Chapter 34: Recruit or Terminate
Ascension: Shadow Protocol – Act 2: Climb Through Shadows
The air was sharp with tension. The warehouse, once a forgotten ruin tucked behind crumbling city blocks, now buzzed with encrypted signals and surveillance drones cloaked in shadow. Ryo Kazen stood alone, blood crusted on his cheek, his body trembling—not from fear, but from rage and awakening power.
Across from him stood Cipher, the enigmatic Protocol user who had survived the Glitch Gate incident. Unlike Ryo, Cipher wore a full nano-threaded suit pulsing with streams of corrupted data. A silver insignia—a fractured circle flanked by twin blades—glowed faintly on his chest.
"You're an anomaly," Cipher said coldly, his voice metallic through a distortion filter."The Overseer wants you terminated—or recruited."
Ryo narrowed his eyes. "You think I'd work for whoever's pulling your strings?"
"It's not a request." Cipher extended his hand. "Join us, and you'll live long enough to learn what the Shadow Protocol really is."
Ryo's instincts screamed at him to run—but something deeper whispered: Stay. Listen. This is bigger than you think.
His silence was answer enough. Cipher's stance shifted. The room darkened unnaturally as a void-surge emanated from him. Behind him, three more figures stepped into view—Protocol enforcers. Each wore variations of Cipher's suit, but with different protocols rippling through their auras: Flamehex, Chrono-loop, and Nullwave.
They were beyond A-Rank. Maybe beyond S-Rank.
Ryo's Protocol flickered on instinct—dark sigils burned under his skin. Shadow Protocol – Core Stability: 67%.
"You brought a hit squad just for me?" Ryo scoffed, wiping blood from his lip.
"No," Cipher replied. "I brought witnesses. You're not an ordinary candidate. The Overseer demands a live test."
Suddenly, Nullwave lunged.
His blade phased through reality, warping with every step—Ryo barely sidestepped, shadows forming into reactive armor. CLANG! Sparks danced as data-woven steel clashed against Ryo's spectral claws.
Then, the Protocol whispered:[Assimilation Option Detected: Nullwave]
"You're mine now," Ryo growled.
He unleashed Shadow Bind v2.3, tendrils of semi-coded darkness erupting from beneath. They coiled around Nullwave's legs mid-air, slamming him through steel plating with bone-cracking force.
But then—BOOM! A wall exploded inward. Chrono-loop blinked in and out of view, leaving behind afterimages as he created a stuttering time-lock around Ryo.
Ryo couldn't move. Every muscle froze. No… Not again…
[Time Distortion Detected — Attempting System Override…]
Override Successful. Shadow Protocol Patch v0.78 Applied.
Time snapped. Ryo blinked forward—straight into Chrono-loop's shocked face—and drove a shadow-forged blade through his armor.
One down. Two to go.
Cipher didn't flinch. In fact, he almost smiled.
"You're adapting faster than projected."
"I'm just getting started."
Flamehex leaped next, unleashing a burst of crimson fire encrypted with decay protocols. The heat turned the entire warehouse into a furnace—but the shadows around Ryo surged like a living entity, parting the flames and slicing upward in a spear of midnight.
Suddenly, everything froze.
A new presence entered the battlefield.
From the far end of the warehouse, a woman cloaked in royal black armor stepped forward. Her eyes burned with flickering runes. A massive obsidian scythe hovered behind her like an extension of her will.
"Enough," she commanded.
Everyone halted—Cipher included.
"The Overseer has made a decision," she said, eyes locked on Ryo. "He passes."
Cipher frowned. "Already?"
"The test was successful. He's to be recruited into the Protocol Hunter Squad—immediately."
Ryo's heart pounded. "Protocol Hunter…?"
"You'll hunt those who broke the code," she said. "Or become one of them."
The decision weighed in the silence. Ryo glanced around—the damage, the blood, the survivors. He was already too deep to back out. If there were more like him, more secrets tied to this system—he had to know.
"Fine," he said. "But I'm not your pawn."
"You're not," the woman said. "You're our weapon."
And just like that, Ryo Kazen was no longer just a shadow anomaly.
He had become a Protocol Hunter.
End of Chapter 34