When the meeting ended, Lucen stumbled out into the night air. The city skyline still bent wrong where the rift had been, lights flickering through twisted towers.

He leaned against a pillar, breathing hard, hand pressed to his chest.

[System Alert: Corruption Threshold Approaching.]

[Options: Force Purge / External Stabilization / Abyssal Release.]

He laughed to himself, the sound cracked and raw. "…None of those sound fun."

Footsteps approached.

A new voice, low and unfamiliar, brushed his ear. "You burn too bright. They'll smother you before you blaze."

Lucen snapped upright, eyes narrowing. "Who the hell—"

But the street was empty.

Only his system blinked again.

[Unknown Signal Detected.]

Lucen's grin returned, sharper than ever. "…Well, that's new."

Hunters passed in and out in ragged waves, some bandaged, some pale, all worn down.

Lucen sat at the far edge of the marble steps, coat collar tugged high, watching the chaos with a lazy smirk.

[Corruption Load: 91%]

[System Stability: Declining]

The percentage hadn't dropped since morning. Every time his heart rate ticked up, it spiked again.

'Like holding a wolf on a leash made of string,' he thought, flexing his fingers. 'One good tug and—snap.'

Boots clattered. Voices rose.

Not FHA voices. Louder, brasher, too many at once.

Lucen's head tilted as a new wave of figures entered the lobby. Black-and-gold coats, insignias stitched with a rearing griffon: Ironwing Guild. One of the most notorious private guilds on the continent.

And at their front—

A man built like a fortress. Broad chest, golden hair slicked back, a trimmed beard framing a mouth set in permanent arrogance. His armor gleamed with polished core-plate, a massive axe strapped across his back. His presence carried weight, not like Varik's iron silence, but like a performance practiced to perfection.

The room hushed.

Selindra was already there, speaking with a cluster of officers, when her head snapped toward the entrance. Her jaw tightened instantly.

"Cairon," she said, voice cold.

Guildmaster Cairon of Ironwing smiled, too wide, too sharp. "Selindra Kaelith. Always a pleasure. Though I see the FHA's finest couldn't keep the city from bleeding."

Hunters bristled.

Lucen smirked and stayed seated.

Selindra's tone sharpened. "Containment succeeded. Without Association intervention, you wouldn't have a city to posture in."

Cairon's gaze swept the lobby, then landed square on Lucen. His grin stretched wider. "And there he is. The Association's little mystery project."

Dozens of eyes turned.

Lucen raised a hand lazily. "Careful. Staring too long might burn your retinas."

A ripple of murmurs cut the air.

Cairon strode closer, each step ringing heavy on the polished floor. "I've heard stories already. A nameless hunter pulling annihilation spells out of thin air, walking away from a Gigantic as though it were a sparring match." He leaned down, gaze sharp. "And somehow, not on our records. Not ranked. Not cleared. Not bound by regulation."

Lucen tilted his head, grin never fading. "I like the word 'bound' about as much as I like your haircut."

Selindra's voice cut like a whip. "Cairon. You don't have clearance to interrogate Association assets."

Cairon laughed, booming. "Asset? He's a bomb in your basement. Everyone can feel it. That break reeked of abyss corruption. And now it sits in your lobby cracking jokes."

[Corruption Load: 94%]

[System Instability: Severe.]

Lucen's smile twitched. His fingers curled against the chair arm.

'Don't snap. Not yet. Not in front of this many eyes.'

Cairon's grin was too sharp now. He smelled blood. "If the Association can't leash him, Ironwing will. The world doesn't need unstable weapons running loose in its streets."

Lucen rose slowly, boots clicking against marble. He stood just close enough that Cairon had to tilt his chin down to meet his gaze.

His grin sharpened, eyes burning faintly with abyssal glow. "Leash me, huh? You could try."

For a moment, the air between them vibrated. Hunters shifted uneasily, mana sparking in the charged silence.

Then—

"Enough."

Varik's voice carried through the chamber like a hammer striking steel. He moved in from the side, presence crashing over the lobby. The air itself seemed to bend heavier around him, every hunter stiffening unconsciously.

Even Cairon's smirk faltered for half a second.

Varik's blade remained sheathed, but his hand rested on the hilt. "Not here. Not now."

Selindra stepped forward too, voice clipped. "Guild disputes can be filed formally. Leave. Before I file one for you."

Cairon studied her, then Varik, then Lucen. His smile returned, slower, colder.

"Very well. But remember this, when the abyss claws again, and it will, every guild will remember who unleashed it first."

He turned sharply, cloak snapping, and his guild followed him out.

Silence lingered heavy in his wake.

Lucen chuckled under his breath. "Nice guy. Real people person."

Selindra's glare could have cut through stone. "Don't antagonize him."

Lucen shrugged, grin lazy again. "I didn't. That was just me being polite."

Varik's eyes lingered on him longer than either of them liked. Not angry. Not distrustful. Just…measuring.

Lucen turned away first, smirk curling wider even as his system pulsed red in his vision.

[Corruption Load: 95%]

[Unknown Signal: Strengthening.]

'Leash me,' he thought, laugh curling low in his chest. 'Someone's gonna regret trying.'

—

The lobby took a long time to breathe again. Hunters trickled back into motion, murmurs chasing Cairon's departure like smoke after fire.

Lucen stayed on his feet, shoulders loose, grin lazy. But his chest burned. Not outside, inside.

[Corruption Load: 96%]

[System Instability: Escalating.]

The glow edged his vision. Threads of violet fire curling along the lines of every wall, every hunter. Shapes that weren't there whispered along the floor.

Selindra's voice snapped in his ear, clipped. "Sit. Down."

Lucen tilted his head toward her, grin curling wider. "Why? Do I look unwell?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You look like you're about to explode."

He opened his mouth, then stopped. The grin slipped. His breath caught short.

[Warning: Abyssal Resonance Breach Imminent.]

His knees almost buckled. He caught himself on the stair rail, nails biting metal. For half a second, his system flickered into static.

Hunters froze, staring.

Selindra stepped forward. "Lucen—"

"Not you."

Varik's voice, flat as iron. He was already moving, boots slow, steady. Every step he took eased the room without a word, his presence pressing like a hammerhead against the rising static. Hunters backed away instinctively.

Varik stopped in front of Lucen, gaze steady. "Breathe."

Lucen barked a short laugh through clenched teeth. "Oh, sure. Why didn't I think of that?"

"Breathe."

The word struck harder than steel.

Lucen's chest heaved, ragged. Every exhale dragged shadows with it. His grin cracked under the strain. The system pulsed warnings in crimson bursts.

Varik lifted one hand, not touching, not even close, but holding it just level with Lucen's chest. A faint shimmer of aura pressed outward, not sharp like his blade, not crushing like his battlefield pressure. Controlled. Anchoring.

Lucen felt it. A tether.

"Follow it," Varik said, voice low. "Ignore everything else."

Lucen's laugh was ragged now. "You know I'm not exactly a good listener, right?"

Varik didn't blink. "Now you are."

The pressure steadied. Lucen's breath caught it. Matched it. Slower. Heavier. The fire at the edges of his vision dulled.

[Corruption Load: 94%]

[System Instability: Reduced.]

The whispers receded, fading like smoke in rain. His nails eased from the metal rail.

Lucen sucked in one last breath, then blew it out sharp, dropping onto the stair behind him. Sweat clung to his hairline. His grin returned, weaker but sharp. "See? I had it under control the whole time."

Selindra's glare could have cut stone. "You nearly collapsed in front of half the Association."

Lucen wagged a finger. "Nearly. Important distinction."

Varik lowered his hand, eyes still steady on him. "You need discipline. Or it will own you."

Lucen met his gaze, smirk twitching. "That sounded suspiciously like advice."

"Not advice." Varik turned, already walking toward the elevators. "A fact."

Selindra folded her arms tight, eyes burning holes into Lucen. "If you slip again in front of Cairon or anyone like him, they'll use it to end you."

Lucen leaned back on the stair, closing his eyes briefly. "'End me.' Cute. Like it'd be that easy."

But behind the smirk, the system flickered another quiet reminder.

[Corruption Load Stabilized: 94%]

[System Warning: No known method of full reduction.]

'Tethered,' he thought, chest still heavy. 'For now.'

—

The summons came an hour later. No pomp, no messenger, just a system ping that flashed in Lucen's vision.

[Directive: Report to High Director's Office. Immediate.]

Lucen leaned back in the quiet corner of the Association's upper hall, flipping the message closed. "'Immediate.' Always so polite."

He dragged himself off the bench, hands in his pockets, boots echoing against polished tile. Hunters still moved in tired clusters through the halls, but they stepped aside when they saw him coming. Not fear. Not respect. Something in between.

The elevator doors slid open at the top floor, spilling him into silence. Carpets so clean they didn't look walked on. Tall windows that turned the city's ruined skyline into framed art.

Elira's office door stood at the end of the hall, matte black, faintly inscribed with mana-thread filigree.

Lucen didn't bother knocking. He pushed it open.

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