Location: East Wing – Zone-Blocked Combat Grounds
Once a quiet campus segment, now overrun. Controlled by a rogue faction called Black Talon—a brutal, militarized group of elite mission-users. All former punishers. They own the East Wing.
Their leader?
Ren Ha-joon.
A Chainbreaker who didn't lose control when he broke his chains. He tamed his system instead—and turned it into a war engine.
[SYSTEM ALERT – BLOODLOCK INITIATED]
Target: Ren Ha-joon – Rank: S
Mission: Defeat or Surrender Within 48 Hours
Reward: System Access Expansion / Authority Override Key Fragment
Failure: Loss of Faction Leader Rights / Permanent Debuff: Slave Tag
Jihan reads the prompt. Grim.
"They're trying to force my hand."
Hana scans the data. "This isn't a mission. It's a kill contract. They're pitting rising leaders against each other."
Syra frowns. "They're culling the strongest anomalies before they can unite."
Deadlock cracks his knuckles. "So we fight back."
The Plan – Chainbreakers Strike First
Hana quickly draws out blueprints.
"Black Talon controls four buildings: East Dorm, Combat Grounds, the old Library, and the East Tower."
"Ren Ha-joon never leaves the Tower. Too valuable. The others are run by lieutenants. If we hit them first, we force Ren out."
"Standard missions won't work—they've firewalled their zone. But I can glitch short-distance teleport loops with Syra's help."
Jihan nods. "We'll move as three teams."
Operation Breakdown
Team A: Syra (hacker) and Hana (support/sniper)
Team B: Deadlock – frontal assault
Team C: Jihan – direct infiltration via stealth line
Midnight – East Dorm Assault Begins
Deadlock crashes through the East Dorm gates like a missile.
Metal walls rip apart. Talon grunts scramble with panic.
"IT'S HIM—THE CHAINBREAKER BEAST!"
He grabs a full-grown fighter, slams him through a wall, and crushes two more under a ripped steel door.
They try to use mission skills—one summons a shield, another summons fire chains.
Deadlock tanks them all.
Then snaps the shield user's arm backward with a sickening pop.
"Weak."
Meanwhile – Roofline
Syra sits cross-legged, plugged into the tower's frequency, hacking camera systems, overwriting mission logic.
"Detonating east perimeter… now."
BOOM. Explosives tear open the Library's flank—Hana uses a high-caliber compressed stun rifle to disable two snipers on the opposite building.
"Library clear," she radios in.
Jihan – Inside the Tower
He moves like a ghost—silent, fast, lethal.
He takes down two guards with nerve strikes. Disables a turret with a magnet-glitch chip. Creeps up toward the central elevator shaft.
[ELEVATOR OVERRIDE – DISABLED]
Jihan smirks.
"Syra."
"Already on it."
The shaft opens manually—he jumps down five floors, landing hard but precise.
And there, inside the command room, Ren Ha-joon waits.
Tall. Clean. Wearing a matte-black uniform. His arms are crossed, and a dozen interface screens float behind him, each tracking Jihan's team in real time.
"You're more reckless than I thought," Ren says.
"You accepted the Bloodlock. I didn't have a choice."
"That's where you're wrong."
[SYSTEM UPDATE – ELITE DUEL INITIATED]
Battle Type: Chainbreaker v. Chainbreaker
Lock-In: No Escape. No Interference.
Skills Amplified. Debuffs Neutralized.
Begin.
Ren attacks first—
His system, called "Code Legion," allows him to spawn spectral clones of past fighters he's defeated.
Three phantoms manifest: a berserker, a blade dancer, and a gunner.
Jihan dodges, blocking with instinct—but the berserker cracks his guard, and the blade dancer slices through his side.
He retaliates, grabbing the gunner, snapping its neck—but it reboots instantly.
"They don't die," Ren says.
"They're mine. Just like you'll be."
Jihan grits his teeth.
"Then I'll break them. Over and over."
He activates Framebreaker.
Speed surges. He weaves through attacks. Lands a brutal three-strike combo into the berserker. Disarms the blade dancer. Breaks the gunner's knee.
Then uses Wrath Anchor—Deadlock's passive aura—to tank a full burst from Ren himself.
"Still standing?" Ren growls.
"No," Jihan says. "I'm winning."
He grabs Ren's arm mid-swing, knees his stomach, and drives his elbow into Ren's temple—
Hard.
Ren stumbles. Bleeding. His phantom clones vanish.
"System… reboot…" Ren gasps.
"Too late."
Jihan charges up a **brutal final strike—**his first fusion technique combining Framebreaker + Wrath Anchor:
"CHAINSHATTER SMASH."
He slams his fist into Ren's chest—bones crack—the tower trembles—Ren goes flying back into a wall of monitors.
[TARGET DOWN – BLOODLOCK COMPLETE]
Reward Unlocked: Authority Override Key Fragment (1/4)
Faction Rank Increased – Chainbreakers Lv. 3
New Trait: Phantom Override (Absorb defeated mission clones for limited use)
Ren coughs, beaten. But alive.
"You're… different… from the others."
"I don't want to be another ruler," Jihan says.
"I want to burn the throne itself."
End of Chapter 34