{Nexus}

{Mutant level: 5}

Seeing the character info, Layla's eyes widened with a mix of relief and surprise... But it quickly shifted back to one of caution.

Her eyes narrowed with sharp instincts as she stared at him.

"Tenkin? Is that you?" She asked, cautiously raising her sharp daggers to her eye level.

Akhil's brows furrowed with confusion, 'With the way she reacted, I actually thought she was another beta tester. But I don't recognise her username... And why is she calling me Tenkin? Or Perhaps she was from the Northern district in the test as well?'

Akhil's gaze was still fixed on her character info,

{Layla_X}

{Mutant level: 4}

'But wait.... Tenkin? Isn't that Langdon's name from the game?' Akhil appraised her for a long minute.

"I'm not Tenkin" he replied back to her sternly.

She looked at him, as though finding it hard to believe his words, but Akhil's next question quickly shattered all her doubts.

"Isn't that Langdon?"

"So you're the real Nexus! From the game?"

"Of course I am...." Akhil said with a wry smile, the question was rather unnerving and even after she'd ask so many times, she still didn't look quite convinced.

'What does Tenkin have to do with me?'

Akhil lowered his guard slightly, but his mind was racing. While he didn't care much about Langdon's identity as Tenkin, he in fact knew much about Tenkin from the beta test.

In the beta test, Tenkin was really good. Afterall, he was the player who had occupied the second spot on the leaderboard with a cold, terrifying efficiency. He was a mechanical genius within the game's systems. And was always close to bringing him down from the ranks.

"So you're the real Nexus, that means you can help" Layla whispered her eyes lit up with hope, her daggers dipping just an inch. The black wolf, Fang, sensed her shift in temperament and sat back on its haunches, though its golden eyes remained fixed on Akhil's throat.

"I'm sorry for doubting you" an awkward smile cut across her face as she apologised, "Tenkin has really gone too far, he became so obsessed with you after the mutation. He talked about you so much and how he should've been the number one in the test."

"Langdon talked about me? He rarely discusses anything that's not related to the city and it's safety" Akhil's brows furrowed with confusion.

Akhil took a step forward, the mountain mist swirling around his boots. "I'm the real one. But you still haven't explained why you'd mistake me for him and I don't even look alike."

Layla eyes widened with surprise, "You've actually met him?... So you know as well"

Akhil turned back to her, raising a brow, "Know about what?"

Layla's gaze darkened, "Oh, so you don't know?"

She moved toward a jagged rock and sat, the sack of corpses thudding heavily against the stone. She didn't seem to care about the blood. Her eyes were far away, lost in the memory of the early days of the mutation.

"We woke up together in the ruins of the Northern District," Layla began, her voice trembling slightly. "He was my closest friend. We survived the first week by relying on each other. But the mutation... it didn't just change our bodies. It seemed to have done something to him. He suddenly started talking about you more often, obsessed with the fact that you were out there somewhere, likely still holding the top spot. And I was confused"

'Why is she telling me this?' Akhil thought, unease creeping in. They still hadn't finished the King's Selection. He didn't have the Emblem yet. 'Is she trying to buy time?' His senses flared as he scanned the area.

"It didn't take long for me to realize something was manipulating him," Layla continued. "Before I even understood what was happening, he used his ability—{Cyborg Manifestation}. It allowed him to create and control bots."

Her voice grew heavier. "He made five high-level ones. Perfect mechanical replicas of your character model from the beta. He programmed them using your recorded combat data… and gave each of them your username."

She swallowed. "After that, he completely changed. It was like he became a different person. That's when he started telling me his plans. Dark ones. I don't know why he told me—maybe because he still thought we were close. But the more I listened… the more I realized he had become a Titan. He kept talking about spreading chaos."

Akhil remained silent, absorbing every word.

One detail stood out.

'When I fought Mask in the city… when I cut him, there was no blood.'

'That only makes sense if he wasn't human.'

'If it was a bot.'

The realization hit harder as another memory surfaced—the character info he had checked during that fight.

'So the mask… was it really Langdon?'

"He wanted to create a world where 'Nexus' was the ultimate authority," Layla said quietly, looking up at him with sorrow-filled eyes. "But a Nexus he could control. He's been using those bots to manipulate events—turning orcs and humans against each other."

Akhil gritted his teeth, his hands curling into fists as everything clicked into place. The Titan of Discord was Langdon. He wasn't just a traitor—he was a fanatical architect of chaos, someone who had stolen Akhil's identity to burn the world down.

"If he's the one who created those five bots and orchestrated all of this…" Akhil muttered, his voice cold. "Then this is going to be difficult. He's in the administrative block right now—with Seth."

Layla rose abruptly, her expression hardening. "If he's in the city, then we have to get the Emblem fast—and then go after him."

"There's a problem," Akhil said grimly. "I sent both him and Seth to investigate the Titan. If they uncover anything…" His jaw tightened. "Seth will be in danger."

Layla's face darkened. "If that's the case, then Seth is already at risk. Langdon doesn't just kill his enemies—he harvests them for data. He'll try to turn Seth into another one of his 'puppets' and add him to his collection."

Akhil looked toward the mountain peak where the Emblem lay, then back at the distant, flickering lights of the city. The choice tore at him: secure the crown and the authority to lead—or return now and save a friend from a mechanical nightmare.

"The Emblem," Akhil said at last, his gaze locking onto the summit.

"If I don't get it, some idiot will—or worse, one of Langdon's puppets. I need that authority to stop him for good."

Layla nodded, her hand resting on the head of her massive wolf. "Then we move together. I want my friend back—even if I have to break every bolt in his body to do it." Her voice softened.

"I think the system is involved somehow. I just… hope there's a way to bring him back."

The sadness in her voice was unmistakable.

'I don't think he's fully in control of his actions…' Akhil thought, his fist tightening at his side. 'I just hope he doesn't do anything irreversible to Seth.'

"Let's move," Akhil said firmly, stepping forward.

His senses flared.

Before he could take another step, a coordinated volley of arrows and high-velocity bullets ripped through the mist—aimed precisely at the two of them.

Akhil reacted instantly. With a sharp motion, he commanded a trail of blood to surge from his palms, weaving it into a dense, crimson barrier. The incoming bullets slammed into the viscous surface, losing their momentum and flattening against the solid blood wall like stones hitting clay.

Beside him, Layla was a blur of silver and motion. She snatched two arrows out of mid-air with impossible reflexes, snapping the shafts as she pivoted. Her beast companion, Fang, let out a thunderous roar that shook the mountain air.

The black wolf didn't seek cover; instead, it leaped directly into the line of fire, its obsidian fur shimmering with a hardened mana coating. The rounds that bypassed Akhil's wall struck the wolf's flank, sparking harmlessly against its toughened hide before falling into the frost. Fang landed low, his ferocious eyes locking onto the source of the ambush.

Akhil shifted his gaze toward the ridge, his expression darkening.

Emerging from the fog on the higher slopes were the silhouettes of Marcus's mercenaries. Marcus stood at the center of the formation, his leather suit pristine and a smug, predatory grin etched onto his face.

"Go home, kids," Marcus called out, his voice echoing with arrogant authority. "Let the adults handle this. The Emblem belongs to me."

Between the tailored attire and the unwavering, prideful tone, Akhil didn't need a system notification to know who he was dealing with. This was the Bureau—the ghosts of the old world trying to reclaim a throne in the new one.

He gritted his teeth, his hand tightening around his weapon as he checked the countdown on his interface.

'We're running out of time, you bastards,'

{Thanks for reading!}

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