Chapter 46: The Revenant Hunt Begins
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The skies above the Abyss Root Sector were wrong.
Not dark — but screaming.
Black clouds churned like torn muscle. The air itself bled red fog that clung to skin like oil. Every breath was like inhaling heat off broken metal.
And then came the sound.
A whisper.
From everywhere and nowhere.
> "Run…"
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The system prompt flickered into Lian's vision:
> [Revenant Hunt – Activated]
The Forsaken Revenants have marked your soul.
Escape is impossible. Survival is temporary.
Every 12 hours, one of you will be tested.
The one who fails will be taken.
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Lian's group didn't rest that night.
They couldn't.
The moment Jayce's head touched stone, his body convulsed — and a black eye-shaped brand formed on his back.
Screaming followed. Not from his mouth.
From inside the wound.
It stared.
Korran immediately shot it, but the bullet passed through, vanishing into a whisper.
"It's started," Korran said, jaw tight for the first time since they met. "I've seen this. I didn't survive it the first time."
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[Test One: Jayce]
An altar formed out of screaming roots before them. The stone throbbed with red veins.
Jayce's body began to float.
The system whispered:
> [Sacrifice Required – Choose One:
A) Remove your Demon Arm
B) Forget your sister's name forever
C) Kill the person who brought you joy]
Jayce's hands trembled.
His demon arm roared with energy — it wanted to live. But so did his heart.
Korran whispered, "Don't choose C, man. That's how I died the first time. The joy part? That's a lie. It takes more than a person — it takes your will."
Jayce closed his eyes… and raised his other arm.
With shaking hands, he grabbed the demon arm by the infected joint.
"Lian. If I lose this... and die later, promise me—"
Lian stepped forward. "You won't. But if you do… I'll burn this entire world for you."
Snap.
Screaming. Darkness. Blood.
Jayce collapsed — unconscious.
But the Revenant eye vanished.
> [Test One – Passed.]
[Revenants have tasted your strength. The next test will be harder.]
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They traveled.
Hours turned to a blur.
The world ahead became a twisted maze — towers made from congealed timelines, walls showing echoes of dead Earths.
Lian passed a window… and saw his parents on the other side.
Alive. Eating. Laughing.
He ran to it.
Only to slam into black glass. And watch as shadowy versions of himself walked in… and slit their throats.
> [Revenant Memory Loop – Activated]
He screamed.
Korran dragged him away.
"Don't look too long. They feed on what breaks you."
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[Test Two: Elyra]
It came when they stopped near a shattered skybridge made of teeth.
Elyra's chest suddenly locked up.
A new prompt appeared.
> [Sacrifice Required – Choose One:
A) Destroy your own magic core
B) Relive your past — fully
C) Burn one of your teammates alive]
Her hand trembled toward B.
"No!" Lian grabbed her.
But her eyes had already gone glassy.
She was reliving it.
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Ten Years Ago
Screams. Ash.
A village burning.
Elyra, young, surrounded by corpses.
Her spell had misfired.
A training accident.
But she never stopped casting.
Because she wanted to feel powerful.
Her father, crawling toward her.
"Why… did you… do this?"
She tried to scream "I didn't mean to!"
But her mouth wouldn't move.
Then the Revenant appeared behind her — with her face.
"Because you liked it," it whispered.
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Lian grabbed her wrist in reality — forcing a piece of his Soul Shard into her palm.
> [Soul-Link Created – Pain Shared]
He screamed with her. Bled with her.
Until the test broke.
She collapsed.
Alive. Weeping.
But awake.
> [Test Two – Passed.]
[Next Hunt will require blood.]
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A Moment of Quiet
They reached a crater filled with old stars — a place Korran called the Mirror Graveyard.
They built a small fire.
Jayce sat with a bandaged stump where his arm used to be.
Elyra hadn't spoken in an hour.
Korran told bad jokes to no one.
And laughed anyway.
Lian sat alone, staring at the system window.
His Coin Multiplier was rising faster now.
But at what cost?
> Current Coins: 37,900
Vehicle Upgrade Unlocked: [Shadow Runner] – 35,000 Coins
But another prompt sat underneath.
> [Warning: Shadow Runner requires blood pact. One passenger will be lost upon activation.]
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He stared at his team.
Who would he lose?
Jayce? Elyra?
Korran, who'd already died once?
He turned off the prompt.
Tomorrow, maybe. Not now.
Tonight, he'd watch over them.
Tonight, he'd bleed if he had to.
Because the road ahead?
Was hell.
And hell was watching.
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Chapter End
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Chapter 46 Summary:
The Revenant Hunt begins. Every 12 hours, a team member is forced to choose.
Jayce sacrifices his demon arm. Elyra relives her traumatic past.
The emotional toll grows, and the group is barely holding together.
Lian unlocks the next vehicle upgrade, Shadow Runner, but it comes with a brutal price.
They're now in the Mirror Graveyard, where reflections can lie and memories bleed.
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