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His red eyes darted between the Watchers and the Ruin Altar, calculating his next move. He knew he couldn’t win against all of them. But Jade Monroe wasn’t about to let him escape.
"You can’t run. Death is your only option."
The leader gritted his teeth.
Then— WHOOSH!
He vanished into the shadows.
CLANK!
Jade vanished too, his sword slicing through the air where the leader had stood.
Then—dark energy erupted behind him.
"DIE, MONROE!"
The leader reappeared, a dagger aimed at Jade’s spine.
But— SLASH!
Jade had already countered. With blinding speed, he twisted mid-air, his golden sword slashing across the leader’s chest.
"GRAAAHHH!"
The Dark Alliance Leader was sent flying, crashing through a ruined pillar.
BOOM!
Jade landed lightly, flicking blood off his blade.
"Tch. You’re too slow."
The Dark Alliance group Leader staggered to his feet, his hand clutching his bleeding chest. His breaths came in ragged gasps. He was losing. But he refused to die here.
With a roar, his spiritual energy erupted, his body covered in a swirling black aura. "IF I DIE, I’M TAKING YOU ALL WITH ME!"
The air around him darkened, shadows gathering at his fingertips.
Jade’s eyes narrowed. "Tch. He’s going to self-destruct."
The Watchers took a step back, preparing to counter or flee. But Jade Monroe was already moving.
WHOOSH!
In a blur, he appeared in front of the leader. The Dark Alliance Leader’s eyes widened.
"WHAT—?!"
Jade’s hand shot forward, gripping the leader’s face.
"Die quietly."
Then— THUD!
Jade slammed the leader’s head into the ground, his golden energy erupting through the man’s skull.
The force of the impact cracked the stone floor, sending shockwaves rippling through the chamber.
A second later… The Dark Alliance Leader stopped moving. His body twitched once—then went still. The one remaining Dark Alliance members froze, watching their leader’s lifeless body.
Then—panic.
"H-He’s dead!" "I NEED TO ESCAPE!"
The last Dark Alliance member fell to his knees, dropping his weapons in surrender. Don’t kill me. I will do whatever you ask of me.
Jade Monroe exhaled, rolling his shoulders.
"Finally."
Tyler Stone walked up, kicking the dead leader’s body.
"Damn, that was brutal."
Jade wiped the sweat from his brow. "He was annoying." Then, his eyes shifted to the Ruin Altar, still pulsing with ancient energy.
"Now… where the hell is my bro?" I don’t see him anywhere
Kent was nowhere near the battlefield.
While everyone was fighting for their lives, Kent had sneaked away, following the system’s guidance to the Ruin’s true treasure.
Meanwhile, When the dark alliance leader and Jade Monroe were fighting. Kent was busy collecting the most valuable treasure of this ruin.
Ding!
System Notification:
The host has reached the Ruin Core Chamber.
Primary Treasure Detected: Void Fragment. The system advises the host to take the void fragment. Most valuable treasure here.
Kent’s eyes lit up. "Void Fragment? That sounds expensive."
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System, how do I take it? Tell me quickly. I don’t have much time. I can feel the battle is about to end soon.
Ding!
The host needs to refine the void fragment. After refining the host will have a void as a storage. It will merge with the host soul and system.
He approached the ancient pedestal in the center of the chamber. A shiny, floating ball hovered above it, radiating immense power.
The moment he stepped closer—
FWOOSH!
A surge of pure void energy erupted, pushing Kent back.
"Whoa, chill!"
Ding!
System Notification:
Warning: The Void Fragment is too powerful for the host.
Refining it will require a significant amount of system energy to refine it.
A temporary system shutdown will occur after refining is done.
Kent froze.
"Wait. You’re telling me if I take this thing, the system will shut down?!"
Ding!
Correct.
Kent frowned. No system meant no abilities, no Appraisal, no SP tracking…
But it also meant— A massive power boost.
His grip tightened. "Screw it. I’m taking it."
He reached forward, placing his hand on the Void Fragment.
SHINY!
An explosion of VOID energy engulfed the room. Kent’s body trembled as the void energy merged with his soul.
Ding!
System Notification:
The Refinement Process started.
1% … 10% …. 50%..... 80%.... 100%
Congratulations host. Refining is complete. System entering sleep mode…
Warning: Because the host took the void fragment. This ruin became unstable. The ruin was inside the void fragment. Now the ruin will disappear within a few minutes. All living things will be sent to the real world. Including animals who lived here.
…
…
…Good luck, Host.
Then—silence.
Kent blinked.
The system is… gone. System you are telling me everything will go outside. Although, these animals aren’t that strong. It will be hard for Nexus and Watcher to handle everything.
As the chaos settled, a soft chirping sound came from Kent’s jacket.
He looked down.
His Emberling Sparrow, the tiny firebird that had followed him, was staring at Kent curiously.
It tilted its head. Kent says. Ohh! I forgot to make a contract with you. Then Kent bites his finger, blood comes out and he drops blood on Emberling’s sparrow head.
Then, suddenly—
FWOOSH!
The bird’s body ignited, flames flickering around its feathers.
Kent’s eyes widened.
Ding!
System Offline.
Emergency Contract Ritual Activated.
A strange, glowing rune circle appeared beneath Kent and the bird.
A voice echoed in his mind—the system’s final automated function before shutting down.
Contract Formation: Emberling Sparrow.
A firebird has chosen you as its master.
Do you accept it?
Kent smirked. "Hell yeah, I accept!"
The moment he spoke— BOOOOOOOM!
A fiery explosion erupted around them.
The Emberling Sparrow let out a joyful cry, its body glowing brighter as the contract was completed.
Kent sees the memory of the Emberling Sparrow’s full life in a flash. He sees how he was bullied by his siblings, how his parents didn’t care about him, how his mother ignored him, and how his father threw him out of the family for his unusual color. How the little bird survived alone on the farm. How It finds Kent with a big risk.
When the flames died down— Kent felt a new connection in his soul. The bird head where Kent dropped his blood, a golden star mark appeared. It shines for a few seconds. Then the star becomes part of the bird’s body. As if the mark was always there in his head.
The sparrow hopped onto his shoulder, looking proud of itself.
Kent grinned.
"Welcome to the team, little guy." Don’t worry, you are not alone anymore. From now on, you will be my Family. You have parents but you live the life of an orphan just like me. You know I have a little sister, I think she will be happy when she sees you.
Suddenly—
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
The entire ruin shook violently.
A massive crack formed across the ceiling, and stone debris began falling.
Kent’s smile dropped.
"…Shit."
He grabbed the Ruin core, shoved it into his pocket, and ran toward the exit.
The entire ruin was collapsing or rather it was disappearing.
Back at the battlefield, Jade Monroe had just finished his battle with the Dark Alliance group leader.
Tyler stretched. "Finally, it’s over."
Then—
RUMBLE… RUMBLE…
The entire ruin started shaking. Jade’s eyes widened.
"WAIT— what happened? Where is the Ruin core?" ( Here he meant the ball above the altar. The void fragment. They thought the void fragment was the Ruin core.)
+999 so copied from Jade. ( Frustration)
+999 so copied from Jade. ( Frustration)
+999 so copied from Jade. ( Frustration)
Then— BOOOOOM!
The main chamber doors EXPLODED.
And Kent came running out of nowhere at full speed, a panicked look on his face. Jade stared at him. Where were you, bro? I was looking for you.
Kent stopped running. Then he says, I was just looking around, trying to find some treasures. But my luck is very bad. See, pointing at his back, I only got some low-level broken spiritual tools.
Jade said, don’t worry bro, when the next ruin opens we will look for treasures together.
Tyler Stone angrily says, Why are you two talking so calmly in a situation like this? We all need to run. Sir, You two can talk when you get outside. It looks like everyone is going to break.
Kent said. He is right. We should get out of this chamber. Let’s go.
Jade said, wait bro I need to find the core. Give me a minute. It suddenly disappeared. I think we missed a Dark Alliance member. He might have taken the core. I need to find him.
Suddenly, a Twister-like spiritual energy sucked everything out: living and dead bodies of people who died inside like they were turning into ashes. Including the animals of the ruin.
Outside the stone gate, in the center area, Ethan says, what is happening? Everyone panicked at the camp.
Miss Elena said to look after the prisoners we are getting out. I guess Nexus Jade must have secured the core. Once we get out don’t let any of the Dark Alliance members run.