Kill to evolve: A system that demands blood
Chapter 56: Reality warden

Chapter 56: Reality warden

Chapter 56

For a second, nobody answered.

It wasn’t like they didn’t want to, It was like they didn’t know how to explain it.

The hum of the van’s engine felt louder in the silence, rattling through the armored frame.

Finally, Colt spoke up, his voice lower than usual.

Like he didn’t want Aldric to somehow hear him even from a few meters away.

"He doesn’t just kill," Colt muttered. "He...overwrites reality."

Ronan’s eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of interest breaking through his usual blank expression.

Colt scratched the back of his neck, glancing toward the driver’s seat, like he was making sure Aldric wasn’t about to show up behind him, then he continued.

"He’s a Reality Warden, at least, that’s what we call it. His mana doesn’t attack you directly. It rewrites the rules around you. Physics, logic, even your own system abilities can get... canceled."

Tyce leaned forward a little, elbows on his knees.

"I saw him once. Back when I was new. A guy tried to resist arrest during a sweep mission. Big-time awakened, mana meter measured over one thousand two hundred plus. Bastard could tear through tanks."

He paused, licking his lips like the memory made his mouth dry.

"Aldric didn’t even touch him. He just looked at him, and suddenly the guy’s body started... breaking apart. Piece by piece. Like his existence was being rewritten."

Ezren spoke next, voice low and sharp.

"Doesn’t matter if you’re stronger than him, faster than him, immune to magic, once he targets you, it’s done. No struggle. No mercy. Your mana collapses. Your system crashes. Your body just...gives up, like it forgets how to be alive."

Colt nodded grimly.

"They say he’s only allowed to use it under strict orders. HQ is scared of him too. Real scared."

Ronan absorbed their words silently, his mind whirring.

Reality Warden.

An ability so strong that it didn’t just damage an enemy, it undermined the very concept of their existence.

Erase the enemy by rewriting the laws of reality itself.

Ronan leaned his head back against the cool metal wall of the van, his arms still folded, gaze fixed upward as if the answers might carve themselves into the steel above him.

But the silence in his mind wasn’t as empty as he wanted it to be. Something had stirred in him. A slow, hungry coil tightening deep in his gut.

Challenge him.

Test yourself against him.

The thoughts weren’t his own, or at least, not the him he used to be.

It was part of the system’s influence, this thing had festered in his core, reshaping the very way he thought, he fought or what he desired.

His fingers flexed slightly against his biceps, a muscle twitch he barely caught.

The idea of facing Aldric, of fighting against that monstrous ability that could erase men like scribbles on paper should’ve been terrifying.

It should’ve had him sitting back and thanking whatever God still gave a damn that Aldric was on their side.

But instead—

His heart beat faster. Not with fear, but with anticipation.

His body tensed like a predator catching the scent of something bigger, stronger, something that could tear him apart, or something he could tear down to prove he deserved to exist.

What the hell is wrong with me? Ronan thought.

He clenched his jaw, forcing his breathing steady, these thoughts weren’t normal. It was like he was slowly turning into a power hungry monster.

He knew it wasn’t just pride, neither was it stupidity. Wasn’t some rookie’s fantasy about being the strongest.

It was the fucking system.

It had soaked into his bones, wired into his instincts, turning the hunger for survival into something darker, a lust for power, a thirst for blood, and the need to evolve or die trying.

Every fiber of him wanted to see if Aldric could crush him, or if he could claim that power as his.

Because if he could actually get hold of an ability like that, he wouldn’t just be strong. He’d be unstoppable.

Ronan dragged a hand slowly down his face, burying the impulse deep where it belonged, under layers of iron will.

Now wasn’t the time.

There were bigger problems outside that van.

Soon, the van rolled to a stop, the van instantly fell silent as no one spoke.

Ronan cracked the door open and stepped out first. His boots hit cracked pavement, sending a few pebbles skittering across the empty road.

The building loomed in front of them — smooth black glass, pristine walls, not a single crack or dent.

Factories in the Wastes didn’t stay clean like this.

They didn’t stay untouched.

Something was felt wrong, and Ronan knew for sure that something was waiting for them inside.

Aldric moved ahead without hesitation, mana pulsing faintly around him like a living thing.

All other squad members followed without question, weapons ready but loose in their hands.

Ronan stayed near the back, scanning everything, the windows, the door, the roof, the air itself. Every instinct in him screamed trap. This had to be.

Colt muttered, low enough only Ronan could hear, "Place feels like a tomb."

He wasn’t wrong.

The front doors stood massive and untouched, no guards, no locks, no defenses. It was like the eradicators were inviting them in.

Aldric placed a hand on the door panel.

A loud click broke the stillness as the locks disengaged.

The doors swung open, revealing a narrow hallway, sterile, white, perfectly lit.

Not a speck of dust.

Not a drop of blood.

Not even a scuff mark.

It looked like a hospital. Or a butcher’s shop. Waiting for the next body.

Ronan felt his mana stir without meaning to, curling tight under his skin. He had seen places like this before.

Places that made monsters.

Aldric stepped through first.

The squad moved in behind him without a word, weapons raised now, eyes sharp.

As the doors hissed shut behind them, the world outside disappeared. But instantly, something around them pulsed, something ominous, something that screamed trouble.