I about broke my neck looking to Alice for confirmation.

  Alice just shook her head, voice trembling but firm. “I have never seen him in my life.”

  The words rang out louder than any battle cry or gunfire I had ever heard.

  "You heard her, Mr. Elite. You can fuck right off now."

  The Elite’s smile grew sharper. "Oh, let me help her with a talent I like to call Recall. He raised a glowing hand.

  I did the only thing I could think to do and attempted to conjure a mana ball, but the elite simply laughed, snapped his fingers, and uttered, “Recall.”

  The force of the snap knocked me on my ass and dispelled my mana. Alice seemed to stumble forward, eyes wide with horror. Her breath hitched. “No… that’s not possible.”

  I fought my way back up to a knee, shaking off the impact, trying to get my body in front of the girls.

  Every nerve in my body was screaming to stop moving. I turned to Alice. Forcing the words out. "What do you mean, not possible?”

  "I remember," I heard her say.

  "I was missing you and Dad one night. I went to the safe to look through your guy's old things… I found the Anchor. I just wanted to feel close to Dad again. I didn’t know," her voice trembled.

  Liz stirred in her arms. "I was transported to another world. I fell through the sky… into a burning forest. The air smelled of ash and blood. I didn’t even know where I was or what to do. I just remember the word, Trial.

  My breath caught in my chest.

  “I barely survived," Alice continued, her voice far away now, locked in the memory. "I survived... I don’t even remember what. I was so hurt I could barely move. And then… he appeared."

  She shivered. "He called himself... Carson.”

  My fists clenched. “The Elite?”

  She nodded slowly. “He helped me… at first. Gave me a healing potion. Sat with me while I cried.

  He said he knew where we were and that he’d been chosen by the system to rescue me. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "I thought he was good.”

  She looked up at me, pleading. "I didn’t know who he was then. I stayed here for weeks. He stayed with me. I told him about our family and about you. Then I woke up at home one morning."

  A month later, I found out I was pregnant."

  I shook myself out of the rage brewing in my chest. “You can process this later. Right now, try to wake up Balt and get out of here. If he sent you back, there, there’s obviously a way out of here."

  Alice held Liz tighter. “I’m sorry, Riven. I didn’t mean to"

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” I snapped. "He manipulated you. Whatever he is, we will deal with him. Together.”

  "Are you done with the whole ‘we’ll do it together’ speech?" the Elite sneered, eyes glowing faintly. "It’s always the same with you weaklings, such touching loyalty. Such predictable garbage.”

  The elite stepped forward. “Let me be clear. I’m using a fraction of my power. If I am not careful, I’d collapse this entire realm … and because, well," he glanced at Alice. Eyes gleaming with something cruel. "Murdering her brother probably wouldn’t do wonders for our relationship.”

  I growled, but the Elite just smiled wider. “So here I am… being Mr. Patient." He flexed his fingers casually. Recall takes time. But trust me, her memory’s coming back. And when it does, well," he leaned in slightly, voice dropping. "Don’t make that face at me,” he sneered. “She wasn’t exactly fighting me off.” He laughed then, low, mocking, and full of venom.

  I tried to move again, straining with all I had to punch this jackass in the mouth. But my body would not listen to me. Carson’s aura pressed down, forcing my knees to buckle. I spat blood onto the cracked earth, forcing a grin through the pain. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

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  He placed his arms behind his back. “Let me tell you a story as to another reason you're not dead yet."

  Carson’s shadow loomed as his smile faded. “You really don’t know anything, do you?” His voice softened, mocking, almost pitying. “This isn’t about your sister. It’s about control.”

  He glanced at the baby in Alice’s arms. “The kind that decides whether this world burns again.”

  Alice flinched. “What are you talking about?”

  My arms trembled, but I dragged myself in front of Alice and Liz, body screaming in protest. Even if I couldn’t stand, I could still be a wall between them and him.

  “The factions,” Carson said, pacing slowly, hands behind his back. “Each one clawing for power, each convinced the System owes them the next floor, the next miracle. But the System doesn’t care. It never has.” His tone dropped to a whisper. “It only counts bodies.”

  He stopped and looked up. “We’re all here to stop a dungeon break in theory. The Vault of the Endless, you’ve heard of it? But somewhere along the line, everyone forgot why. They built a council to protect what they already had instead of pushing forward. Safe, comfortable, stagnant.” His lip curled. “Until you people started showing up.”

  I frowned through the blood dripping down my chin. “You people?”

  “The Outliers,” he said, the word sharp as glass. “You. The first ones shattered the council’s hold. Too strong to be controlled, too righteous to be bought. You burned through factions, toppled dynasties … and forced my grandfather to rebuild the world around your chaos.”

  He began to circle me, the air humming faintly with power. “But when the dust settled, we wondered, where did you come from? You weren’t born here. You didn’t belong. And when we finally caught one alive, he told us the truth.” He leaned closer, eyes alight. “Outliers aren’t from this world. You’re chosen from the others. Like rats plucked from the same cage and thrown into ours.”

  My stomach tightened at his words.

  He continued, quieter now. “We realized the System would never gift us with Outliers from our own factions. So, I am going to make our own without the Systems help.”

  I stared at him. “This whole thing is so you have a weapon for your faction to use?” I asked.

  “Oh, you’re a quick one, and you would be surprised what you can make when you mix desperation with brilliance.” His voice turned gleeful, unhinged. “I didn’t get your sister pregnant for fun, boy. I needed a child born from an Outlier’s bloodline, one that could be molded, guided, raised to serve our purpose.”

  Alice’s breath hitched. “You … used me.”

  He regarded her with detached fondness. “You were chosen. The System doesn’t care about consent, and neither do wars.” His eyes flicked back to me. “If the girl inherits your spark, my faction will have the only natural-born deterrent against your kind. And if she doesn’t …” His grin spread, cruel. “I can always try again.”

  Rage boiled through my veins. “You’re insane.”

  Carson shrugged lightly. “Visionaries always sound insane until they win.”

  I took a step forward. The ground trembled with the weight of my anger. “You touch them again, and I’ll bury you.”

  He laughed, loudly and sharply. “You’ll try. That’s what I like about Outliers, you never know when to quit.” His aura pulsed, sending waves of pressure that made my knees buckle. “But you’re not ready. Not even close.”

  I gritted my teeth. “So, what are you going to do? Kill me and take my family away?!"

  “Only partly what you said,” he said softly, almost kindly. “Death would be mercy. I need you alive. You’ll grow strong, strong enough to be useful. My faction will see to that.”

  He turned his gaze to Alice and Liz again, his tone dripping with false warmth. “And they’ll keep you obedient.”

  I forced one foot forward, blood roaring in my ears. “You think fear will hold me?”

  Carson’s grin widened. “Not fear. Hope.” He crouched so his face was level with mine. “Because as long as they live, you’ll never risk the one thing you can’t replace.”

  Pain flared white as I hit the ground, but I clawed at the dirt, dragging myself back up inch by inch. Every breath was fire, every nerve, screaming but I refused to bow.

  I swung faster than I thought possible, my fist crackling with mana, but he caught it lazily, like plucking a falling leaf. “Predictable,” he murmured. "Predictable? Maybe. But I'm still swinging."

  He shoved, and I hit the ground hard. Pain flared white. Carson loomed above me, eyes glowing with cruel amusement.

  “Let me tell you one last story,” he said. “Once, a woman tried to defy the Factions. She gathered Outliers, tried to rewrite the rules. Do you know what happened to her?” He snapped his fingers.

  A pulse of black light erupted behind him, forming a swirling rift. “The Factions erased her entire lineage in this world.”

  Alice gasped, clutching Liz close. Carson straightened, brushing imaginary dust from his sleeves. “The Factions love their power. With too many Outliers, the balance of power shifts, and we can't have that again. When the System sends more of you again, we will have two of our own to fight back.”

  He looked at Alice one last time, calm, confident, terrifying. “Come along, dear. You’ve got so much to remember.”

  “Don’t you touch her!” I roared, pushing to my feet.

  Limit Break refused to trigger. My limbs trembled, mana sputtering.

  Carson only smiled. “You’ll find them, I’m sure. You Outliers always do.” He stepped into the rift, pulling Alice and the crying child with him. “Until then, behave. Or your niece becomes a System Memory.”

  The rift began to close. I staggered forward, every nerve screaming.

  “You won’t keep them!” My voice tore from my throat. “I’ll tear your world apart!”

  His voice drifted back, fading into the void. “Let’s see you try, Outlier.”

  Then the light was gone. Silence swallowed the battlefield.

  I fell to my knees, the world spinning, blood dripping from my chin onto the cracked earth. The only sound left was the echo of a baby’s cry and the System’s cold hum still lingering in my ears.

  Pacing good so Far?