Chapter 5 — A Stranger's War

Kairon waited for nightfall.

This was supposed to be his war.

His fire. His spark. His escape.

Every piece had been calculated—the vents, the boiler breach, the power fluctuation window, the guards' rotation during rations.

He would escape, or burn it all.

That was the plan.

But then—

Someone else moved first.

❖

The Salt Trenches burned.

Without warning.

Without his hand.

Without his permission.

The first explosion came from the south shaft—not the north. Not the blind spot he'd spent days tracking. Fire erupted from the boiler stack, red smoke curling into the black sky.

Then screams.

Dozens of them.

Then laughter.

Not the guards.

Slaves.

Someone had armed them. Weapons. Codes. Override tools.

Someone else had planned a rebellion.

Kairon stood on the scaffold ledge, staring down at the chaos.

Flames licked the saltstone walls. Explosions lit the night like lightning. A Reaper enforcer fell from a tower, neck twisted backward. The guards fought, but they were scattered, panicked.

And in the center of it all—on a stolen warbike, red blades in each hand—stood a woman in bone armor, face smeared with ash, screaming one word over and over:

"FREEDOM!"

He'd seen her once before.

A wild-eyed medic. Nothing special. No collar suppression.

Now she glowed with a soft aura.

Rank 1. Initiate tier.

She wasn't a leader before. She was watching. Listening. Learning. Just like me.

Kairon's jaw clenched.

She had beaten him to it.

His pit. His game. His rebellion.

Now she held the stage.

But she didn't understand the stakes.

Freedom wasn't a battle cry.

It was a lie.

— SKILL PANEL —

Tactical Instinct – Lv.1 → 65%

Observation – Lv.1 → 88%

Adaptive Grind (Passive)

Glacial Focus (Passive – cooldown ready)

[New Trait Imminent: Schemer's Core]

Maintain overlapping plans across a battlefield, choose active routes in live combat. Trait evolves upon successful triple contingency.

Kairon dropped into the chaos like a shadow.

He didn't fight for freedom.

He fought for control.

❖

The rebellion was losing.

They didn't know it yet—but he did.

The wild medic—now known as Arixa—had lit the match, but she had no plan beyond fire. The guards were regrouping, falling back to Warden Command Post Theta, where lockdown overrides could seal the pit completely.

Worse—

The Augur was still inside.

And Veila—the broken one—was strapped to the experimental relay hub.

If Theta closed and activated its failsafe…

The Salt Pit would become a tomb.

Kairon moved fast.

He bypassed rebel lines, slit the throat of a supply officer, and stole his access glove.

Infiltrated the dead tunnel beneath the bone towers.

Avoided a Warden patrol.

And made it to the relay core.

Inside, he found her.

Veila.

Still breathing.

Still broken.

Plugged into the central arcane-spinal relay.

Wires through her arms. Through her skull.

A living battery.

Arixa's rebellion had no idea that the Reapers were about to activate the failsafe through Veila's rig.

And if they did—

It would sterilize the entire trench.

Everything—slaves, guards, rebels, machines—would be dissolved in biothermal shockwave.

One press of a rune.

One signal.

Kairon didn't hesitate.

He drove his shiv into the relay's arc-node.

Electricity surged. Alarms wailed.

But the shutdown triggered.

Veila twitched.

Blinked.

And whispered.

"…Ka…iron?"

He froze.

She remembered.

But only for a second.

Then she spasmed—glowing red.

[WARNING: Power surge detected.]

Pain Tolerance – Lv.3 → 36%

Observation – Lv.1 → 92%

He grabbed her body and ran.

❖

Outside, the rebellion was collapsing.

Warden-class drones had arrived.

Airstrikes rained flame from above.

Arixa screamed as her people were torn apart.

The rebellion wasn't a revolution.

It was a culling.

Kairon dragged Veila toward the old salt conveyor shaft.

A place he'd never intended to use.

Too risky. Too unstable.

But it was the only route left.

He jammed the vent override with the stolen glove. The shaft hissed open.

And there—waiting—was Veyr.

Prince of the Ashen Sovereignty.

Smiling.

"I thought you might come."

"You knew?"

"No. I just know how you think."

"…Why are you helping?"

"I'm not. I'm just walking the same direction."

They escaped through the shaft.

Not cleanly.

Not unscathed.

But alive.

The rebellion failed.

The pit burned.

The Reapers locked it down.

And buried every name.

Except one.

Kairon.

— SKILL PANEL —

Pain Tolerance – Lv.3 (39%)

Tactical Instinct – Lv.2 (NEW)

Observation – Lv.1 → 95%

Adaptive Grind (Passive)

Glacial Focus (Passive)

[NEW TRAIT UNLOCKED: Schemer's Core]

You may now prepare and switch between 3 active contingency plans in real-time during any combat or infiltration scenario. Bonus: +20% XP gain to any strategy-related skill while in danger.

They reached the wastes by sunrise.

A shattered convoy lay ahead.

Abandoned.

Salt ghosts moved in the mist—remnants of arcane trauma.

Veila slept beside a rusted outpost, her breath shallow.

Kairon sat by the fire with Veyr.

Neither spoke for a long time.

Then the Prince said, "You know she'll never be the same."

Kairon nodded. "Neither will I."

"And now?"

Kairon stared at the rising sun.

Red. Twisted. Warped by atmosphere.

He smiled.

"Now we find who built this world broken—and we crack it back."