

Corrupted Demonic Spawn—hulking, glitching beasts with molten eyes and jagged limbs—roamed the hallways, screeching and tearing into rogue operatives who fought desperately to hold their ground. Sparks flew as energy weapons fired wildly, illuminating the horrifying shapes of clawed shadows lunging from the smoke.

A message appeared in my HUDs vision.

UNKNOWN: Help has arrived...

I sucked in a sharp breath. This was UNKNOWN’s chaotic influence, not just destabilizing the base but devouring it.

[SYSTEM ERROR: ENVIRONMENTAL INSTABILITY AT 78%]

Selene kept one arm around my waist, her other hand clutching a dagger so tightly her knuckles were white.

“We’ll cut through the side access corridor!” she shouted over the screeching chaos.

I nodded weakly, shadows flickering instinctively around me as we sprinted forward. My HUD glitched violently, flashing warning after warning.

We turned a corner into a collapsed hallway. Smoke and debris filled the air, and half of the corridor had crumbled into a yawning abyss filled with glowing red corruption.

Selene’s grip on my wrist was firm but steady as we navigated through the maze of collapsing corridors. My shadows flickered weakly at my feet, reacting sluggishly to the chaos around us.

Then I saw him.

Devon was slumped against a shattered bulkhead, his massive greatsword stabbed into the ground to keep him upright. His armor was scorched and smeared with ichor-like corruption, his health bar blinking dangerously low in the corner of my HUD. His chest heaved with labored breaths, and a faint trickle of blood ran from his temple down to his jawline.

“Devon!” I cried, wrenching free from Selene’s grip and sprinting toward him.

“Took you two long enough…” he rasped, his voice raw.

His head snapped up at the sound of my voice, and his sharp brown eyes locked onto mine. In that instant, everything else—the screams, the alarms, the chaos—fell away.

I crashed into him, my arms wrapping tightly around his armored waist as if I could hold him together through sheer willpower. Devon’s greatsword fell with a heavy clang as his arms enveloped me in return. One hand splayed across my back while the other cradled the back of my head. His grip was strong and desperate, and I trembled faintly with exhaustion.

“Kiera…” he rasped, his voice raw with a mix of relief and something else—something unspoken but heavy with meaning.

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For a long moment, neither of us moved. I buried my face against his chest, feeling the faint vibration of his heartbeat beneath his armor. Devon’s head dipped, his forehead resting gently against the crown of my forehead. His gloved hand slid to my cheek, his thumb brushing away a streak of grime smudged across my skin.

I leaned into his touch instinctively, shadows curling faintly around my ankles as if responding to the fragile tenderness of the moment. My breath hitched as I met his gaze—his eyes were softer now, the sharp edge of battle replaced with something vulnerable, something fragile.

“You’re okay,” he whispered, his voice cracking faintly. “I thought… I thought I lost you.”

His forehead touched mine, his eyes closing briefly as if he was anchoring himself in this moment, in me.

Time felt like it stopped. The weight of everything we’d endured pressed down on us, and for a fleeting moment, it felt like it might break us both.

But then—

“Guys,” Selene’s voice cut through the stillness like a blade. “We have to move.” Selene knelt beside him, pulling a small vial from her belt—a health potion, faintly glowing blue. “Drink this. Now.”

Devon coughed weakly but took the vial, downing it in one rough gulp. A faint glow pulsed through his body as the potion stabilized him, though his health bar barely crept upwards.

“We’re not going to make it out of here if we don’t move,” Selene said urgently, her amber eyes flicking toward the approaching shadows in the corridor behind us.

I turned to glance back, and my breath caught in my throat.

A wave of corrupted demonic creatures surged toward us—twisting forms of glitching claws, sharp jaws, and glowing crimson eyes. They moved like liquid nightmare shadows, pooling into the cracks of the stone before reforming and lunging forward in sync.

“RUN!” Devon barked, grabbing his greatsword and pushing himself upright.

We stumbled into the central atrium of the stronghold—a vast, open space that had once been pristine and orderly. Now, it was a full-blown battlefield.

Rogue operatives fought desperately against swarms of demonic creatures pouring from fractured rifts in the walls and ceiling. Energy blades clashed against molten claws. Pulse rifles discharged in bursts of bright light before being silenced by jaws snapping around limbs.

The entire space glowed with chaotic red and blue light, glitching particles drifting like dying embers.

Selene pulled me forward, her daggers flashing as she cut through a smaller creature that lunged at us. Devon followed, his greatsword carving a path through the chaos with sheer brute force.

But we were being driven back. Pushed further and further toward a dead end.

Amid the madness, my HUD flashed again.

[PRIVATE MESSAGE: UNKNOWN]UNKNOWN: ESCAPE NOW.

“UNKNOWN’s here,” I said breathlessly.

“What?” Devon shouted, his voice barely cutting through the chaos.

Before I could explain, the demonic creatures shifted. The wave of shadows coalesced, forming a wall of teeth, claws, and molten eyes that boxed us against the edge of a collapsing platform.

We were cornered.

Another message appeared across my HUD, glitching violently as the letters struggled to stabilize.

[PRIVATE MESSAGE: UNKNOWN]UNKNOWN: This is your only way out. Enter the code now.

[FRAGMENTED BINARY SEQUENCE DETECTED][ACTIVATION CODE: 0x001A4F-DMNLRD_Override_Protocol]

[WARNING: CODE IS UNSTABLE. HIGH-LEVEL JUMP DETECTED. CONSEQUENCES UNKNOWN.]

[EXECUTE? Y/N]

A binary code flickered across the screen, glowing faintly in dark crimson light.

I can’t… My breath hitched. Every instinct in me screamed that this was a terrible idea.

But if I didn’t do something, it would be all over.

I raised my hand, shadows flickering violently around my fingertips as I opened the command console.

The binary string glowed brightly as I entered it manually. Each keystroke felt heavier, more final.

As I pressed Enter, my HUD froze. Everything froze.

Then, the world shattered.

A sharp, piercing CRACK split the air as my shadows erupted outward. The corrupted creatures recoiled, their glitching forms flickering as if repelled by an unseen force.

The shadows poured from me, swirling like black smoke and crackling with faint violet energy. My HUD glitched violently, error messages flooding my vision.

[CLASS EVOLUTION: SUCCUBUS DEMON LORD – ENHANCED]

The energy surging through me felt fractured and jagged, like melted glass poured directly into my veins.

My hands trembled violently as jagged lines of red and violet light cracked across my skin, glowing faintly beneath the surface. My vision blurred, and my shadows surged outward, forming twisted, clawed shapes in the air around me.

The creatures in front of us froze, their molten eyes wide with something that looked like fear.

Devon called my name—his voice faint and distant. Selene’s face was twisted with worry as she reached out a hand.

But I couldn’t hear them.

The power surged again, and my voice rang out, deep and distorted, echoing across the battlefield.

“Begone.”

The air rippled outward in a shockwave of violet and black energy, consuming everything in its path. The corrupted creatures shattered into glitching particles, the rifts sealed violently, and the walls cracked under the sheer pressure of the force unleashed.

But I couldn’t stop it.

The shadows around me twisted violently, wrapping around my arms, legs, and neck. My HUD flickered one last time before freezing completely.

My vision went dark, and my body went still.

The last thing I heard was Selene calling my name.