PASSAGE 29: CRISIS CALL COMPLETED
**TIME REMAINING: 5 MINUTES 14 SECONDS**
A harsh, jarring laugh cut through the oppressive silence. It came from Barrera, who lay sprawled against the rock wall, clutching his side. His laughter was devoid of humor, a twisted sound tinged with madness.
"I hope I made Isaac proud," he rasped, his voice laced with a deranged satisfaction. "I killed one of his killers!"
Locust watched with morbid curiosity as Barrera continued his twisted monologue, his gaze flicking between Alaric and Selena's still form. Alaric, engulfed in grief, remained motionless for a heartbeat, his entire body trembling with a barely contained fury. Then, with a slow, chilling movement, he lifted his head.
A guttural sob escaped his lips as he gently laid Selena's body down. As he rose to his feet, a sudden shift in the air crackled with a dark energy. In a blink, Alaric vanished from his spot.
Locust's eyes widened in disbelief. One moment Alaric was standing there, the next he was a hair's breadth away from Barrera, the Crescent Reaver clutched menacingly in his hand. Barrera's laughter died in his throat, replaced by a look of raw terror.
"What is that?!" Locust's mind screamed. "Teleportation? Or is his speed just… inhuman?"
The answer came in the form of a chilling aura swirling around Alaric's lone visible eye. It pulsed with a malevolent, obsidian energy, flecked with shimmering gold particles. The sight filled Barrera with a primal fear that went beyond self-preservation. It was an instinctive terror, the kind a predator feels when confronted by a vastly superior hunter.
"P-please," Barrera stammered, his voice cracking with a pathetic desperation. "D-don't kill me."
Alaric's response was a single, icy word. "Pathetic."
He raised the Crescent Reaver, the black blade blurring as it swung in a deadly arc. Barrera didn't even have time to scream. The blade met its mark with a sickening crunch, ending Barrera's twisted life in a single, brutal stroke.
Alaric sighed, a heavy sound that spoke volumes of the grief and rage warring inside him. He stood for a moment, the crimson stain on the Crescent Reaver a stark reminder of his recent actions. Then, with a glint of cold determination in his eyes, he turned his gaze towards Locust, the final piece of the bloody puzzle before him.
"CRISIS CALL."
**EMERGENCY QUEST UNLOCKED**
**KILL OR BE KILLED**
**KILL THOSE WHO HAVE THE INTENT TO KILL YOU (4/5)**
**PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DEATH**
**TIME REMAINING: 4 MINUTES 48 SECONDS**
Locust, his bravado shattered, scrambled to his feet, arms raised in a defensive posture. A shimmering aura crackled around his forearms – an Anima Exoskeleton, a magical armor fueled by his own life force. Despite the overwhelming terror gnawing at him, a flicker of defiance sparked in his eyes.
"Hey, kid," he stammered, his voice laced with a desperate plea. "I know you're hurting after what happened to your friend. But listen, the Vermin Claws will hunt you down to the ends of the continent if you kill me! They won't rest until you're six feet under!"
Alaric stopped his slow advance, his eye narrowed into a slit. "Do you think I care about their threats?" he countered, his voice colder than the night air. "They'll all face my wrath in due time. Consider them a bonus objective."
A humorless smirk played on his lips. "Besides, I'm curious to see what you're truly made of without all that shiny armor."
Before Locust could even blink, Alaric launched himself forward. The Vermin Claw leader barely had time to raise his guarded forearms before Alaric's fist slammed into them. The impact resonated with a sickening thud, the force shattering the Anima Exoskeleton with a spray of blue sparks. Locust shrieked in pain as shards of his broken armor dug into his flesh.
Ignoring his screams, Alaric wasted no time. With a blur of motion, he spun behind Locust, a predator stalking its prey. He grasped the connected Anima plates on the leader's back, ripping them free with a sickening tear. Flesh and blood ripped along with the metal, sending another scream of agony echoing through the night.
Locust crumpled to his knees, his massive form wracked with pain. Alaric stood before him, the Crescent Reaver held loosely in his hand, its crimson stain a gruesome testament to his recent actions.
"Now," Alaric said, his voice dripping with icy malice, "show me what you're truly capable of without your precious exoskeleton."
But just as Alaric reached out to grab Locust by the shoulder, a strange thing happened. A plume of white steam erupted from the broken fragments of the Anima armor, enveloping Locust's form. Alaric recoiled, momentarily surprised. Then, his eyes widened in disbelief.
Locust's body began to shrink. Rapidly. The hulking giant who once towered over Alaric was withering away before his very eyes. Within seconds, the monstrous figure had shrunk down to a skeletal, malnourished man, his skin wrinkled and sallow. He looked like a deflated balloon, his former power and arrogance replaced by a whimper of fear.
**TIME REMAINING: 3 MINUTES 56 SECONDS**
Alaric's surprise was so profound it mirrored the shrinking of Locust. His eye, usually a window into cold resolve, widened in disbelief. The hulking figure that had instilled such fear moments ago was now a quivering mess, slumped on the ground, blood trickling down his mangled back.
Locust, his once-booming voice reduced to a pathetic squeak, spoke with a tremor that ran deeper than his ragged breaths. "You wanted to see the real me, kid? This is it. Weak, powerless. Just like you... an Untouched."
The word hung heavy in the air, a detonation in the tense silence. Alaric's surprise morphed into something far deeper – a jolt of shock that sparked a storm of questions in his mind. Untouched? Him? The power he wielded, the weapon he summoned – were they all a lie?
Locust, sensing a shift in Alaric's focus, doubled down on his desperate plea. "Look, kid, I get it. You're surprised. Thrown for a loop. But it's the truth. I'm an Untouched, just like you." He wheezed, his voice laced with a desperate edge. "This scrawny frame, this is what lies beneath the armor. A lifetime of bullying for being denied the Blessings of the Gods. Hunters, all of them! They made every day a living hell."
Locust's voice grew bitter as he continued, his eyes filled with a lifetime of resentment. "So when a chance arose to change my fate, I grabbed it. The Vermin Claws, those exoskeletons you ripped off – that was my ticket to power, my way to rise above the scorn. That's why your confession about being Untouched… it enraged me. I thought you were mocking us, the powerless ones!"
Alaric listened, his single eye filled with a newfound sadness. Slowly, he began to approach the broken man before him. "No," he said softly, his voice devoid of anger. "I would never mock someone for being Untouched. I know the sting of those taunts, the shattered dreams of becoming a hunter. The isolation, the loneliness – I've felt it all."
Locust flinched as Alaric drew closer, his bravado replaced by a flicker of surprise. "You… you understand?"
Alaric stopped a few paces away, his gaze unwavering. "More than you know. Not every hunter is a bully. There are those who see beyond the limitations, who value courage and determination over raw power. It's a shame you never had the chance to meet them." His voice softened with a hint of regret.
**TIME REMAINING: 0 MINUTES 41 SECONDS**
A flicker of understanding dawned on Locust's face, a spark of regret replacing the bitterness. "Y-you…" he stammered, a weak cough escaping his lips. "You understand what it's like to be ostracized, yet…"
His voice trailed off as Alaric spoke, his words laced with a heavy weight. "You're right, Locust. You're one of the reasons one of those accepting hunters died tonight." Grief flickered across Alaric's eyes, a storm brewing beneath the surface.
"It's time to even the odds," he declared, raising the Crescent Reaver high. Its crimson stain gleamed under the moonlight, a grim reminder of the battles fought and the price paid.
Locust closed his eyes, a single tear tracing a path down his wrinkled cheek. He had gambled, lost, and now awaited the inevitable. The fear that had gripped him moments ago was replaced by a strange sense of peace, a warped acceptance of his fate.
In a single, swift motion, Alaric brought the Crescent Reaver down. The air itself seemed to hum as the blade sliced through the night. Locust's head separated from his body in a spray of blood, rolling to a stop at Alaric's feet.
Silence descended, thick and heavy. Alaric stared down at the severed head, the echo of the blade ringing in his ears. The rage that had fueled him moments ago had dissipated, replaced by a profound sadness. He had achieved his vengeance, yet it tasted of ash in his mouth.
Perhaps, amidst the carnage, Alaric had unknowingly completed the emergency quest, a quest he never knew existed. A quest for understanding, for empathy forged in the crucible of grief. But at what cost? The weight of his actions settled on him, a heavy mantle he would carry forward.
The night had taken much from him, but it had also revealed a truth far more profound than vengeance: the true battle wasn't against monstrous creatures or ruthless men, but against the darkness that could fester within the human heart. And in that battle, Alaric knew, the greatest victory wasn't in slaying others, but in conquering the demons within.
"CRISIS CALL."
**EMERGENCY QUEST UNLOCKED**
**KILL OR BE KILLED**
**KILL THOSE WHO HAVE THE INTENT TO KILL YOU (5/5)**
**PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DEATH**
**TIME REMAINING: 0 MINUTES 07 SECONDS**
QUEST COMPLETED!