The world flickered in and out, like a dying flame struggling against the wind.
I was weightless at first, floating in the dark, trapped somewhere between consciousness and oblivion. But then pain brought me back. A deep, searing pain that curled through every nerve in my body, anchoring me to the cold, hard surface beneath me.
My fingers twitched. My chest rose in a slow, uneven breath. And then—I opened my eyes.
The dim glow of firelight flickered against the stone walls. Shadows danced in the corners of the small, enclosed space, wrapping around me like silent spectators. My body felt like it had been through a meat grinder, my muscles stiff and aching, my ribs screaming with every breath.
I tried to push myself up—bad idea.
A sharp, tearing pain shot through my torso, forcing a grunt from my lips.
"You're awake."
The voice was steady, controlled, but I could hear the underlying relief hidden beneath the words.
Scarlett.
She sat a few feet away, her cloak draped loosely over her shoulders, her crimson eyes locked onto me like a predator sizing up its next move. She didn't look relieved. She looked… expectant. Like she had been waiting for this moment.
I swallowed, forcing my throat to work through the dryness. "Barely," I muttered.
A beat of silence. Then—
"You were out for two days."
That made me pause.
Two days?
My mind scrambled to piece everything together—the fight with Ren, the escape, the pain, the Voidscar draining my Essence, the way my body had given up right at the finish line. I had collapsed. And now—now, I was here.
Scarlett was still watching me, her gaze unreadable. I could feel the weight behind it, the quiet calculation. She was waiting for something.
I exhaled, dragging a hand through my hair. "Yeah. I noticed."
Her expression remained neutral, but I didn't miss the way she shifted slightly, her fingers tightening against her knee. "You need to start talking."
I looked up at her. "About what?"
She scoffed, shaking her head. "Don't play dumb. Who the hell are you, really?"
I held her gaze, saying nothing.
She leaned forward slightly, her tone sharp. "You survived things that should've killed you ten times over. You wield a weapon that defies logic. And—" her eyes narrowed, scanning me like she was dissecting every piece of my existence, "—you don't have an Interlogue."
I clenched my jaw.
There it was.
I knew this conversation was coming, but I wasn't prepared for the weight of those words.
"Explain," I said slowly.
Scarlett stared at me for a long moment, like she was deciding whether or not I was worth the effort. Then, with a quiet breath, she leaned back against the stone wall and began.
"You really don't know, do you?" she muttered.
I didn't answer.
She exhaled. "Fine. I'll start from the beginning."
Her eyes flickered to the fire for a moment before she spoke again, this time slower, more deliberate.
"Two centuries ago, the world as we knew it ended."
My stomach tightened. Two centuries?
Scarlett continued, her voice cold and factual. "It started with what we now call the Ancient Catastrophe. A war, a battle—something so massive, so destructive, that it wiped entire civilizations off the map. No one knows exactly what happened, because no records survived. But the one thing everyone agrees on?"
She turned back to me, her red eyes gleaming in the dim light.
"It began with the fall of the Goddess of the Void."
My breath stalled.
Nyxia.
She was talking about Nyxia.
But Scarlett didn't know. She didn't know that Nyxia was real.
That she was still alive—or rather, trapped.
Scarlett went on, oblivious to the storm raging in my head. "After the war, the world collapsed. The old governments fell. The people who survived? They were lost, broken, desperate. And then—the Dracus arrived."
She paused, watching for my reaction.
I stayed silent, letting her continue.
"It's speculated that the Dracus have been here since the fall of the Goddess, that they were waiting for their moment to strike," she said, her voice lowering slightly. "No one knows where they came from, only that they appeared when the world was weak, and they enslaved humanity from the ashes."
I felt my jaw tighten.
She wasn't wrong. But she didn't know the full truth.
"The Dracus claimed to bring order. They introduced the Interlogue System." Scarlett's lips curled slightly, like she hated even saying the words. "At first, people thought it was a gift. An awakening. A way to harness power, to fight back. But it wasn't long before we realized the truth."
Her fingers dug into her knee.
"Interlogue isn't for humans."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
She scoffed. "It's a leash."
She held up her hand, and I watched as a holographic interface flickered into existence in front of her. Text, numbers, bars—I couldn't make sense of it.
"This," she gestured toward the projection, "tracks everything. Strength. Speed. Null capabilities. Skills. It ranks us, categorizes us. And the Dracus? They use it to control us. The higher your level, the more 'privileges' you get. The lower?"
Her eyes darkened. "You're expendable."
I stared at the glowing interface.
A system that controlled human progress. That dictated power. That decided who lived and who died.
And yet—I didn't have one.
Scarlett must've seen the thoughts racing through my head, because she tilted her head slightly. "But you… you don't have an Interlogue."
She leaned in, voice quiet, but sharp as a blade.
"You realize how impossible that is, right?"
I exhaled slowly. I did now.
Scarlett sat back, studying me like a puzzle she couldn't quite solve. "That means two things. One—you were either never meant to exist in this system. Or two…"
She let the silence stretch before finishing,
"…someone erased you from it."
The weight of her words settled into my chest like a stone.
Erased.
Was that what happened to me?
Before I could respond, Scarlett dismissed her interface with a flick of her wrist. "I don't know what you are, Matte. But I do know one thing."
She looked at me, expression serious.
"If the Dracus find out about you? They will hunt you down until there's nothing left."
Scarlett's words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Erased from the system.
It made too much sense. It explained why I had no Interlogue, why I didn't fit into the world as it was now. But what it didn't explain was why.
And that was the part that made my stomach twist.
Scarlett was still watching me, waiting for a reaction. But I gave her nothing. I couldn't. Not yet.
I leaned forward, resting my forearms on my knees. "And what about you?" I asked finally, my voice quieter now. "How long have you been part of this… system?"
She tilted her head slightly, like she was considering whether to answer. Then, she sighed.
"My whole life."
I frowned. "How old were you when you awakened?"
She hesitated, and for the first time since I met her, I saw something flicker across her face—something that almost looked like regret.
"Nineteen."
I let that sit for a moment. "And what happened?"
Scarlett exhaled sharply. "The same thing that happens to every awakened human."
She raised her hand again, and the Interlogue interface flickered back into view. This time, I paid closer attention.
It wasn't just a collection of stats—it was a ranked system. Levels, designations, sub-categories. A hierarchy of power, all dictated by numbers floating in front of her.
Scarlett tapped the interface, and I watched as a section expanded.
Rank: Lieutenant 1 - Class Awakened
Null Affinity: High
Abilities: Redacted
Status: Active
I raised an eyebrow. "Lieutenant 1?"
She scoffed. "Don't get the wrong idea, im not a Lieutenant, that just means my strength is comparable to that of a Dracus.
I looked at her carefully. "So that's what this is? A way to make sure the Dracus always know who's worth keeping tabs on if they need to execute them?"
Scarlett's expression darkened. "Exactly."
I sat back, my fingers curling against my knee. It wasn't just a tracking system. It was a leash.
A bitter laugh escaped my throat before I could stop it. "And people just… go along with it?"
Scarlett's jaw tightened. "It's not about choice. When you awaken, Interlogue registers you automatically. You don't get to say no. You don't get to resist." She paused. "Unless you're like me."
I narrowed my eyes. "Like you?"
She exhaled, shutting off the interface again. "Ren and I… we weren't just any awakened. We were part of a faction. A group that refused to submit to the system."
I felt something cold settle in my chest. "And what happened?"
She didn't answer right away. But when she did, her voice was low. "We lost."
The fire between us crackled, the silence stretching unbearably long.
Finally, I asked the only question that mattered.
"And now he's hunting you."
Scarlett nodded. "Not just me. Anyone who ran. Anyone who refused." She swallowed. "That's why I had to leave. That's why I stayed behind to help you."
I frowned. "You stayed for me?"
She hesitated before shaking her head. "No. Not at first." Her crimson eyes met mine. "But then I saw you fight. I saw what you are."
I held my breath, waiting.
"You're not part of this system, Matte." Her voice was quiet, but full of something dangerous. "And that makes you the biggest threat to it."
I let her words settle, my mind churning.
For so long, I thought I was just weak. Just behind everyone else.
But it wasn't that. It was the system itself.
The Dracus created Interlogue. It was their way of keeping awakened humans in line—to measure them, rank them, control them.
And I?
I didn't exist in their world.
I had something they couldn't see, couldn't track, couldn't control.
Essence.
I exhaled through my nose, looking down at my hands. It still wasn't enough.
Scarlett was watching me carefully, studying my reaction.
"So what now?" I asked finally.
She didn't answer right away. Then—
"We need to test something."
I looked at her warily. "Test what?"
Scarlett sat up straighter, her expression unreadable. "I want to see if there's a way to force Interlogue to recognize you."
A chill ran down my spine. "You just said I wasn't part of the system."
She nodded. "Exactly. But that doesn't mean we can't make it think you are."
I clenched my jaw. "And why the hell would I want to do that?"
"Because if Interlogue can't register you, you're invisible to it. That's good and bad." She exhaled. "If we can force the system to acknowledge you, even for a second, we might learn something. Like what's keeping you out of it in the first place."
I didn't like this.
Not one bit.
I didn't trust Interlogue. I didn't want anything to do with it.
But… if Scarlett was right, if we could figure out what made me different—
It might be the key to unlocking my true power.
A muscle in my jaw ticked. "How do we do it?"
Scarlett hesitated. "We find someone who can hack it."
I blinked. "Hack Interlogue?"
She nodded. "There are people out there—rogue awakened—who know how to manipulate the system. They steal ranks, forge identities, mess with the Dracus' tracking. They're ghosts."
"Like me," I muttered.
Scarlett smirked slightly. "Not quite. You're a different kind of ghost."
I exhaled, running a hand through my hair. "And where the hell do we find someone like that?"
She looked me dead in the eyes.
"There's only one place left where people like that still exist."
I raised an eyebrow. "And where's that?"
Scarlett's smirk widened slightly, but there was no humor in it.
"The Underground."
I frowned. "The Underground?"
Scarlett leaned forward, her voice lowering slightly. "It's the last free place in this world, Matte. A city beneath the ruins. No Dracus control. No Interlogue restrictions. Just people trying to survive."
Something in my gut twisted.
"And you think someone there can help us?"
She nodded. "If anyone can figure out what you are, it's them."
I took a slow breath, my mind racing.
This was it.
A lead. A direction. A chance to finally understand what made me different.
I clenched my fists.
The Underground.
That was where we were heading next.