The city stretched before them like a dying beast sprawling, twitching, bleeding red.
Their boots hit the broken pavement in rhythm, steady but sharp. The sound was echoing between the half collapsed towers and flickering digital skies. The simulation was breaking down and they could feel it in their every breath, every step. The air itself buzzed with static, like they were walking inside a glitching memory.
No one spoke.
They didn't need to.
The presence from the rooftop, the faceless figure in red still lingered like a curse behind Ryker's eyes. Its gesture hadn't been an attack.
It had been a declaration.
He knew now. They were no longer just pieces on the chess board.
They were threats.
The narrow street opened into a shattered plaza where broken fountain statues spewed out streams of corrupted code instead of water. Lampposts blinked wildly, turning on and off in erratic pulses that made it feel like time was stuttering.
As the group stepped into the open field something shifted.
The environment noticed them.
The code in the air rippled as if reacting to their presence.
Then the noise began a low, digital groan that rose into a static shriek.
From all sides, corrupted figures emerged.
Not mindless this time.
Deliberate.
Stalking.
They were glitched out mockeries of students, professors and civilians, each fused with fragments of metal, concrete and raw data. Their movements were less erratic than before. Smarter. Synchronized.
"They have changed," Lia whispered.
"Adapted," Arthur corrected. "Someone's watching… and adjusting them."
"Let them." Ryker said in a cold tone as his eyes narrowed. "We're done playing defense."
Dean smirked. "About time."
Sasha flicked her daggers into reverse grip. "I have been waiting to hit back."
Dean cracked his knuckles, stone dust falling from his fingers. "We make a path?"
"We burn one," Lia answered.
Ryker raised his hand and the city reacted again like it knew he was the focus.
The hunt had begun.
.
.
.
.
.
Roads twisted at impossible angles. Buildings flickered and shuddered as though undecided whether to remain whole or collapse into corrupted data. Floating code fragments danced in the air like fireflies, pulsing in erratic patterns. And in the streets, silhouettes shuffled.
Dozens of corrupted humanoid monsters who were once people, once human in shape
Now they were misshapen, melting, flickering with glitchy trails like broken holograms. Many wore the remnants of uniforms. Students, professors alike. Their eyes burned with static red light, mouths stuck in twitching loops of silent screams.
Dean exhaled slowly, fists clenched. "There's too many."
"Not just numbers," Lia muttered. "They're coordinated. Converging."
Ryker narrowed his eyes. "No... they're herding us."
Arthur stepped forward, his blade gleaming faintly. "Then we push through before they box us in."
They didn't wait for orders. The team moved, keeping low as they cut across a cracked intersection and into the ruins of a transit station.
Swoosh!!
Sasha took the lead, her form flickering between shadows with her daggers ready. Lucas followed closely, electricity humming beneath his skin.
They passed overturned vehicles and twisted light poles. Neon signs blinked messages in corrupted code.
[ERROR: SYSTEM FAIL….]
[ERROR: CORRUPTION DETECTED]
"Eyes up," Sasha whispered.
The first wave appeared.
Glitched humanoids poured from alleyways and tunnels. The twitching figures with missing jaws, broken limbs that moved too fast or too slow and arms that had transformed into razor sharp data hooks.
Arthur didn't hesitate. "Formation two. Lia and Ryker in the middle. Dean and I front."
The team tightened, instinctively falling into formation.
"Stoneguard" Dean growled.
He slammed his foot down, raising a wall of jagged stone between them and the incoming wave. It stalled their charge but wouldn't hold long.
Thud!!
Thud!!!
Thud!!!
Something heavier approached.
From the fog of code and ash a massive creature emerged. A four armed corrupted brute dragging a severed streetlight like a club. Its flesh pulsed with corrupted red script and a grotesque face twitched in loops.
"Priority target," Arthur snapped.
Boom!!!
The wall shattered as the brute charged.
Dean intercepted, creating a stone slab as a shield. He blocked the first swing but the second arm broke through, knocking him back.
Lia stepped forward, her hands blazing.
"Inferno Surge"
She spun, releasing a spiral of flames that carved through the lesser enemies and scorched the brute's chest.
Ryker raised a glowing hand.
"Sacrificial Restoration"
Golden bindings burst from the air, wrapping around the brute's left arms and pinning them.
"Now" Ryker shouted.
Sasha vanished into a blink step and appeared behind the brute, blades flashing.
Slash!
Slash!
She cut across the hamstrings and dove away.
Lucas zipped forward, spear crackling.
Slash!!!
His lightning infused stab pierced the brute's ribs. The monster roared and swung wildly.
Graaaar!!!
BOOM!!
The streetlamp slammed into a car, detonating it in a blast of fire and data particles.
Dean returned with a vengeance, fists coated in rock.
"Stone Breaker"
He leapt and brought both fists down. The ground exploded beneath the brute's feet, shattering its stance.
Arthur moved in next, voidfire dancing along his blade. He leapt, slashing downward in a clean arc.
Crack!!
The sword tore through the brute's head and the corrupted monstrosity collapsed, disintegrating into pixelated fragments.
No time to breathe.
Swarms of smaller glitched creatures flooded in.
Spider limbed things that move erratically, some crawling along walls and ceilings.
"Fall back" Ryker shouted.
"Toward the overpass"
They sprinted toward a half collapsed highway structure. Sasha scaled the wall first and pulled Lia up. Lucas used his lightning to jump boost Ryker and Dean.
Once on top, they turned and regrouped.
"Here they come," Sasha warned.
Dozens of creatures skittered along the road and walls, shrieking with corrupted voices.
Arthur stepped forward and planted his blade.
"Voidfield"
A dome of black purple energy spread from the blade, slowing the enemies as they entered. Their forms flickered and stuttered, movement erratic and halved.
"Hit them hard" Ryker ordered.
Lia raised both hands.
"Scorching Embers"
Flaming fireballs shot outward in wide arcs, exploding upon impact.
Lucas dashed through them, delivering blinding spear strikes.
Dean raised spiked walls to skewer advancing beasts.
Sasha blinked between them like a phantom, daggers dancing with precision.
"Radiant Mend"
Ryker cast 'Radiant Mend' twice. First for Dean's burned arm then for Lucas's bleeding side.
"Sanctuary Veil"
He followed with "Sanctuary Veil," a shimmering dome that blocked falling debris from the corrupted infrastructure.
But then…
A low hum echoed across the city.
Static buzzed.
The sky above them split no longer sky but a tear in the simulation itself.
And something descended.
A figure of dread.
Twice the size of any enemy so far, a floating corrupted Warden emerged from the rift. It hovered, arms folded like a judge. Its head was faceless, replaced by a shifting mask of binary and glowing red eyes that seemed to look directly at Ryker.
The simulation stopped.
Even the corrupted beasts halted, submitting to the Warden
"No," Ryker muttered, pulse quickening. "It's aware."
Arthur's jaw tightened. "We are outmatched."
The Warden raised a single arm.
A blast of crimson energy tore through the sky.
BOOOOOOM!
A beam hit the highway below, obliterating it in a flash of light and sending debris raining.
Lucas and Dean were thrown back. Ryker barely shielded Sasha with a burst of golden light.
"It's targeting us directly," Lia yelled.
"We need to move" Arthur shouted.
"Get off the highway…..now!"
They leapt down, sprinting into the twisted cityscape again, zigzagging through alleys and fractured parks.
The Warden followed. It was slow but relentless, hovering overhead like a god of judgment.
"We are being pushed," Sasha said, breathless.
"It's driving us toward something," Lucas added, wiping blood from his chin.
Ryker gritted his teeth. "The Cathedral. The center of the simulation."
"It's a trap," Arthur growled.
"Yes," Ryker said, eyes glinting. "But now we know."
As they ran, Ryker's hand moved to his chest pocket. He felt the faint pulse of the red card. The anomaly he recovered before the tower.
It responded to the Warden's presence.
To the Cathedral.
To something deeper.
And that meant he was getting closer.
Closer to the truth.
Closer to the real enemy.
The simulation wasn't just failing.
It was waking up.