SSS-RANK: Super Extraction System-Chapter 19: [] Whispers in the Dark

The room smelled of old paper and burning flesh.

Wraith Squad had retreated into a hidden side chamber off the Ossuary. It looked like an ancient scriptorium, a library for the dead. Rows of rotting wooden desks sat under layers of dust, and the walls were lined with crumbling scrolls.

It was quiet here. The screams of the Thralls were distant echoes.

In the corner, Jinx was working on Rhino. The big man was slumped against a stone wall, his face pale and sweaty. Jinx held a laser-cauterizer in her shaking hand.

"Hold still, you big baby," Jinx muttered, pressing the device against the deep gash in Rhino’s side.

"It stings," Rhino grunted through gritted teeth.

"It’s supposed to sting. It’s burning your skin back together. Try not to pass out; you’re too heavy to carry."

Justin stood by the heavy wooden door, peering through a crack into the hallway. He reloaded his revolver, sliding each heavy bullet into the cylinder with a metallic click.

Leon sat on a dusty desk in the center of the room. He was staring at his hands.

They were clean now, he had wiped the black blood off but he could still feel the phantom sensation of the Vampire Knight’s throat under his blade. He could feel the cold rush of the shadow he had extracted.

"Leon," Justin said. He didn’t turn around.

"Yeah?"

Justin holstered his gun and walked over. He stopped in front of Leon, looking down at him. For the first time, the cold, calculating look in the veteran’s eyes was gone. Replaced by something else.

Respect.

"I underestimated you," Justin said. His voice was low. "Rostova said you were a specialist. I thought that was code for ’expendable bait.’ I was wrong."

Leon looked up. "I just did my job."

"You did more than that. You took down an Elite solo. You saved the squad." Justin crossed his arms. "You’re not a rookie anymore, Leon. You’re a combatant. A key asset."

"Asset," Leon repeated. The word felt cold.

"It’s a compliment," Justin said. "But don’t let it go to your head. The Knight was tough. But Kain... he’s a different species entirely."

Justin pulled up a chair and sat down, looking tired.

"Listen to me closely. A Marquis isn’t just a strong vampire. He’s a Royal Shadow. When creatures like him claim a ruin, they don’t just live in it. They bond with it."

"Bond?"

"It’s called a Dominion," Justin explained. "Inside this Cathedral, Kain controls reality. He can shift gravity. He can make the shadows solid enough to cut you. He can loop hallways so you run in circles forever. Fighting him here... it’s like fighting a god inside his own house."

Leon felt a chill. "So how do we kill him?"

"We have to break his focus," Justin said. "Or we have to hit him so hard and fast he doesn’t have time to think. But it’s going to be nearly impossible."

"He won’t kill me," Leon whispered.

Justin froze. "What did you say?"

"I saw a memory," Leon said. "From the Knight. When I extracted him. Kain gave an order to his guards. He said... he said I’m a vessel of pure shadow. He wants to capture me. He called me ’the key.’"

The room went silent. Even Jinx stopped working on Rhino.

Justin stared at Leon. "He wants to capture you?"

"Yes."

"Damn it," Justin swore softly. "That changes everything. If you’re the prize, he’s going to throw everything he has at us to wear us down. He wants you alive."

"Why?" Rhino grunted from the corner. "What’s so special about the kid?"

"I don’t know," Leon lied. He knew exactly why. The System. The Monarch. He was a container for a power Kain wanted to steal.

"Hey," Jinx interrupted. She was standing by a bookshelf, holding a thick, leather-bound tome. "You guys might want to see this."

She carried the book over to the table. It was falling apart. The pages were yellow and brittle, covered in strange, jagged writing that looked like claw marks.

"I found it on the shelf," Jinx said. "I can’t read it. My translation software just gives me error codes. It says the language is ’Pre-Awakening.’"

Leon looked at the page.

To Jinx and Justin, it was nonsense. Scribbles.

But as Leon stared at the ink, the lines began to twist. They rearranged themselves in his mind.

[ SYSTEM ALERT ]

[ ANCIENT LANGUAGE DETECTED ]

[ TRANSLATION MATRIX: ACTIVE ]

The words formed clearly in his head.

...and the Monarch slept, his shadow fragmented, awaiting the vessel who would walk the path of Eclipse...

...the Seven Generals betrayed him, casting him into the void... but the shadow remembers...

Leon’s heart hammered against his ribs.

"It’s a history book," Leon murmured. "About the Monarch."

"The guy from the mural?" Jinx asked.

"Yes. It says he was betrayed. By his own generals. And that he left fragments of his power behind." Leon looked up at Justin. "Kain knows. That’s why he wants me. He knows I carry a fragment."

"Great," Justin rubbed his face. "So we’re walking a piece of a dead god right into the lap of a vampire lord. This mission just keeps getting better." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"We have to kill him," Leon said. His voice was hard. "If he captures me... if he takes this power... he won’t just control the city. He’ll be unstoppable."

Leon’s motivation shifted. Before, it was about protecting his family. Now, it was about erasure. He had to erase Kain to ensure that the secret of the Monarch died in this ruin.

"Okay," Justin said, standing up. "We kill him. But first we have to find him without getting slaughtered by his army."

"I can help with that," Leon said.

He closed his eyes.

[ BLOOD SENSE (PASSIVE): ACTIVE ]

The world turned dark in his mind. But through the darkness, he saw lights. Red, pulsing lights.

He could feel them. Hundreds of heartbeats.

Thump-thump... Thump-thump...

He felt the frantic, shallow pulses of the Thralls in the upper levels. He felt the heavy, slow rhythm of the Elite Guards patrolling the corridors.

And deep below, in the inverted spire, he felt it.

A massive, ancient ocean of blood. It didn’t beat like a heart. It churned. It felt cold and dense, like liquid mercury.

Kain.

"I can see them," Leon whispered, opening his eyes. They glowed with a faint crimson light. "I can see every living thing in the cathedral."

Jinx shivered. "That’s creepy, Leon."

"There’s a main guard post ahead," Leon pointed at the wall. "Fifty guards. Elites. If we go that way, we die."

He traced a line in the air.

"But there’s a maintenance tunnel. To the east. It’s empty. It bypasses the barracks and leads straight to the inner sanctum."

Justin looked at the wall, then at Leon.

"You’re sure?"

"I can see their blood," Leon said simply. "I know where they aren’t."

Justin nodded slowly. "Alright. We take the tunnel. Leon, you have point."

Leon stood up. He checked his daggers.

"Wait," Justin said.

He walked over to Leon, stopping him before he reached the door. Justin looked exhausted. The lines on his face were deep.

"One more thing, kid."

"Yeah?"

"I had a partner once," Justin said quietly. "Years ago. Her name was Sarah. Wind-type. Best shot I ever saw."

He paused, looking at his revolver.

"We took a job like this. Deep in a Vampire nest. We got overrun. Sarah... she got taken."

The room was dead silent.

"They didn’t kill her," Justin continued, his voice void of emotion. "They turned her. Made her a Thrall. When I found her... she was eating a corpse. She looked at me, and she didn’t know me. She just saw meat."

He looked Leon dead in the eye.

"I had to put a bullet in her head. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done."

Leon stared at the veteran. He saw the pain behind the cold mask.

"Whatever you have inside you," Justin said, tapping Leon’s chest. "Whatever this ’Monarch’ is... don’t let it take you. Don’t let Kain turn you into a monster. Because if you turn..."

Justin patted his holster.

"I won’t let you hurt anyone. I’ll put you down. For your own sake."

It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise of mercy.

Leon looked at the gun. Then at Justin.

"If I turn," Leon said, "don’t miss."

Justin nodded grimly. "I never miss."

"Alright, enough gloom and doom," Rhino grunted, pushing himself off the wall. He winced, clutching his side, but he stood tall. "Let’s go smash some bloodsuckers."

Jinx packed her gear away. "Ready when you are, boss."

Leon turned to the door.

He felt the weight of the mission. The danger. The secret he carried.

But he also felt something new.

He felt the pulse of the enemy. He knew where they were. He knew how to avoid them.

He wasn’t the prey anymore.

"Let’s go," Leon said.

He stepped out of the scriptorium and into the dark, leading the way.