Mythical artifact

Duke turned to face Brad, a taunting smirk playing on his lips. His voice dripped with a mixture of confidence and mystery as he responded, "Right now, I can be two things to you. Your liberator, leading you out of this darkness, or your end, sealing your fate. Choose wisely, my friend."

[Fifteen Minutes Left]

The timer on Duke's screen, visible only to him, reminded him.

"I'll tell you everything! Everything you need to know, but please spare me!" Brad pleaded in fear. Duke couldn't help but grin in contentment. He liked the feeling he got from seeing Brad plead for his life to be spared.

"Let's start with the basics. Who sent you here?"

"Dominique. He sent us to simply follow you and make sure to retrieve the pill. He insisted there was something off about you, that you must have it in your possession. We were supposed to ransack your house and leave before you headed back, but my friends thought we could intimidate you into revealing the pill's whereabouts."

Duke let out a chilling chuckle at Brad's response, a sound that sent shivers down Brad's spine. At that moment, fear took hold of Brad, causing his legs to weaken. He found himself sinking to his knees, his heart pounding in his chest. The weight of Duke's presence overwhelmed him like a dark cloud casting a shadow over him. It was as if Duke held all the power in this encounter, and Brad was left trembling in his wake.

"D-Dude, please, I didn't mean any harm. I was just following Dominique's orders."

Duke's expression hardened at the mention of Dominique. That piece of shit! Duke seethed. He should have known Dominique wouldn't let him off that easily, especially since Duke had told him he lost the pill. Dominique's only means to recuperate the loss of his initial package.

"Why?"

Brad wasn't sure what Duke wanted to know about, but he was quick to deliver a response—anything for Duke to let him off.

"We tried out our powers on you a little," Brad's voice trembled as he spilled the truth. "We didn't do it physically, but Dominique saw it all. So he threatened to expose what we did to the government since he was higher-ranked if we did not comply. And doing that would strip us of our ability and also our lives. We would have nothing to live for, and we couldn't go back to serving as humans.

"We've offended a lot of people, both humans and those with the system. So it's certain once our powers get revoked, they'd use us to their advantage.

"Not wanting that to happen, we asked what he wanted us to do for him to conceal what we thought we did to you in secret. And he promised to let us off and also help us get to his level if we followed you and retrieved the pill. Please, dude, I didn't have a choice. He had us—me wrapped around his thumb. I couldn't risk losing all my years of sweat and tears," Brad concluded, sweating profusely.

"Maybe for Dominique, you didn't. But you did when you stole from me."

Duke kept quiet for a moment as he processed the information that had been relayed to him so far. Still, he was curious about the pill. "Why is the pill important to Dominique?" he asked after a while.

"I can't tell you that," Brad started saying, his voice trembling with fear. But before he could finish his sentence, Duke's actions spoke louder than words. The sound of Duke cracking his knuckles echoed through the air, sending a chilling message to Brad. It was a clear sign that Duke was preparing to attack, and Brad's heart raced with panic.

"I really can't tell you that. If I do, I would die before I get the chance to complete a sentence. But I can tell you more about the pill—" Brad stammered.

Duke nodded at him, and Brad continued.

"The pill is a coveted possession promised to us citizens under the Tierany system. Lots of people spoke of its ability to bestow extraordinary powers, surpassing the meager offerings of the Tierany system itself.

"Yet, it remained an enigma, an inaccessible prize that had evaded the grasp of all who strived and desired it. The government had informed us about the pill taking us to paradise itself where the fountain of wealth never dries. A lot of us, humans, wanted it, hence why we signed up for it. In the first few weeks, when a lot of us started disappearing with proof of its wonders, it made more humans sign up for it. It was a mirage in a desert of hope. But soon after joining the system, we realized it was no easy feat.

"The need for quick fame didn't make us ponder on what troubles lay ahead. And so, we resigned ourselves to the belief that such power was beyond our reach. Until Dominique shattered our misconceptions by asking that we undertake the quest to ransack your home to obtain the mythical artifact from none other than you."

"What makes the pill different from what you already have?" Duke chose to dig further.

"The chip encrypted in us humans allows us to cultivate certain beings' abilities once we can get rid of the beings themselves."

"Like monsters?"

"Not exactly, but yes. We possess some of the abilities the monsters had that made them unique. But we don't get rewarded with good information. Our only reward was to get promoted to another Tier, with hopes of reaching the ultimate level and harnessing the power promised by the government from the pill.

Duke tried his best not to show his confusion. He fought with himself to understand all the information Brad was telling him.

When the word "monsters" is used, it typically conveys the idea of vile or evil creatures. However, from Duke's perspective, those who embraced the Tierany system seemed to embody the true meaning of monsters. In his eyes, their actions and the power they wielded were far more terrifying than any mythical creature.

Duke's sudden words, "You may go," resonated through the room, prompting Brad to swiftly rise from his kneeling position. With his head bowed, Brad couldn't bring himself to meet Duke's piercing gaze as he made his way past him. Suddenly, an evil smirk settled on Brad's face. He turned swiftly, producing a concealed pocket knife, silently stolen from his pocket, and plunged the knife into the vulnerable flesh of Duke's back, tracing a chilling path down his spine.

The room erupted with Duke's cry, a raw expression of the sheer terror that suddenly enveloped him.

[HP 4/10], the system announced.