They crouched behind scorched stone, eyes on the lumbering Scorchwalkers. The creatures paced slowly, fire glowing beneath cracked skin, every step leaving molten footprints.
Darius scanned their pattern—tight formation, slow turns, fire bursts in timed pulses.
"Fighting's dumb," he said. "We'd be cooked before we land the first hit."
Rowan grunted. "So what then?"
Darius opened his system menu.
> [Deployable Item Available: Decoy Beacon – Cost: 1 SP]
"Lures non-intelligent hostiles for 30 seconds."
"Perfect," he muttered. "System—deploy Decoy Beacon, 20 meters south."
A flicker in the air. A small glowing orb blinked into existence.
Instantly, the Scorchwalkers turned. One groaned—a deep, echoing note—and they moved, lumbering toward it in a synchronized stumble.
"Now," Darius hissed. "Move!"
They sprinted—silent, fast, low. Skirting the edges of the burnt path, timing their movement between the Scorchwalkers' heavy turns.
One glanced back, but the beacon pulsed again, and it refocused.
Ten seconds.
They reached the crag. Rowan hauled Aric up, then Darius. At the top—
The second Core Marker, half-buried in black glass.
> [Core Marker – Ready for Activation]
Cost: 2 SP
Warning: This will escalate the system's awakening.
Darius took one last look at the Scorchwalkers below—still circling the dying beacon.
"Do it," he whispered.
> [Activated.]
The stone lit red.
Another vision flashed.
This time, Darius stood in a war room—map covered in glowing red marks. One figure slammed a fist down.
> "We tried to control the island. It controlled us instead."
Then—
> [Core Fragment II Acquired]
+2 SP | +75 Gold
SP: 3 | Gold: 125
The system interface shifted—sleeker, darker. A new icon blinked.
> [Empire Tier I: Unlocked]
New Structures Available
New Command: System Pulse – Reveal hidden ruins in current region.
Rowan stared at Darius. "That looked different."