A New System Message Displayed — Floating Text
***
[Prologue: The Lineage Begins]
[Objective: Kill the monsters to complete the Prologue]
[Kill Count: 00 / 1000]
***
Cael shouted, "Just leave me here, Sis! Why are you helping me like this, risking everything? You used to hate me—because I wasn't your real brother!"
Meria snapped, her voice cutting through the chaos, "Shut up with that nonsense!"
Everywhere around them, the world was in ruin. Cities reduced to rubble. Monsters ravaging everything in sight. The sky was ash, and the ground soaked in blood.
An orc roared, towering over Meria, then swung its massive axe. It slashed across her arm. She cried out in pain.
The orc slammed its fist into her. She was thrown to the ground. Dust filled her lungs. Blood dripped from her wound. Her hand brushed something—cold steel buried in the dirt.
A sword.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed it and lunged at the orc.
Cael could only watch. His legs trembled. He couldn't move. Couldn't help.
Meria fought alone.
Steel clashed. Roars echoed.
The orc lunged again, its massive axe aimed for her head. She ducked just in time, feeling the wind from the swing graze her hair. Sparks flew as her blade met the orc's axe mid-air—a deafening clang that shook her bones.
The beast bellowed, slamming its shoulder into her. She flew backward, skidding across the dirt. Blood ran down her arm. Her sword slipped from her fingers.
The orc charged.
Meria rolled aside, narrowly avoiding a crushing stomp. Her fingers clawed at the dust—grabbing a shard of broken metal. She hurled it into the orc's eye.
The beast screamed in rage, blinded on one side.
She didn't hesitate. Meria dashed across the broken ground, scooped up her sword, and lunged. The orc swung wildly—missed. Her blade slashed across its chest, then she ducked under a second strike and drove her sword into its gut.
It roared in agony.
She wrenched the blade out and, with a final upward arc, sliced clean through its neck.
The orc collapsed.
Dead.
But there was no time to rest.
More monsters emerged—clawing over debris, crawling from the shadows. Goblins shrieked. Bone hounds snapped their jaws. Winged shades circled above like vultures.
Meria grit her teeth. Blood dripped from her arm. Her body screamed to stop.
She didn't.
She charged.
Her blade moved like fire—slashing, stabbing, deflecting. Each kill more brutal than the last. Goblins lost heads. Wolves were gutted mid-pounce. She spun between them, slipping through swipes and jaws, leaving only blood and corpses in her wake.
Cael stood frozen, watching her.
His body shook. He wanted to move—wanted to help. But he couldn't. He had no System. No weapon strong enough. No strength to match hers.
Meria fought alone.
Her eyes burned with determination, mouth set in a cold line. She fought for both of them.
Monster after monster fell.
Finally—silence.
Only Meria stood, panting, covered in blood and dust, surrounded by piles of dead creatures.
***
[System Message Appears]
[Prologue: The Lineage Begins — Completed]
[Your Individual Kill Count: 93]
[Kill Count: 1000 / 1000]
[Rewards will be based on ranking]
[Top 10 Rankings]
1. Grave Null – Kills: 152
2. Ash King – Kills: 115
3. Heaven Piercer – Kills: 106
4. Specter – Kills: 98
5. Iron Saint – Kills: 95
6. Unknown – Kills: 93
7. Stormblade – Kills: 89
8. Dustborn – Kills: 86
9. Silver End – Kills: 83
10. Void Walker – Kills: 78
***
[Would you like to set a nickname?] [Yes / No]
Meria clicked No.
[You can change it anytime.]
She shook her head. This isn't the time.
She lowered her weapon and exhaled. It was over—for now.
[Would you like to move on to the next trial?]
She looked around. The world was gone. Burnt. Lost. But something in her stirred—excitement.
She whispered, "Yes."
A white, swirling portal appeared behind her.
Meria turned to Cael. "Let's go."
But Cael didn't move.
His fists clenched at his sides, his body shaking.
His voice cracked—shattered with desperation.
"What about our parents…? Are they even alive? Where are they?!"
Tears poured freely down his face now, carving through the dirt on his cheeks.
"They could be out there, Meria! Hurt. Lost. Calling for us—"
His voice broke mid-sentence, a sob catching in his throat. "We can't just leave them."
Meria stood still, eyes fixed on him. Her face was unreadable—blank, almost detached.
Then she said quietly, and far too coldly,
"We can't know, Cael. And even if they are alive… we can't reach them. The world's already dead."
She looked around—at the ash-covered sky, the shattered ruins, the bodies piled in every direction. Her voice turned hard.
"Everything's gone. There's nothing left but death here."
Cael's lips trembled. "How can you say that…? They're our parents, Meria! Our family! Don't you care?!"
His voice rose, raw with heartbreak. "Aren't you being too cold?!"
Meria didn't answer at first.
Then her jaw tightened, her hands clenched.
"There's no time to think about it," she said, her voice brittle with something just beneath the surface—fear, grief, guilt, she wasn't sure anymore.
"If we stay, I'll just keep fighting. Forever. Until there's nothing left of me either."
She stepped forward, grabbing Cael's hand with more force than she meant to.
"We have to go."
Cael dug his feet into the ground, resisting.
"I won't leave them! I'll find them myself! I don't care what's out there—I have to try! I'm not going with you!"
Meria turned on him, face flushed with frustration—and something deeper.
"You think I don't want to find them too?!"
She stepped closer, her voice cracking now.
"But what if… what if they did survive? What if they already went through the portal before us?"
She swallowed hard. "What if they're waiting for us on the other side?"
Her eyes locked with his—wet, furious, pleading.
"What's the point of staying behind, Cael?" she whispered. "This place… it's just a grave now."
He looked away, biting his lip so hard it bled.
"I just… I don't want to lose anyone else."
Meria's voice softened at last, just a little.
"You're not losing me."
She tugged his hand, gently now.
"Come with me."
Cael hesitated… then stepped forward.
But the portal pushed him back.
[System Message Appears]
[You cannot bring someone without a System]
Meria's eyes widened, breath catching in her throat.
"Wait—what? Cael... you don't have a System?"
Cael didn't meet her gaze. He stared at the cracked ground, fists trembling.
"Mine… shattered. A long time ago."
Her voice rose, cracking. "Why didn't you tell me?!"
"I didn't want to slow you down," he said quietly. "Didn't want to be a weight you had to carry."
He tried to laugh—but it came out hollow. "You've always been stronger."
From the corners of the ruins, shadows began to shift.
Monsters crept forward—claws scraping stone, eyes glowing with hunger.
Cael's voice cut through the growing dread.
"You said once… that I wasn't really your brother. That I wasn't blood. That you hated me."
Meria froze—her face tightening, regret flashing in her eyes.
"That doesn't matter anymore!" she shouted. "You're my brother! That's all that's ever mattered!"
Cael finally looked at her. His eyes were glassy, shimmering with unshed tears.
"I don't blame you," he whispered. "Maybe… maybe this is how it was supposed to end.
Maybe I was meant to see the world fall… and then follow it down."
Meria stepped toward him, reaching out. "No. Cael, stop. We're going together. I'm not leaving you again."
But he smiled. Gently. Sadly.
"I'm glad I got to see you become what I never could."
And then—before she could react—he shoved her.
Hard.
She stumbled backward—into the glowing light of the portal.
"No!" Meria screamed, lunging forward.
Cael stood just beyond reach.
The portal pulsed.
"Why, Cael?!" she cried, her voice raw with panic and grief.
He looked at her one last time. Blood trickled from his mouth. Tears clung to his lashes.
"Isn't this what you always wanted…?" he said softly. "To leave me behind… from the very start…"
The portal closed.
Cutting her off.
Cutting him off.
Silence.
Just for a breath.
Then the sound of snarling. The rush of claws. The scream of monsters.
But Cael didn't run.
He stood tall—arms open, as if to embrace the end.
Monsters swarmed him.
Cael stood his ground—but there was no strength in his stance, only despair. No weapon. No system. No chance.
They came like a flood—gnashing teeth, claws scraping against stone, breath like rot and smoke. He barely had time to breathe before the first beast lunged.
It sank its fangs into his arm, twisting as it tore away flesh.
He screamed—raw and broken.
Another monster tackled him from behind, biting into his leg. He collapsed to the ground, body writhing in agony. His blood soaked into the ruined earth, pooling beneath him.
He tried to crawl.
Tried to scream.
But only blood came out.
One of the beasts tore his shoulder open. Another bit down on his ankle, pulling until the tendons snapped like old rope. The pain was relentless—no pause, no mercy.
Still, he laughed.
A broken, delirious sound between sobs.
"So this is how it ends..."
He looked up—through blurred vision and blood—at the sky, choked with smoke.
A massive orc stepped through the others. Taller than the rest, wielding a jagged axe still stained with dried blood. Its eyes burned with nothing but hunger and hate.
Cael beg.
cry more.
He whispered, "At least she lived."
The orc raised its axe.
The monsters quieted, watching.
Cael breath hitched.
The blade came down—
—and his world went black.
Blood sprayed. His head rolled to the side, eyes wide open, unblinking.
The swarm devoured what was left.
In the darkness, a mysterious girl appeared, her voice soft and haunting.
"Will you miss me, Cael?"