---
Lightning tore across the sky as ruins trembled beneath the weight of two monsters.
One synthetic. One reborn.
Li Tianming stood at the center of the crater, skin cracked with black veins, aura rippling like a void about to collapse. His breath came in snarls. His pupils had split — half human, half serpent.
> [Chaos Form – Active]
[Instinct Core: 57 Seconds Remaining]
Across from him, the Valkyrie stared — her arm gone, armor fractured, glowing veins short-circuiting beneath the surface.
For the first time since she was activated, her voice glitched.
> "Threat Level… ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ … recalibrating…"
Tianming didn't wait.
He moved.
The world bent around him as his feet hit the ground — once, twice — then he was in front of her, driving the Chaos-forged blade into her abdomen.
💥 CLANK! Sparks flew.
Her internal armor barely held.
But Tianming wasn't just aiming to pierce.
He grabbed her with his other hand — and unleashed everything.
> [Skill Activated: Hellfire Surge – Black Variant]
[Trait Mutation Detected: Chaos Flame — Soulburn Effect Applied]
Black fire erupted from his palm, flooding her internal systems.
The Valkyrie screamed — not in pain, but static distortion — a sound like glass shattering inside a machine.
> "You… are unstable… You will become… one of us…"
She raised her remaining hand to stab—
Tianming headbutted her.
The mask shattered.
Beneath it: a human face — or something close.
Female. Hollow eyes. Lines of artificial veins under pale skin.
Tianming hesitated for half a heartbeat—
And that's when she smiled.
> "Too late."
Her chest exploded.
A hidden self-detonation core activated, triggered by terminal threat detection. The Chaos System screamed.
> [WARNING: Core Overload – 0.4 Seconds to Detonation]
[System Response: Emergency Fold Triggered]
Tianming vanished — again.
But not before he saw her final expression.
> Not rage.
Not fear.
Relief.
---
🌌 [Elsewhere – Inner Void, Chaos System Core]
Darkness.
And a voice.
> "You almost died again."
"You're too soft, Tianming. Let me in next time. Let me take over fully."
> "You think you're the only one the system chose?"
A shape moved in the dark — a reflection of himself, but older, wilder… and smiling.
> "There are worse things inside this system than you can imagine."
Tianming opened his eyes.
---
🌒 [Back in the ruins]
He gasped, lying in a scorched crater ten meters wide. His skin steamed. His bones screamed. His aura was flickering like a candle in wind.
> [Chaos Form: Expired.]
[Body Fatigue: 71%. Mental Sync Disrupted.]
He sat up, coughing blood.
But he was alive.
And the Valkyrie… was not.
A melted crater remained, her blade fused into twisted metal. He dragged himself to it, ripping the blade free and letting its weight rest across his shoulders.
The system chimed weakly.
> [Item Absorbed: Valkyrie Blade – Material: Divine Alloy. Chaos Infection Spreading.]
[Weapon Evolution Possible: Status – Dormant.]
Then… a different sound.
A second tone.
Lower.
Colder.
> [New Chaos Trait Acquired: "Instinct Echo" – You retain fragments of the beast you become.]
[Note: Humanity Corruption +2%]
Tianming clenched his fist.
> "How long until I'm not me anymore?"
The system didn't answer.
Instead, a final notification popped up.
> [Soul Count: 3 / 999999]
[New Mark Detected: You have been noticed.]
---