Chapter 11 Northern Gate

The arithmetic changed the moment the squad started running. Forty minutes of ground left. Thirty minutes on the Override. Six hunters who now knew exactly what they chased.

Seran heard the shift in their footsteps. He dropped back without saying a word. He positioned himself between the hunters and us.

"Seran, what are you doing?" Lyra asked. She ran with tight, painful steps. Her bad arm hung useless at her side.

"Buying time," Seran answered. He kept his pace steady. "They cannot just run through a Rank A. It creates problems for them."

The lead hunter called ahead. His voice sounded rough and angry. "Stand aside, Sovereign Knight. Authorized purge in progress."

Seran did not stop walking. He did not even look back. "Registry Investigation in progress. You are contaminating my site."

The hunters slowed. Not stopped, but slowed. Two of them peeled off to try flanking around him. "This is not your investigation," one shouted. "Move or we will report you."

Seran kept his voice calm. "Report me then. I am documenting an anomaly. You will wait for verification."

I glanced back while running. "Seran, they are splitting up. Can you hold them longer?"

"I can slow them," Seran called. "But not forever. Keep moving. The gate is closed."

Lyra breathed hard beside me. Sweat ran down her face. "My arm feels completely dead. I can run but I cannot swing well if they catch us."

"You will not need to," I told her. "We reach the gate first. Seran, how much time did your flag buy us?"

"Three minutes at best," Seran answered. "They are arguing now but they will push through soon."

We hit the edge of the Ashfields. The dead ash turned to packed earth. The northern gate appeared ahead. A heavy stone archway with runes carved everywhere. Thick blue light sealed it shut.

"There it is," Lyra said. She pointed with her good hand. "Thirty meters. It is a Tier 2 shutdown. It needs a Registry Authority access code to open."

"Can you open it from here?" I asked. I looked back at Seran. He stood forty meters behind, holding the hunters in a standoff.

Seran shook his head while facing them. "I am too far. They will not let me reach it in time. You have to do something, Kane."

I looked at the gate. I looked at my System windows. I opened Debug Eye and focused hard on the runes. The parameters unfolded clearly.

"I see it," I said. "It is a System lock. A series of authorization flags in sequence. It needs Registry-level access."

Lyra stopped at the gate. She read her own panel. "Kane, what exactly are you seeing? Talk to me. Can you open it?"

"I see the sequence," I answered. "I do not have access. But I still have twelve minutes on the Override. I can try to rewrite the class flag again. Push it higher."

Seran called from behind. "That is dangerous. The last one already hurt you badly."

"I know," I said. I pressed my hand to my head. "But we have no choice. Lyra, stand ready. Seran, keep them busy a little longer."

I pushed the Override again. The needle pain behind my eye tripled. I gritted my teeth hard. "It hurts worse this time. Like someone is stabbing my brain over and over."

A violent error flashed red. I suppressed it. My legs shook. "Override unstable rewrite. Temporary flag Registry Clerk. Rank D. Duration four minutes. System integrity critical warning."

"Registry Clerk," Lyra said. She stared at me with wide eyes. "Not a fighter. But administrative. Kane, your nose is bleeding again. Are you okay?"

I wiped the blood quickly. "It will do. Watch this."

I placed my hand on the primary rune. I pushed the Registry Clerk flag into the authorization sequence. The System fought it. Errors popped up fast.

"It is working," I said. "The gate is groaning. Go, Lyra. Through the gap now."

Lyra squeezed through first. She turned back quickly. "Kane, come on. It is opening more. Hurry."

I started to follow. Behind me Seran disengaged. He stepped aside and let the hunters pass. They ran full speed now. All six. Twenty meters away.

"Go faster," Seran shouted. He sprinted for the gap. "They are right behind me."

One hunter raised a device. Not a sword. He fired a System-pulse straight at me. It hit. Not pain. Something else. Like a process crash. Everything went black for less than a second. I stumbled through the gate.

Seran came through right behind me. The gate slammed shut hard.

I hit the ground on the other side. The Override collapsed completely.

"Override failed," I read out. My voice sounded weak. "Class flag reverted to Null. System integrity restoring. Gate authorization revoked."

Lyra knelt beside me fast. She touched my shoulder with her good hand. "Kane, are you okay? Talk to me. Your face is pale. Say something."

"I do not feel the pulse damage," I said. I sat up slowly. "The System fired a direct skill at a Null. It made an error on contact. Nothing happened to me at all."

Seran stood at the closed gate. He looked back through the small gap before it sealed fully. "They are furious on the other side. The hound is going crazy. Listen to them shouting."

Lyra helped me stand. Her bad arm hung limp. "You rewrote your class twice in one day. Your head must be killing you. How do you feel right now?"

"Frustrated," I answered. I pressed my hands to my temples. "And tired. But alive. The purge timer reset somehow. It bought us real time."

Seran turned to us. "We are out of the Ashfields. But the Registry will know soon. My involvement is now on record. They will ask questions."

"You risked a lot for us," Lyra said. She looked at him. "Why? Tell me straight."

Seran met her eyes. "Because what Kane did should not exist. I need answers before the Administrator decides everything for us."

I stood fully. My legs still felt shaky. "The pulse did nothing. The System cannot touch me the same way anymore. That is huge. Do you understand what this means?"

"But your Override is gone," Seran said. "You are Null again. They will send more hunters. Stronger ones."

Lyra leaned against the stone wall. Pain showed clear on her face. "We need to keep moving. The gate bought us a head start but not forever. Kane, can you walk properly?"

"I can," I said. "My head is spinning but I can move. Seran, lead the way. What comes next in this world?"

Seran started walking. "Safer ground north. But the real world starts here. And it is not kinder than the Ashfields. Tell me more about how you did that rewrite while we moved."

"I will," I said. "When we are farther away. The pain is still bad. Give me a minute to breathe."

The ground on this side felt different. Firmer. Real civilization waited somewhere ahead. But behind the closed gate we heard the hunters shouting and pounding on the stone. Angry voices carried clearly.

"They are not giving up," Lyra whispered. She gripped her sword with her good hand. "I can hear them planning."

Seran placed a hand on the gate. "They cannot open it without higher authority. We have hours at least. But we should not waste them."

I looked at both of them. "Thank you. Both of you. Without the political play and the flag rewrite we would be dead back there."

Seran nodded. "We move north. I can guide you. But Kane, you need to be careful. The System watched that rewrite closely."

Lyra looked at me. Her eyes showed exhaustion and fire. "Whatever you do next, make it count. Your tricks are getting stronger but the cost is rising. Your nose bled again."

I wiped it. "We keep going. I learn more. I break more. That is the only plan I have."

We followed Seran. The purge timer ticked quieter in my head. But new warnings flickered at the edge of my vision. The System watched closer now.

The north waited. And whatever came next would test every trick I had left.