Chapter 35: The Protocol Hunter Squad
Ryo's boots crunched against the rooftop gravel as the city stretched far below, a living circuit board of neon veins and digital chaos. Wind whipped through his hair, carrying with it the echoes of a world on the edge of collapse.
A sleek black aircraft—shaped like a winged blade—hovered silently behind him, cloaked in stealth tech. The insignia emblazoned on its side matched the fractured circle Cipher wore.
The Protocol Hunter Squad emblem.
Ryo inhaled deeply. The events at the warehouse still throbbed behind his eyes—the ferocity of the battle, the woman who stopped everything with a word, and the chilling title she left him with.
You're not our pawn… you're our weapon.
Inside the aircraft, everything was sterile, humming with deep system signatures. Cipher was already aboard, leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed and helmet off. He looked younger without the armor—mid-twenties, sharp-eyed, a face that had seen too much.
And he wasn't alone.
Ryo stepped inside and immediately felt it: the tension, the weight of presence. Four individuals stood—or sat—watching him.
They were the Protocol Hunters.
The woman from earlier nodded as he entered. "Welcome to your next chapter, Ryo Kazen."
"You still haven't told me your name," Ryo replied, eyes scanning the room.
"Reika. Codename: Widow Protocol." She gestured to the others. "You'll want to remember them."
First was a lanky man with ash-white hair and a mechanical eye that rotated as he studied Ryo.
"Codename: Ghostlink," Reika said. "Tactical systems interference and cyber disruption."
Ghostlink offered a mock salute. "Heard you tore Chrono-loop in half. Impressive. You're either gifted… or insane."
Next was a hulking brute clad in heavy, obsidian armor. His breath steamed visibly in the cold air.
"Codename: Grudgeborn. He's the closest thing we have to a walking WMD. Mostly quiet. Mostly."
Grudgeborn grunted. "Don't get in my way, kid."
Finally, seated at a console with an eerie calm, was a teenage girl with glowing eyes—one blue, one green. Data shimmered around her fingertips like butterflies.
"That's Echo. She doesn't speak much. Runs support ops, deep infiltration, and reality-thread diagnostics."
Echo tilted her head toward Ryo and offered a small wave.
"And then there's Cipher," Reika added dryly. "He vouched for you."
Cipher spoke up, voice neutral. "Because if we didn't bring him in, he'd become a threat bigger than any of us."
"Flattering," Ryo muttered.
Reika tapped a holographic panel, revealing a rotating list of names and images—red, glowing, marked as Targets.
"These are ex-Protocol users. Rogue operators. Some went mad. Others went god. Our job? Bring them in—dead or alive. Mostly dead."
Ryo frowned. "And you expect me to just… jump in?"
Reika turned toward him, her voice low and sharp. "You activated the Shadow Protocol. That makes you a high-threat variable. You're part of this, whether you like it or not. We kill monsters, but the worst ones started off like you—untrained, uncontrolled, and full of power they couldn't comprehend."
She leaned closer. "We're not just here to fight them. We're here to stop you from becoming one."
Silence.
Then a chime rang. A red alert pulsed across the interface.
[New Anomaly Detected: Sector D-13. Estimated Threat: God-Tier.]
Cipher swore under his breath. "Already?"
Reika didn't hesitate. "Suit up. We move in five."
As the others dispersed, Ryo remained still, his gaze fixed on the alert. His hands trembled, not from fear—but from the weight of where this road was taking him.
God-tier? Already?
The Shadow Protocol pulsed within him like a living beast. He could feel its hunger again. Not for death.
For ascension.
[Warning: Stability falling – 63%][Shadow Surge Recommended. Initiate Y/N?]
Ryo exhaled and whispered under his breath. "Let's see what I'm really made of."
He stepped toward the armor console, where a suit built just for him awaited—crafted in deep obsidian threads, etched with ancient runes only the Protocol could translate.
A new chapter had begun. And Ryo Kazen was no longer the hunted.
He was becoming the hunter.
End of Chapter 35