Black Dagger Breaching the System?!

> You get 1.000.000 Monster Diamonds!

> You get Spinel Gemstone (x2)!

> You get Clock of Past (x1)!

It's feels a quite long time for me to celebrate the System's reward.

Last time I get this reward, it was a cruel quest for facing Rhaegar, which eventually ended with my defeat and my very first of my System's quest failure.

The Spinel Gemstone seemingly interesting, which succeed on capturing my attention.

As I see the System's Inventory, there already five Amethyst Gemstone, which I can utilize it to create a new spell.

Since things become more complicated in terms of battle arena and enemies, probably there's a new spell that I can use it for mitigate those kind of risk.

> Utilized Spinel Gemstone (x5)!

> You unlock new elemental spell: Water!

> You unlock new spell: Water Laser Beam!

 > Active Skill:

Lightning BoltGaia EndowmentDivine ThunderFire StormMana DrainIce JavelinFrost BiteReturn to EarthMagical MagnificationInvisibleWater Laser Beam

 > Passive Skill: 

Fire Pillar - Fire PilgrimMana RegenerationHealth RegenerationThe Eye of SorcererAir Walk

 > Dragon Spell Casting:

Dragon Beam BreathWheel of InfernoDragon Summoning

A tremor of power, raw and wet, pulsed through me – the Water elemental spell.

Ice, I'd foolishly assumed, was its sibling.

Wrong.

Dead wrong.

The description seared itself onto my mind: *Water Laser Beam*.

Not a gentle spray, but a scalpel of pressurized water, a lance capable of piercing the thickest armor.

Imagine the visceral 'shing' as it sliced, a phantom blade slicing horizontally, vertically, diagonally – a hydro-katana of devastating precision.

Not the sweeping brutality of Frost Bite, the fiery inferno of Fire Storm, or the god-shattering crack of Divine Thunder, but a surgeon's strike, precise and deadly.

A surge of grim satisfaction.

This would work.

But the spell was a mere appetizer.

My gaze snapped to the second reward: The Clock of Past.

A cold dread coiled in my gut.

The System's inventory, usually a fount of information, offered only a mocking question mark.

What infernal mechanism was this?

A ticking enigma.

I'd decipher its secrets later.

The air vibrated.

A thunder of approaching footsteps hammered against my ears.

A woman's voice, sharp as shattered glass, cut through the din.

Stella.

"Jaxon! Brother?!" Her cry was a desperate plea, honed by terror.

The sight that greeted me was brutal: two S-rank Knights, Jaxon and Xenos, sprawled, bleeding, broken.

The frantic rush of Stella's healers, a flurry of emerald light and desperate incantations, painted a frantic tableau of survival.

They'd live.

For now.

My attention shifted to my prize: the Clock Tower Underground.

Escape.

"Alstair! Wait!"

A searing curse ripped from my lips.

My Invisible spell.

Inactive.

My presence, stark and undeniable, exposed to Stella and her horrified team.

The foolish arrogance.

The blinding focus on Jaxon and Xenos had lulled me into a false sense of security.

"You! How dare you?! You're supposed to be in prison! What did you do to Jaxon and Xenos?!" Stella's accusation was a poisoned arrow, each word dripping with suspicion, laced with barely contained fury.

The sheer volume of her questions grated on me, a symphony of accusations.

Jaxon, his breath ragged, weak, interjected, his voice a strained whisper cutting through the storm of Stella's anger. "No, Stella… He saved us. Both of us. From the Time Sorcerer's illusion."

Doubt clouded Stella's face, a storm in her eyes. "Brother… are you sure?"

Jaxon's voice, weak but resolute, held a desperate plea. "Trust him, Stella."

As far as I know, Jaxon and Stella indeed had siblings relationship, where Jaxon is the first person who achieve S-rank Knight compared with Stella.

Since Jaxon went Missing in Action in Clock Tower Dungeon, Stella arise her fame and performance, putting her on low tier S-Rank Knight at this time.

It must be lot of emotional relief for Stella to know that his loving brother is identified and saved now.

However, I still sense a malicious and rebellious aura from Stella toward me, which I know she's difficult for generate a trust toward me, not to mention I had crushed her investigation team that attempting to put me in prison.

"Brother! You can believe him if you like, but I had the responsibility—the burden—of the Knight Association's Special Investigation Team! This mess falls squarely on my shoulders! Alstair is a suspected Shadow Hunter! He and his… girlfriend, currently nestled within the same damned guild, are the prime suspects!" Stella's words were a viper's strike.

The scent of ozone and steel filled the air as she summoned her bow and silver arrow from her Knight Bracelet.

The blue-white light that bloomed was a chilling promise, a stark, cold counterpoint to the furious tremor in her voice.

My own blood ran cold; I felt the arrow's weight, its icy intent, before it even left her hand.

Her murderous intent wasn't some theatrical flourish; it was a tangible presence, a suffocating wave crashing over me, a testament to her justified rage.

This wasn't about escaping prison; it was about justice, her justice.

The hard glint of the silver arrow, aimed squarely at my chest, burned into my vision. "Alstair! One more step, and that silver finds its mark. Explain yourself. Now!"

Her voice cracked with barely contained fury, each syllable a threat.

The threat wasn't just hers.

The ground vibrated beneath my feet—a symphony of approaching steel, the *shhh* of leather armor, the muted *click-clack* of boots.

Stella's Knight Invaders were a pack of wolves, their movements a blur, converging on me from all sides.

Two to the east, three from the west...

I could practically taste the metallic reek of their anticipation.

Even without looking, I felt their predatory gaze, their suffocating presence.

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

A wave of nausea rolled over me as I desperately sought refuge in a desperate act of preemptive self-preservation; the raw, visceral power of Magical Magnification surged through me.

The choices clawed at my throat: incinerate them with a Fire Storm; entomb them in Frost Bite's icy grip; or obliterate them utterly with the might of Divine Thunder.

The power throbbed, raw and untamed, a potent balm and a terrifying curse.

But the stench of burning flesh, the taste of frozen blood… they sickened me.

Stella's relentless pursuit was understandable.

This wasn't just some arbitrary quest; this Shadow Hunter was a genuine threat – a plague to Knights and innocents alike.

But she didn't have to be so damn relentless.

"Alstair! I'm counting to five! If you don't look at me, we start over, and this time, the chains are permanent!" Her voice cut through the growing tension, raw and desperate.

She hated the silent treatment.

I knew it.

And a cold fury iced my veins; her and her barely-surviving squad were still clinging to their smug superiority after their pathetic near-death experience against Zynthara's Time Illusion!

The memory was a bitter pill; a stinging reminder of their utter incompetence.

"Five… Four… Three…"

Damn it.

The clock was ticking.

Her counting was a taunt, a blatant display of her perceived power. Should I teach this… girl… a lesson?

The urge to lash out was almost overwhelming.

But this wasn't about my pride; it was about Mother, about Arlene.

This infernal game of cat and mouse, orchestrated by Stella's arrogance and my own desperate need to save them, needed to end.

A tremor ran through me, not from magic, but from the *thud-thud-thud* of approaching footsteps, each beat a hammer blow against my sanity.

They stopped dead behind me, a breath held captive in the air, thick with the scent of ozone and something else… something metallic and faintly sweet, like blood and burning steel.

Then, a shimmer, a dissolution of the air itself as her invisibility spell fractured.

It was a feat beyond even the most skilled Knight Invader assassins, a testament to Xenos-level mastery, but this woman… this woman surpassed them all.

Lisa.

The tailored stealth suit, clinging like a second skin beneath the long, black cloak, the metallic mask obscuring her mouth – even the faintest glimpse sent a shiver down my spine.

She was a wraith, a predator cloaked in shadow, her aura a chilling blend of grace and deadly intent.

Her healer's facade was a cruel joke, a deceptive mask barely concealing the lethal beauty beneath.

Twin blades, almost identical to Xenos's, but somehow… less.

The steel seemed duller, the balance slightly off, the very essence of their power diminished.

Yet, in her grip, they pulsed with a terrifying potential.

She stood poised, a coiled viper ready to strike.

"Alstair," her voice, a honed blade itself, sliced through the tension. "Go. Leave Stella and her cronies to me. I'll handle them."

A bitter taste filled my mouth. "Lisa, I ordered you to rest."

Her response was a steely defiance. "My life, Alstair, is a debt repaid. Your miracle potion, twice you've saved me. I won't squander this second chance, not while I can still stand. Go. Save your mother, your sister. Consider me your unwavering shield."

A grim smile twisted my lips. "That's quite a vow, Lisa. Do you truly grasp the abyss we're facing? It's not just monsters, it's the Knight Association, the Shadow Hunters… we're drowning in a sea of enemies."

Her unwavering gaze met mine. "No matter the tide, I stand by you, Alstair. It's my oath, and my life is its surety."

The weight of her commitment, her absolute refusal to yield, was a balm to my wounded soul.

I could let go, could unleash the storm within… for now.

"Zero…! Alstair! Face me!" Stella's shriek echoed, a raw, desperate defiance tearing through the silence.

Steel flashed, a deadly chorus of unsheathed blades.

Her Knight Invader retinue, a phalanx of lethal intent, stood ready to carve us into oblivion.

The air crackled, thick with the scent of fear and impending bloodshed.

The fight was on.

Rage, a venomous serpent coiling in my gut, erupted.

A suffocating aura, thick with the stench of ozone and the metallic tang of blood, choked the air, plastering Stella and her pathetic team against the ground.

Their fear, a palpable wave, washed over me, a testament to the raw, explosive power crackling beneath my skin.

The air itself seemed to scream under the pressure.

"Stella," my voice, a caress of ice, slithered across the battlefield. "Do you truly believe your petty 'mess' matters?"

My gaze, a burning brand, seared into hers.

I saw her hand tremble, a microscopic shudder that betrayed the crushing weight of my aura, even from across the ravaged space.

"Y-you're breaching protocol! As a Special Investigator—" her voice, a pathetic squeak, was swallowed by my scorn.

"Save your hollow pronouncements for your 'true enemies'," I snarled, cutting her off with the contemptuous flick of a wrist. "I am on a mission of vengeance, a crusade to reclaim my family. Your asinine investigations, your Shadow Hunter charade—they are dust beneath my heels. Anything that stands in my path will be annihilated."

Stella's silver arrow, a desperate, wavering projectile, flew towards me.

Before it could reach, Lisa moved – a phantom blur, a whisper of steel – her twin blades a whirlwind of destruction, pulverizing the arrow into glittering shards.

The attack, a spark igniting a powder keg, unleashed her hounds.

Five Knight Invaders, their armor gleaming menacingly, lunged.

Foolish, arrogant insects.

With a word, a gesture of raw power, I unleashed the Return to Earth spell.

Gravity, a cruel mistress, bowed to my will, crushing them to their knees, their faces contorted in agony, some collapsing under the impossible weight.

Lisa, her eyes blazing with a cold fire that mirrored my own, turned her attention to Stella.

The intent to kill hung heavy between them, a tangible thing.

I couldn't allow it; such a wasteful expenditure of energy.

"Lisa!" My roar, raw and commanding, halted her in her tracks, a statue frozen mid-motion. "Back."

She obeyed instantly, a silent shadow returning to my side – the lethal grace of a perfected assassin, a testament to my training.

"Lisa… my student…" Xenos, his eyes flickering back to life, watched us, a bitter smile playing on his lips. "So you've chosen your faith, revealed your true self. Good." His voice, devoid of warmth, was a final judgment.

Lisa's silence hung heavier than a shroud after Xenos's words, a suffocating weight in the air.

This wasn't about the past, the ghosts of our shared history.

Lisa and I had a target, a deadline, the clock ticking down to oblivion.

My voice, hard as granite, cut through the tension.

"Stella, the Shadow Hunter festers in the Clock Tower's festering bowels – the Underground Dungeon. Your petty pursuit of my escape is a suicidal waste of breath. Focus!" Stella, her face a mask of icy determination, notched another silver arrow.

The glint of moonlight on the polished shaft sent a chill down my spine.

This wasn't negotiation; this was a fight for survival. "You don't understand the weight of my oath, Alstair," she hissed, her voice a viper's strike.

Her unwavering gaze locked onto mine, burning with righteous fury.

I leaned close to Lisa, my breath hot against her ear, the metallic tang of fear coating my tongue. "The Invisibility. Now. We use it simultaneously, a double shadow slipping through the cracks."

Her gaze, sharp as shattered glass, remained fixed on Stella.

"Yes, Alstair. But why me? You'd be safer alone, heading to the dungeon while I hold them off." Her voice was low, laced with a chilling resignation, the scent of sacrifice hanging heavy in the air.

My grip tightened. "No. I need you *with* me." My voice was raw, devoid of any softening.

I couldn't bear to leave her, and the thought of her facing this alone was a blade twisting in my gut.

"But, Alstair—"

I cut her off, my voice a command, the finality crushing the doubt in her eyes. "No more words. We move together." A slow, reluctant nod.

She wasn't fully convinced, but she trusted the cold certainty in my tone.

"Three," I whispered, the symbol of the spell a burning brand in my palm.

The air crackled with anticipation. "Two… one… GO!"

The world dissolved into a ghostly silence.

The spell surged, and the cold embrace of invisibility cloaked us.

Stella's strangled gasp was a visceral confirmation.

"The Invisibility! I… I can sense them! Stop them!" Her voice, laced with panic, echoed in the cavernous space.

She could feel our movement, a ghost of our presence trailing in her wake.

Grabbing Lisa's hand, a jolt of icy electricity surging between us, I hauled her away, the touch a lifeline in the ethereal darkness.

We were shadows, phantoms flitting through the heart of the Clock Tower's nightmare, a desperate flight for survival, our only guide the relentless ticking of unseen time.

The hiss of Stella's arrow, a phantom whisper of death, ripped through the air milliseconds before it reached us.

Before I could even raise my hands, Lisa yanked me down, our bodies a single, desperate unit hitting the cold stone floor.

The arrow whistled past, a sliver of lethal intent, its chilling proximity scraping my skin.

Lisa, a shadow in motion, slithered forward, her crouch low, a panther stalking prey.

I mirrored her every move, the slick chill of the floor against my cheek mirroring the icy dread in my gut.

This wasn't just stealth; it was a desperate dance with death, a ballet of survival choreographed by Stella's fury.

"The door! Slam it shut!" Stella's voice, a venomous shriek laced with raw panic, echoed through the chamber.

Only a few steps remained.

But the Knight Invaders, hulking behemoths in Stella's thrall, were already lunging, their steel-clad fists a blur.

Stella's frustration – a palpable wave of dark magic – washed over us.

Her arrows, usually so precise, had failed.

This wasn't just a hunt; this was a desperate gamble, a game of inches, of milliseconds.

Lisa's breath hitched, a whispered plea in the suffocating tension. "Alstair, go. I'll hold them off."

"No, Lisa," my voice was a raw growl, the words ripping through the growing cacophony of steel on stone. "No more talk. We're in this together. Together, or we face her wrath together."

Her eyes, blazing with a fierce loyalty I hadn't fully appreciated before, met mine.

She understood.

Her grip tightened on my hand as we sprang forward, our escape a desperate sprint against the closing gate.

The Gaia Endowment Spell surged through me, the raw power a counterpoint to the adrenaline flooding my veins.

The closing metal slammed against my eardrums, a deafening roar that threatened to swallow us whole.

"Jump!" Lisa's cry was a battle cry, a desperate gamble against the ticking clock.

We launched ourselves into the void, clearing the gap by a hair's breadth, the metal jaws of the gate snapping shut with a final, metallic clang that resonated deep within my bones.

On the lower floor, the stale air tasted of victory, tainted with the lingering metallic scent of blood and the bitter tang of fear.

Lisa deactivated her camouflage, and the world shifted. The stunning beauty that had been hidden beneath the stealth suit – her breathtaking grace, her curves hinting at a strength that belied her healer's guise – took my breath away.

This was the assassin, the hunter, the woman whose fierce loyalty had just saved my life.

"It'll take them time to reopen that gate," she explained, her voice laced with exhaustion, yet her eyes alight with a fierce satisfaction. "They'll need significant mana."

"Good," I replied, my own invisibility fading, revealing my own weariness. "Because we need every second to reach the Underground Clock Tower."

The chilling beauty of Lisa's near-death experience with the shadows of her own past made me fully understand that we'd just survived an ordeal worthy of legend.

We were alive.

And I was utterly captivated.

The air hung thick and cold in the spiraling descent, each step echoing unnervingly in the cavernous Clock Tower.

The musty scent of aged stone and damp earth clawed at my nostrils, a stark contrast to the metallic tang of fear that prickled my skin.

Lisa's silence, a suffocating weight, pressed down harder than the ancient stones around us.

My voice, a low growl in the oppressive quiet, cut through the tension. "I thought you'd be resting in the infirmary. Even if you wanted to be here, you should've faced Minerva. That S-rank healer could've easily thwarted your… plans."

Her response was a casual shrug, a disconcerting contrast to the icy gleam in her eyes. "An invisible skill, used correctly, bypasses even an S-rank Knight's vigilance."

The confidence dripping from her words felt chillingly calculated.

A bitter laugh escaped me. "You sound like a seasoned assassin, Lisa. Honestly, you've changed." The smile I plastered on felt brittle, a mask cracking under the strain of unspoken things.

Her gaze, sharp and unnerving, sent a shiver down my spine.

The worry etched on her face was a stark contrast to her earlier composure.

What was it?

A flicker of doubt?

Guilt?

"I'm even more surprised to learn you were Xenos's student, you know; Xenos The S-rank Knight Invader, the master assassin." I continued.

That statement just make her stopped her step.

Her breath hitched.

"Lisa? What's wrong?" I stopped, my own breath catching in my throat.

The silence hung between us, heavy and suffocating as the shadows that clung to the ancient stairwell.

Her voice, barely a whisper, trembled in the echoing space. "Do you… do you hate me for being an assassin, Alstair?"

The question hung in the air, raw and desperate.

I felt a surge of something akin to anger, frustration at the depth of her insecurity, but beneath it, a deeper current of something else.

Pity?

No. Something darker, more complex.

"Hate you? No!" I forced out a harsh laugh, the sound grating in the confined space.

"Impressed? Yes. Healer and assassin? Astonishing. But stop this self-flagellation. There's nothing I dislike about you, Lisa," I added, a touch of my usual teasing to soften the blow, or perhaps to mask the truth.

Her relief was fleeting. The shadow of her worry deepened. "I'm sorry for keeping so much from you," her voice was broken, "for my ego, for fighting the Shadow Hunters alone. I had to… to save your family."

The confession hung in the air, and I stopped, forcing her to stop with me.

The heavy weight of her secret pressed down on me, a physical force.

"That," I said, the words hard and precise, my voice laced with controlled fury. I drew two Black Daggers from my System's Inventory, the cold steel a stark counterpoint to the suffocating humidity. "That decision, Lisa… that's something I do dislike. You took these from me, used them without permission, without even asking. That… that is unacceptable." I held the daggers out, the gleam of their obsidian blades reflecting the flickering uncertainty in her eyes.

The weight of those blades felt heavier than the stone walls around us.

Cornered and exposed, Lisa confessed, her voice a fragile surrender.

"It was my fault, Alistair. Punish me if you must." She revealed a painful past, a history she was finally ready to share. "My association with Rhaegar and Xenos began when I was a fledgling Knight, a young Invader under Xenos' tutelage. He trained me as a specialist assassin, guiding me to A-rank status. But his disappearance during a raid on the Clock Tower Dungeon—a catastrophic mission—shattered my world."

Years later, she encountered Rhaegar, a figure who promised guidance in magic and assassination.

Initially believing him to be a Knight, she later discovered his true allegiance to the Shadow Hunters.

"So, my father—Rhaegar—recruited you?" I asked, nearly betraying his identity.

Lisa nodded weakly. "Xenos' vanishing left me adrift within the Knight Association.

I was unjustly blamed for recommending the Clock Tower mission, a relentless tide of accusations I couldn't withstand without support. Rhaegar, then calling himself Victor, offered a lifeline."

The realization struck me like a blow.

Rhaegar, after his presumed demise in the Clock Tower Dungeon, resurfaced as a Knight named Victor, manipulating his victims.

What a despicable act, Father.

"But the Shadow Hunters weren't the sanctuary I'd hoped for," Lisa continued, her voice trembling. "They were a nest of murderers and brigands, a chaotic maelstrom of unchecked ambition and self-serving desires. My only reason for staying was Rhaegar's presence. Yet, even he vanished after bestowing the Black Dagger upon me, leaving me with a chilling command: to eliminate a traitor within their ranks."

"You obeyed? You killed the alleged traitor?" I pressed, my voice heavy with foreboding.

Tears streamed down Lisa's face. "Yes, Alstair. Remember the massacre in Dawn City, the deaths of my team during our first encounter? They were victims of the Shadow Hunter's treachery. Many were my friends… and the ease with which I dispatched them with that cursed dagger still haunts me."

Rhaegar, my reckless, unhinged father.

Whatever your machinations, they drove Lisa to the horrific act of murdering her comrades.

"At that time I was scared, Alstair…. My friends, who already know I had scheming on trapping them, put an pre-emptive act to kill me first. I, to be honest, only want to trap them with not intention to finish them off as Rhaegar want, but the escalation had went out of control, that pushes me to use the Black Dagger as a form of self defense. The Black Dagger is quite a scary weapon, that had put me into a different person that made me so easily murder all of my friend. I might win the battle, but my soul feel lost that made me almost gone insane. The guilt had pushed me to decide to end my life….but it stopped when you arrived out of nowhere…", Lisa can't continue her story since she choose to cries it out her traumatic experience.

My fingers tightened around Lisa, her frail body shuddering against mine.

The scent of her fear, sharp and metallic, mingled with the damp chill of the clock tower dungeon.

Holding her close, I felt the frantic rhythm of her heart hammering against my ribs, a desperate drumbeat against the oppressive silence.

It was a struggle, but finally, the tremors subsided, leaving behind a fragile calm.

"The guilt," I rasped, my voice a low growl against the echoing stones, "it claws at you, I know. But death is not an answer. If you need a reason to live… I am your reason."

The words were a vow, etched in the very air between us.

A watery smile flickered across her lips, a fragile bloom amidst the storm.

Relief, raw and potent, washed over me, a palpable wave.

But beneath it, a deeper current stirred. "One question, Lisa," I demanded, the question tearing through the fragile peace. "The Black Dagger… Rhaegar's gift. Was it merely a tool for your mission? A weapon to slay the traitor among the Shadow Hunters?"

She hesitated, her gaze distant, lost in the labyrinth of memory. "No, Alstair. It's… different. He said it was for self-defense, that he wanted me to surpass even the Shadow Hunters themselves.

It's… unsettling, that phrase.

Always has been.

"Surpass the Shadow Hunters." The words echoed in my mind, a chilling echo of Rhaegar's own cryptic pronouncements.

He'd wanted me to transcend the Knight Association, to shatter Zeta's iron grip.

The same unsettling demand, whispered in different tones.

A cold dread tightened its icy grip around my heart.

Was the Black Dagger a symbol of Rhaegar's chosen?

His pawns in some terrifying game?

What twisted logic drove him to entrust such power, such a lethal burden, to Lisa and me?

The pieces of the puzzle didn't fit, a maddening, terrifying dissonance.

The rasping breath hitched in Lisa's throat, a desperate sound echoing in the cavernous Clock Tower Dungeon.

"You're my reason for living, Alstair," she whispered, the words a raw confession, laced with the metallic tang of blood from her recent fight. "That Miracle Potion… it was just enough to get me here, to you. I'll face Minerva, Stella, the entire Knight Association's wrath—let them condemn me. My life is yours to command." Her eyes, usually sparkling with mischief, burned with a fierce, unwavering devotion.

My own heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs.

"I hear you, Lisa," I said, the casual tone a thin veil over the turmoil within. "The Association, the Shadow Hunters… they're dust compared to my family's safety. But don't you dare think—Don't you ever again throw your life away so carelessly! We share a vision, yes, but you're not a disposable pawn. We're a team, Lisa. More than that—we're family."

The Black Dagger vanished back into the System's inventory, leaving a chilling emptiness in my hand.

A gasp escaped Lisa's lips; a crimson blush bloomed on her cheeks, the sudden heat a stark contrast to the damp chill of the dungeon.

She dropped to her knees, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm sorry, Alstair," she choked out, the words heavy with remorse.

"No, no, no, no need to kneel, Lisa," I snapped, the sharp command laced with surprising tenderness.

I reached for her, pulling her up, but she remained stubbornly kneeling, her gaze fixed on the stone floor.

Then, suddenly, the agony struck.

A white-hot spear pierced me from the inside out; a searing pain that stole my breath in a gasp of pure terror.

My vision blurred, the air thick and heavy, a suffocating pressure squeezing the life from my lungs.

It wasn't an external attack; this was something inside me, some vile venom twisting its way through my veins, leaving a trail of fiery destruction.

Lisa's voice, laced with terror, cut through the haze. "Alstair? What's happening?"

I could barely speak. "I… I don't know…"

The pain intensified, a wave threatening to crush me, to rip me apart from the inside.

I fought to stay upright, each breath a monumental effort.

Then, the System's cold, unforgiving voice cut through the agony.

> Warning! The suspicious item inside the System Inventory had been tries to breaching the System!

> Suspected Item: Black Dagger (x2)!

What in the bloody hell?!

The agony ripped through me, a searing brand from the Black Dagger.

How?

Rhaegar's gift, initially innocuous, had turned venomous.

A raw, electrical jolt, a brutal spasm that ripped the mana from my very core.

Fuck!

This… this had to be it.

Two Black Daggers, festering in my System's inventory.

Rhaegar, that viperous enigma, a chameleon shifting between Knight Association, Shadow Hunters, and some unfathomable personal agenda.

The System, predictably, was glitching, imploding under the weight of his treacherous legacy. The Black Daggers were the fault lines.

I had to get them out.

But each attempt triggered another, more violent surge.

The pain was a physical hammer blow, a lightning strike that clawed at my grip, threatened to shatter my bones.

My hand, numb and screaming, trembled as I forced open the System menu.

The Black Daggers, twin demons, mocked me from the inventory screen.

"Damn it all to hell!" I roared, sweat plastering my skin, the taste of blood metallic on my tongue.

My vision blurred, the inventory a swirling vortex of agony.

The jolt intensified, a white-hot inferno consuming my arm.

Then Lisa's hands were on my waist, cool and firm against the burning flesh.

"The mana is choked," she breathed, her voice laced with grim understanding, a single strand of her raven hair escaping the braid she effortlessly tightened.

"We need to clear the channel." The green light of her healing aura erupted, a blinding emerald bloom that washed over me, a wave of calming coolness that fought back against the inferno. Assassin.

Healer.

The duality within her was as stark and beautiful as the deadly grace she possessed.

It was a terrifying, exhilarating thing, this power she held – the power she used to claw back my life from the clutches of Rhaegar's cursed gift.

The agony, a vise slowly loosening its grip, was still a dull throb beneath the incessant, jarring pulse of the System.

Its rejection of the twin Black Daggers—a rejection I couldn't fathom—was a constant, low-level hum of dread.

Then, a vision blurred through the pain: Lisa, her metallic mask cast aside, revealing a face both breathtakingly beautiful and chillingly cold.

Her breath, hot against my skin, sent a shiver down my spine even as her lips brushed against my groin.

"Lisa, what—" I gasped, the words caught in my throat.

"Trust me, Alstair!" Her voice, sharp and urgent, cut through the haze.

A blinding, searing light flooded my lower body.

The pain, instead of receding, morphed.

It exploded, a supernova of sensation that scorched and thrilled in equal measure.

It wasn't just pleasure; it was a raw, primal surge, a drug coursing through my veins, igniting every nerve ending into a frenzy.

The agony became a forgotten echo, drowned in a wave of ecstatic torment.

A groan escaped me, involuntary and guttural, a testament to the overwhelming intensity.

The pleasure escalated, a relentless crescendo building to a shattering climax that left me breathless, trembling, and utterly undone.

I collapsed to my knees, the echoes of bliss still reverberating through me.

And then I saw it: Lisa, her lips stained crimson, clutching the twin Black Daggers between her teeth—stolen, violently wrested from the System's grasp.

"Done," she breathed, her voice husky with the effort.

She held out the daggers, their obsidian blades gleaming in the dim light.

"Thank you," I managed, a raw, heartfelt gratitude in my voice, a genuine smile finally breaking through the pain-induced stupor.

The System's notification chimed, cold and clinical, confirming my recovery, the poison purged.

But the lingering heat of Lisa's transgression, the wild, forbidden thrill of her act, burned brighter than any system message.

I looked at her, at the strange blend of ruthlessness and compassion in her eyes, and knew this was only the beginning of our complicated, dangerous dance.

> Suspected Item: Black Dagger (x2) had been out from The System's Inventory!

> The System no longer under breaching process!