NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 28: Trigger Threshold
July 8th. 11:14 PM.
She jumped.
The girl with soot-streaked cheeks and hollow eyes leapt straight at Kael under the flickering streetlamp.
But she didn't collide.
She vanished mid-air.
And Kael's vision—
Shattered.
---
Mental Domain – The Flicker Room
Kael stood in a grey room with no doors. The air tasted like ash and static. He could still hear the wind—but now it whispered memories.
The girl stood across from him, older now. Eyes black. Arms folded.
"You've come far," she said.
Kael growled, "You're not real."
"Real enough to kill you."
She snapped her fingers.
The walls fell away—revealing a battlefield of corpses. Dozens of mutated beasts. Kael's kills.
They started rising.
Behind him, his twin daggers floated mid-air, pulsing—glowing brighter with each breath he took.
---
Reality – Bell Tower Ruins
His body moved on its own.
> [Routine Surge – Active (C Rank)]
Strength/Speed: x2
Beast #70 lunged at him.
Kael twisted. The Obsidian Dagger split its chest like paper.
Another dove from the side.
He spun, slamming the Dagger of Humility into its throat—burning it from the inside.
> [Beast Defeated – 71/100]
[Beast Defeated – 72/100]
He was a cyclone now.
Not shouting. Not breathing hard.
Just killing.
---
Mental Domain – Pressure Builds
"You're unraveling," the girl said, circling him.
"This isn't what you are. It's what you're becoming."
Kael's reflection appeared—ten times stronger. Sharper. Cold green eyes. A machine built for war.
He didn't fear it.
He embraced it.
---
Reality – Madness Unleashed
> [Routine Surge Re-Activated]
[Minor Injury Heal – Auto Trigger]
Fractured shin: Healed
Deep laceration: Healed
Fatigue: Suppressed
Kael snapped a mutant's neck with one hand and gutted another mid-sprint.
He began to smile.
> [Beast Defeated – 83/100]
[Beast Defeated – 84/100]
Elle could barely stand anymore, crouched behind a concrete slab.
She looked at him—his bloody grin, his twitching hands, the way the daggers vanished and reappeared mid-kill.
She whispered, "He's lost it…"
---
11:23 PM – LEVEL UP
After the 90th kill, everything stopped.
The air pulsed.
Kael stood in a ring of corpses, drenched in gore.
The system chimed:
> [Kill Threshold Reached – 90/100]
[Combat Experience + System Stress = Evolution Imminent]
Processing…
The light inside Kael surged outward like a supernova.
> [Routine Surge – Rank Up: C ➝ B]
➤ Physical Stats Boost: +1000% (10×)
➤ Reflex Delay: Removed
➤ Time Perception Enhanced
[Minor Injury Heal ➝ Injury Heal (B Rank)]
➤ Heals wounds in seconds
➤ Removes fatigue
➤ Stabilizes organ damage
[Soul-Bind Triggered – Twin Daggers Accepted]
---
Weapon Evolution
> [Dagger of Humility – Soul-Bound]
Gains searing flame edge during Routine Surge
Can now extend with Kael's will
[Obsidian Dagger – Soul-Bound]
Gains corrosive pulse when Injury Heal is active
Melts armor, skin, and energy shields
➤ Both can be summoned or dismissed instantly
➤ Daggers now respond to emotion and rage level
Kael called them into his hands.
They glowed.
And the final ten monsters charged.
---
11:25 PM – Last Ten
Kael didn't just move—he disappeared, reappearing mid-air.
He slashed through a beast's skull, then warped again, appearing behind another and bisecting it with both blades.
> [Beast Defeated – 91… 92… 93…]
The final three tried to surround him.
Kael activated both fused daggers—one lit with molten energy, the other melting the stone beneath it.
He roared—pure rage and release.
And carved the last of them into the dirt.
> [Beast Defeated – 100/100]
[Monthly Task Completed – Beast Purge]
---
Mental Domain – One Last Time
The girl reappeared—cracking at the edges like porcelain.
"You've passed your test, Kael," she whispered. "But you've also fed something inside you."
Kael stepped forward. "You're not death."
She smiled, sadly. "No. I'm the echo of what you'll become."
She crumbled into black dust.
---
Back in Reality – The Silence
Kael stood alone in the bell tower yard.
Breathing slowly. Blood-soaked. Glowing.
Elle stared at him like he was a stranger.
Kael looked up at the sky—
And then the ground rumbled.
> [New Threat Detected]
Name: Gravespine Tyrant
Classification: A+
Distance: 2.2 km
ETA: 4 minutes
Behavior: Predatory. Territorial. High Intelligence.
From the far ruins, trees snapped.
Then it appeared.
A titanic dinosaur with volcanic black plates, a triple-hinged jaw, and red glowing spines. Its eyes shimmered like molten glass.
It roared—and the world shook.
Elle took a step back.
Kael?
He stepped forward.
Daggers in hand.
Smiling.