Betrayed

The battlefield was burning. Not metaphorically. Fire covered the ruined streets.

Buildings had collapsed into mountains of concrete and steel, while monsters crawled through the smoke.

Above them, the sky was split open. Something enormous moved beyond the crack in reality.

Kael Mercer could barely breathe. Blood soaked his armor. One of his arms hung uselessly at his side, and his right leg was almost completely numb.

Every breath felt like broken glass scraping through his lungs.

He still stood. Barely. His sword rested against the ground, supporting most of his weight.

Around him, thousands of players had already fallen. The battlefield that had once been a city was now a graveyard.

Kael slowly raised his head. Across the burning ruins stood the enemy army. And behind them... Ironclad. Their guild banner flew above the crowd.

Kael's eyes narrowed. Ironclad. The guild he had carried for years. The guild he had helped win three championships.

The guild whose weakest players he had personally trained. The guild whose strategies he had shared without keeping anything for himself.

He had found resources for them. He had fought bosses for them. He had taken risks for them. Whenever Ironclad needed someone to stand at the front, it was Kael.

Whenever they needed someone to solve a problem, it was Kael. And whenever they won... they celebrated together.

At least, that's what he had believed.

Kael's fingers tightened around his sword. So this is how it ends?

A voice came from the smoke.

"You're still alive?" Kael recognized it immediately. His gaze shifted.

Ryan Tanner walked through the burning battlefield the same Ryan he had personally trained when nobody believed the man had any talent.

Ryan stopped several meters away. He was wearing a brand-new set of legendary armor the same armor Kael had helped Ironclad acquire.

Ryan smiled. "You really are stubborn."

Kael stared at him. "Ryan."

"Don't look so surprised." Ryan glanced toward the army behind him. "You should have realized sooner."

Kael's eyes moved across the battlefield. Ironclad players stood among the enemy forces. Dozens. Then hundreds. All watching him. None came forward. None looked ashamed.

Kael's expression slowly hardened. Then he saw her. Cynthia Miles. She stood at the front of the formation. Calm. Untouched. Not a single scratch marked her armor.

Kael's breathing stopped for a moment. Cynthia. The woman he had trusted more than anyone.

The woman he had spent years protecting. The woman he had fought beside when Ironclad was nothing more than a small guild with a handful of players.

The woman he had helped turn into one of the most influential guild leaders in the world.

Kael stared at her. "Cynthia..."

She met his eyes. There was no regret in hers. Not even a trace.

Kael's grip loosened slightly around his sword. "Why?"Cynthia remained silent.

Kael laughed bitterly. "Three championships." His voice was weak.

"I carried this guild through three championships." His eyes moved across the Ironclad players.

"I trained most of you." Nobody answered. "I gave you my strategies." Silence. "I gave you resources." Still nothing.

Kael looked back at Cynthia. "And you..." His voice cracked. "I gave you everything."

Cynthia finally stepped forward. "I know."

Two words. They hurt more than any wound.

Kael stared at her. "You knew?"

"Of course." Cynthia's expression remained cold. "That's why it was so easy."

Kael's eyes narrowed. "What was?"

Cynthia looked at the blood covering his armor. "Do you remember the Forbidden Zone?"

Kael froze. His mind immediately went back. Years ago. A place where even elite players rarely survived. He had discovered something there an ancient crystal buried beneath a ruined temple.

Inside that crystal was a single drop of blood. No description. No system notification. No obvious effect. Nothing.

He had spent countless hours testing it. Nothing happened. Eventually, he stopped caring about it. But he had never told anyone. Not even Cynthia.

Kael's expression changed. "You..."

Cynthia smiled faintly. "Yes."

She knew.Kael's heart sank. "When did you find out?"

"Months ago."

Ryan stepped closer. "She found out what you were hiding."

Kael's eyes moved to him. "The Primordial Bloodline." The name echoed through Kael's mind. His blood ran cold. So that's why.

Everything suddenly made sense. The strange missions. The guild members disappearing. The resources being redirected. The sudden changes in Ironclad's leadership.

The way Cynthia had started keeping certain plans away from him.

It had never been about his performance. It had never been about replacing him. They wanted what was inside him.

Kael looked at Cynthia. "You turned the entire guild against me..."

"I gave them a choice." And they chose you?

Cynthia glanced behind her. Nobody spoke. That silence was enough.

Kael laughed. A painful, empty laugh. "After everything..."

Cynthia's eyes remained emotionless. "You were too valuable to kill."

Kael frowned. "What?"

"We needed the Bloodline." She took another step forward. "If you surrendered it, you would have been allowed to live."

Kael stared at her. Then he smiled. "You actually thought I'd give it to you?"

Cynthia's expression hardened. "I knew you wouldn't." She raised her hand. The surrounding players lifted their weapons.

"That's why we brought enough people to make sure you couldn't refuse."

Kael looked around. Hundreds of players. His body was already broken. His resources were nearly gone.

His skills were on cooldown. Even if he had been at his peak, fighting this many players would have been difficult. Now? It was impossible.

Kael lowered his head. For years, he had believed strength was enough. If he worked harder, he could catch up to the gifted players.

If he trained longer, he could protect his guild. If he sacrificed enough, the people around him would eventually become family.

He had been wrong.

Kael slowly raised his sword. "Then come."

Ryan's smile disappeared. Cynthia gave a small gesture. The battlefield exploded.

Players rushed toward Kael from every direction. Kael moved. His sword flashed. One player fell. Then another. A third. Even wounded, his experience remained terrifying.

He dodged attacks by inches. Blocked spells. Countered assassins. Crushed tanks.

For several minutes, the man who had once stood among the world's best players reminded everyone why Ironclad had feared losing him.

But there were too many.

A blade pierced his side. Kael staggered. A spell struck his back. He dropped to one knee.

Another attack slammed into his shoulder. His sword fell from his hand.

Kael looked up. Cynthia was standing before him. She extended her hand. "Last chance."

Kael stared at her bloody palm. Then at the guild behind her. The people he had trusted. The people he had protected.

He slowly shook his head. "No."

Cynthia's eyes turned cold. "Then die with it."

She raised her hand. A massive attack gathered above Kael.

At that moment... something changed.

Kael felt heat inside his chest. His eyes widened. What is this?

The pain disappeared. His heartbeat became deafening.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

A strange force spread through his body. The blood inside the ancient crystal.

The blood he had believed was useless. The Primordial Bloodline. It awakened.

[Primordial Bloodline detected.]

Kael's pupils contracted.

[Condition satisfied.]

[Primordial Bloodline integration beginning.]

[1%...]

A violent force erupted from his body. The battlefield shook. Everyone froze.

Cynthia's expression finally changed.

"What..."

Kael looked down at his hands. Golden light flowed beneath his skin. His vision blurred.

For the first time, he understood.

The Bloodline had never been useless. It had been waiting. Waiting for this moment. Waiting until he stood at the edge of death.

A final notification appeared before his fading vision.

[Temporal authority acquired.]

[Host death confirmed.]

[Initiating rollback.]

Kael's eyes widened. Rollback?

The world disappeared.

Pain. That was the first thing Kael felt. Then silence. He opened his eyes. A white ceiling stared back at him.

Kael froze. His breathing became rapid. He immediately sat upright. His body was intact. No wounds. No blood. No battlefield. No burning city.

He looked around. A familiar bedroom. His old bedroom. Kael stared at the wall. Then at his hands. Young. Uninjured.

He rushed toward the window. Outside, the city was alive. No monsters. No collapsing buildings. No war.

His eyes moved to the digital calendar on the wall.

March 19, 2077.

Kael stopped breathing. He stared at the date. Once. Twice. Then again. His hands began to tremble.

June 9. One day before Ascension launched. Two and a half years before everything changed. Two and a half years before the world became a battlefield.

Kael slowly clenched his fists. A laugh escaped his mouth. Quiet at first. Then louder.

He had returned. Back to the day before everything began. Back before Cynthia. Before Ironclad's betrayal.Before his death.

Kael looked at his reflection in the window. The terrified man who had died on that battlefield was gone. What remained was someone who knew exactly what was coming.

His eyes hardened. "Cynthia."

He remembered her face. Then Ironclad. Then the Primordial Bloodline.

Kael's smile disappeared. This time, nobody gets to decide my future.

He looked toward the room where his old Ascension equipment was already waiting.

Tomorrow, the game would launch. And Kael knew something the rest of the world didn't.

Ascension wasn't just a game. It was the beginning.

And this time... he would be ready.

[Ascension launches in: 23 hours, 47 minutes.]