The air at the top of the fissure was thick with the acrid stench of burning plasma and scorched flesh.
Lucian materialized silently from the darkness, his boots landing softly in the mud. Thanks to his [Shadow Step] and his newly boosted Agility, his sudden arrival didn't make a sound.
He looked around the battlefield. It was a graveyard.
The three elite Silver-frame vanguards who had sneered at him earlier were scattered across the mud, their advanced armor torn open like tin cans. Nearby, the heavy transport hover-truck was a flaming wreckage, its engine core sputtering weakly.
A few feet away, a groaning sound caught Lucian's attention.
Squad Leader Vance was crawling through the mud, desperately dragging his half-paralyzed body toward a dropped emergency beacon. His Silver-frame suit was heavily damaged, sparks flying from the ruptured neural-sync port on his neck.
"Help... someone..." Vance gasped, his bloody fingers inches away from hitting the distress button.
Lucian walked over slowly. His steps were deliberate, his pale skin and glowing crimson eyes completely hidden beneath the shadows of his tattered military cloak. He stood directly over his former commander.
Vance looked up, his eyes widening in sheer terror. He didn't recognize the pale, dark-haired figure with small black horns breaking through his skin, but he could feel the crushing, cold aura radiating from him.
"W-What are you... an intelligent Abyss Beast?" Vance stammered, his voice trembling.
Lucian didn't answer. He simply reached down with his left hand. The violet veins along his forearm flared, and his fingers ignited with a low, humming aura of blue-violet plasma.
With a effortless swipe of his [Plasma Claw], Lucian sliced the emergency beacon cleanly in half.
"No!" Vance shrieked, backing away in pure desperation. "I'm a Federation Squad Leader! You can't—"
"You left me to die in that hole, Vance," Lucian said, his voice deep, layered with a faint, resonant demonic echo.
Vance’s jaw dropped. "L-Lucian? That's impossible... you're a zero-res trash..."
"Not anymore."
Before Vance could scream, Lucian stepped forward. He didn't waste time on revenge; he needed to secure his ghost status. He placed his glowing palm directly onto the chest piece of Vance’s damaged Silver-frame suit, activating his new technical skill.
[Skill Activated: Cyber-Hacking.]
[Interfacing with Federation Military Network via Vanguard Suit ID: 449-Vance.]
[Consuming 20 MP...]
Lines of military data flashed across Lucian’s vision. Because his Intelligence stat was high enough, his mind easily navigated the encrypted military sub-routines. He wasn't just hacking the suit; he was rewriting the squad's final mission log.
With a few mental commands, Lucian altered the digital record of the battle. He uploaded a definitive status report to the central Federation database: Squad 4 entirely wiped out by High-Tier Abyss Beasts. Conscript Lucian: Confirmed Casualties — Body Completely Vaporized.
"There," Lucian muttered, his eyes cold as the system confirmed the data sync. "As far as the government is concerned, Lucian is dead."
He looked down at Vance. The squad leader’s eyes were blank with terror as he realized his fate. Lucian didn't hesitate. He let his demonic instincts take over, driving his hand forward to end Vance's life and trigger his passive skill.
[Target defeated. Passive Skill: 'Assimilation' triggering automatically...]
[Absorbed biological energy from Human Elite Vanguard.]
[Absorbed mechanical energy from Silver-Frame Exo-Suit Core.]
[Gained: 400 EXP!]
[Level Up!]
[Level 2 ──> Level 3 (200/400 EXP)]
[All stats increased by +2. Unallocated Stat Points received: 5]
A massive surge of mixed energy—both genetic and cybernetic—flooded Lucian's soul core. The wreckage of the battlefield went dead silent.
Lucian stood alone amidst the flames, a phantom to the human military, and a monster to the beasts. Turning his back on the burning outpost, he melted into the dark rain-slicked forests of Planet Vanguard-4. He was completely on his own now.