PASSAGE 27: CRISIS CALL

Felt like a juicy steak caught between two ravenous wolves: Barrera, fueled by grief and vengeance, and Locust, a cyborg with an agenda veiled in cruelty. Alaric stood resolute, his back to Selena, the weight of their lives pressing down on him.

Thirty-seven agonizing minutes remained until the Temporal Breach could be used again. Time stretched into an eternity as his mind raced, desperately formulating an escape plan. How could he fight two such formidable opponents? How could he get Selena to safety?

A desperate yell pierced the tense silence. "Mr. Masked Man! Don't worry about me! Just run and save yourself!" Selena's voice, laced with urgency, shattered the suffocating tension. Barrera's guard clamped a hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her pleas.

"Mr. Masked Man, huh?" Locust drawled, circling Alaric like a shark scenting blood. "Pathetic attempt at hiding your identity, kid. You think I'm blind? He already spilled the beans back at the Keep, didn't he, sweetheart?"

Locust's gaze flicked between Alaric and Selena, a cruel amusement twisting his lips. "Why don't you reveal that handsome face of yours, Alaric? Let Barrera see the accomplice of the one who murdered his son."

Barrera echoed the sentiment, his voice a guttural growl. "Show me your face! I want to see the murderer of my son before I send you straight to hell!"

Alaric felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple. He was a cornered animal, prey to two ravenous predators circling him with murderous intent.

"Come on, Alaric! Show us that pretty face of yours!" Locust roared, his voice dripping with mocking amusement.

In a desperate struggle, Selena managed to wriggle free from Barrera's guard's grasp. A scream ripped from her throat, shattering the tense silence. "Alaric!"

Her shout was like a spark igniting a powder keg. Both Locust and Barrera lunged at Alaric in a synchronized assault. Locust launched himself forward, a fist aimed at Alaric's chest like a battering ram. Simultaneously, Barrera unleashed a flurry of quick, precise stabs with Isaac's dagger.

Alaric found himself in a whirlwind of attacks, forced to dodge and weave like a leaf on a turbulent wind. Locust's blows were devastating, each one carrying the force to shatter stone. Barrera's dagger, a venomous serpent in his hand, darted in and out, searching for a vital point.

"Stop dodging, coward!" Barrera bellowed, his voice thick with rage. "Fight back! Show me how you killed my son!"

Alaric's mind raced. He yearned to retaliate, to protect himself and Selena. But a fierce loyalty held him back. He couldn't hurt Barrera, not when the man was consumed by grief. Each dodge, each desperate leap, strained his already taxed energy.

Suddenly, a holographic alert blinked into existence in his vision – a critical message from the Eye of Chronos. He spared a fleeting glance at the message, momentarily losing focus. That split second was all it took.

Locust's fist, a blur of raw power, slammed into Alaric's stomach. The impact sent him flying through the air before crashing onto a pile of jagged rocks. A choked gasp escaped his lips as pain erupted through his core.

Selena screamed, her heart plummeting into her stomach. Alaric's body lay crumpled amongst the rocks, unmoving. A sickening silence descended on the battlefield.

"Is that it?" Locust scoffed, a devilish grin spreading across his face. "A single punch and you're already out? Pathetic."

He swaggered towards the fallen Alaric, Barrera trailing behind him, a cruel glint in his eyes. "Seems like the honors of finishing him off fall to me," the Vermin Claw leader declared.

Alaric lay sprawled amongst the rocks, his vision blurring at the edges with pain. But amidst the throbbing agony, a different kind of spark flickered in his lone visible eye. It wasn't the pain of defeat, nor the fear of imminent death. It was something else entirely – a chilling urgency.

The source of this urgency pulsed on his internal display - a holographic message from the Eye of Chronos, stark red and pulsing with an ominous crimson light. It blared a single, terrifying phrase: "CRISIS CALL."

Below that, a grim quest unfolded:

**EMERGENCY QUEST UNLOCKED**

**KILL OR BE KILLED**

**KILL THOSE WHO HAVE THE INTENT TO KILL YOU (0/5)**

**PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DEATH**

**TIME REMAINING: 10 MINUTES**

A cold dread washed over Alaric. The Eye of Chronos, the very artifact that had given him power, was now demanding he take lives. Five lives, to be precise – Locust, Barrera, and his three guards. All of them radiating murderous intent towards him. The very thought of taking a human life repulsed him, yet the alternative – his own demise – was equally unthinkable.

"This is what the Eye gave me," Alaric thought to himself, a bitter taste coating his mouth. "The chance to transcend being Untouched, to become a hunter… but at what cost?"

"You scared me there, kid," Locust's voice boomed, shattering the silence. "Thought you were a goner for a second. Come on, get up! We were just getting started!"

Alaric pushed himself up from the rocks, a newfound determination hardening his features. "This isn't who I wanted to be," he muttered, the words barely audible. "This path... it may haunt me forever."

Locust, confused, threw his head back and let out a booming laugh. "What are you babbling about? Did my punch scramble your brain?"

But the laughter died in his throat the moment Alaric looked at him. A horrifying, inky black energy crackled and pulsed around his left eye, twisting and distorting the air. Alaric raised his hand, and with a shimmer, a wickedly curved blade materialized from the void – the Crescent Reaver.

The onlookers gasped in unison. Fear, raw and primal, flickered in Locust's eyes for the first time. This wasn't the same Untouched boy he'd been toying with moments ago. This was something… different.

A cold smile played on Alaric's lips, devoid of any warmth or humor. "Now," he spoke, his voice deeper, more resonant. "Shall we continue?"

The air crackled with a different kind of energy now – the energy of desperation, of a cornered animal fighting for survival. The battle lines had been redrawn, and Alaric, the boy with the mysterious eyepatch, was no longer the hunted. He was the hunter, and the clock was ticking.

TIME REMAINING: 8 MINUTES 26 SECONDS