Chapter 12: The System’s Enforcer

The forest lurched.

A cold, suffocating force spread through the air, pressing down on Ethan and Vance like an invisible weight. The presence lurking within the trees had fully awakened.

Then—

A figure stepped forward.

It emerged from the shadows with mechanical precision, its form flickering slightly at the edges, as if it didn't fully belong to this world. A humanoid silhouette clad in sleek, segmented armor, its surface pulsing with shifting data streams. Its face was featureless, save for a single glowing eye that locked onto Ethan.

[System Enforcer Deployed.]

Vance took a sharp step back. "Shit. I was hoping we'd have more time."

Ethan didn't move. His instincts screamed at him to react, but he forced himself to analyze. The Enforcer wasn't attacking immediately. It was assessing him.

Calculating.

It had come as a response to his glitches. A living failsafe, meant to fix whatever was broken.

A slow grin crept onto Ethan's face. Perfect.

"If the system sent you…" He took a step forward, ignoring Vance's muttered curse. "Then that means I'm an actual threat."

The Enforcer twitched.

[Threat Level: Undetermined.]

Then it moved.

One moment it was standing still—the next, it was in front of him. A blur of motion that shattered the air like glass.

Ethan barely reacted in time.

Instinct took over. He pulled on the glitch, forcing a flicker in time.

The world stuttered.

In that split second, Ethan wasn't there anymore. He overwrote himself a step to the left, narrowly avoiding the Enforcer's strike.

The impact tore through the space where he had been standing, the sheer force of it carving a deep trench into the ground.

Vance let out a low whistle. "Yep. We're screwed."

The Enforcer's eye pulsed.

[Discrepancy Confirmed.]

[Threat Level: Critical.]

Ethan exhaled sharply. "Looks like I just got upgraded."

The Enforcer adjusted. Its form flickered, recalibrating. Ethan could feel it now—it was learning.

He grinned.

"So let's see which one of us breaks first."