Chapter 10 THE KEEPER OF INCONVENIENT TRUTH

I kept my knife pointed at the old man’s chest, heart still racing from his sudden appearance. “Elder Voss? You picked a hell of a time to show up. Start talking before Scar here decides you’re just another problem.”

Voss didn’t flinch. He clasped his hands behind his back, studying me with those ancient, unhurried eyes. “Long Chen. The latest Dragon Emperor vessel. And Scar… still carrying guilt from the last one. How fascinating. I am Elder Voss. One of the few who remembers the cycles before this Merge. I have watched your kind come and go for a very long time.”

Scar kept his axe raised, muscles tense. “You talk like you’ve seen this show before. Spill it, old man. What’s really happening to him?”

Voss smiled faintly, dry as old bones. “The Emperor is not some simple demon, boy. It is the architect. The Collapse you feel in the veins? The dying world? It was designed. A reset. The Emperor sleeps, feeds through vessels like you, and when the time is right, it is reborn. The world ends. A new cycle begins. Cleaner, they say. But always the same story.”

I lowered my knife a fraction but didn’t relax. “Designed? You mean this whole mess…the Merge, the dying veins, people getting harvested…is on purpose?”

“Purpose is a strong word,” Voss said calmly. “It is a mechanism. The immortal realms needed renewal. Your Earth provided the canvas. The Emperor simply… arranged the paint. You are accelerating things, Long Chen. Faster than any vessel I have observed. Your extractions are bolder. Your resistance makes the Emperor curious. That is dangerous.”

I stepped closer, voice rising. “Then tell me how to stop it! How do I get this thing out of me without dying? How do I stabilize the veins without feeding the bastard?”

Voss shook his head slowly. “Those answers come later. Or not at all. Knowledge is a tool, not a gift. Give it too early and it breaks the wrong hands.”

“Damn you!” I slammed my fist against the wall. “You drop in here talking about cycles and resets like it’s casual conversation, then clam up on the important shit? People are dying out there. Kids. Mothers. I’ve got their ghosts screaming in my head every time I pull a vein!”

Scar grunted. “He’s right. If you know something useful, old man, say it. Or leave.”

Voss’s eyes flicked between us, almost amused. “The Emperor does not hate you, Chen. It believes it is saving everything. You fight it because you still cling to this broken world. Most vessels learn to love the power. You… you keep trying to be the hero. How long until that defiance becomes another tool in its hands?”

Before I could fire back, the ground trembled. Heavy footsteps and shouted orders echoed from outside our hiding spot.

“Formation signature confirmed! They’re in there! Take the system user alive! Kill the traitor and the old fool if they interfere!”

Scar cursed. “Strike team. Too many. They tracked the power from your last extraction.”

Voss sighed, sounding almost bored. “Ah. Time grows short. Remember this, Long Chen…the third path exists, but it demands more than defiance. It demands acceptance of what you truly are.”

In a blink, the old man simply wasn’t there anymore. No flash, no smoke. Just gone.

“Great,” I snarled. “Thanks for the cryptic bullshit!”

Scar shoved me toward the back wall. “Fight now. Talk later. Stay behind me.”

The strike team burst through the camouflage formation, twelve elite clan warriors in heavy Iron Fang armor, glowing weapons raised. Their leader, a burly man with a glowing spear, pointed straight at me. “Long Chen! Surrender the system and we’ll make your death quick. Refuse, and we’ll peel you apart piece by piece while you watch.”

I grinned, even as fear clawed my gut. “You people really need better pickup lines.”

The fight exploded.

Scar charged like a storm, axe swinging in wide, brutal arcs. He took the first two warriors in seconds, blood spraying across the basement floor. “Chen! Pull what you need but don’t lose yourself!”

I dove into the fray, knife flashing. My new strength let me dodge a sword strike and slam my elbow into a warrior’s throat. He dropped gasping. But they were good. Trained. Coordinated.

A spear thrust grazed my side. Pain flared hot. Another warrior grabbed me from behind. “Got the rat!”

“Get off me!” I twisted and drove my knee up, but more were closing in.

Scar roared and cleaved through two men to reach me, taking a nasty gash across his chest in the process. Blood poured down his leathers. “Keep fighting, kid!”

The Emperor’s voice came through clearer than ever before, warm, reasonable, right beside my own thoughts. “Give me a little more control, Chen. Just a sliver. I will keep your new friend alive. He bleeds for you. Let me return the favor.”

“No!” I shouted out loud, slamming a fist into another attacker. “Stay out of this!”

Scar took another hit, this one deep across his ribs, protecting my blind side. He staggered but kept swinging. “Don’t listen to it! Focus!”

The voice persisted, calm and tempting. “One extraction. Let me guide your hand. Scar lives. The clans die. Simple.”

I could see Scar slowing down, blood loss making his movements heavy. The remaining warriors pressed harder, sensing weakness. My own side burned. Soul fragments swirled in my head, grief, rage, fear, all mixing with mine until I couldn’t tell where I ended and they began.

“Scar!” I yelled, voice cracking. “Hold on!”

He grunted, axe burying in one more enemy, but another blade slashed across his back. He dropped to one knee.

The Emperor whispered again, almost gentle. “Give in just a little. Save him.”

I looked at the pulsing vein lines in the basement floor, strong ones, waiting. My hand reached out on its own, trembling.

I knew pulling now would trigger another blackout. I knew it might cost Scar more than blood this time.

But I reached anyway.