The warehouse erupted into violence before the first blade even flew.
The three Outpost Killers moved like predators who had already won. Their corrupted red interfaces burned brighter than any system Daniel had seen, pulsing with stolen power.
```
[Hostile Analysis Update]
Outpost Killers – Reaver Syndicate
System Status: Triple Absorption Confirmed
→ Base Survival System + Stolen Combat Branch + Stolen Reality Weaver Branch
Total Levels Absorbed: 42 (accelerated by murder-based progression)
Current Effective Level: 37 (combined)
Special Passive: "Soul Harvest" – Every kill grants instant level-ups and stolen abilities
```
The half-shaved leader laughed as six floating knives spun around her like a halo of death.
"We didn't just survive the Backrooms," she snarled. "We ate the systems of everyone we killed. Three full integrations. Faster leveling than your precious Pantheon could ever allow."
The wiry man's tattoos flared crimson as ten perfect duplicates of himself charged forward. The brute's fists swelled to the size of wrecking balls, gravity rippling around them.
Daniel swung the pipe in a wide arc, Pestilence Type 3 tendrils lashing out. Two duplicates dissolved instantly. Vannia blurred past him, silver aura blazing, knife carving through another three.
Mia raised her rifle and fired a burst of kinetically charged rounds — her Precognitive Flare letting her predict every movement.
She never saw the leader move.
The half-shaved woman vanished in a flicker of red light and reappeared directly behind Mia. One stolen reality-weaver ability later, she drove an elbow reinforced with triple-system strength into the back of Mia's skull.
The crack was sickening.
Mia's eyes rolled back. Her rifle clattered to the ground. She dropped like a puppet with cut strings, unconscious before she hit the concrete.
"MIA!" Vannia screamed.
The leader planted a boot on Mia's back and grinned down at the two remaining Chosen.
"Soft. Predictable. Family makes you slow."
Daniel's vision went white-hot with rage. Immune All flared to full power. Pestilence Type 3 roared outward in a storm of violet-black lightning that melted three more duplicates on contact.
But the killers only laughed louder.
The brute slammed both massive fists into the floor. A shockwave of stolen gravity lifted Daniel off his feet and slammed him into a shipping container hard enough to dent the metal. The leader's six knives shot forward like guided missiles. The wiry man's remaining duplicates swarmed Vannia from every angle.
```
[Emergency Alert]
Chosen-0009 (Mia Reyes): Unconscious – Critical Condition
Soul Harvest Timer Active on Killers
If Chosen-0009 is terminated: Killers gain +12 levels and random Chosen ability steal
```
Vannia fought like a silver hurricane, but the numbers and stolen power were overwhelming. One duplicate landed a brutal kick to her ribs. She staggered.
Daniel forced himself upright, pipe blazing, but the brute was already charging again, fists crackling with triple-system gravity.
The leader crouched over Mia's motionless body, knife raised, red interface pulsing hungrily.
"Two down," she whispered. "One more Chosen to harvest… and then the big one."
She looked straight at Daniel, smile wide and cruel.
"Any last words before we take your sister's system for ourselves?"
The warehouse lights flickered violently as the three evil-aligned killers closed in for the kill.
Daniel's pipe glowed brighter than it ever had.
Vannia's silver aura surged with desperate fury.
And the Backrooms watched silently as the first true battle between Chosen and system murderers reached its bloodiest turning point.