S Ranked Reincarnation: My Infinite Leveling System-Chapter 33: Deception

Tao Cheng stood before Grandmaster Li. They were high above the clouds in a private meeting room at the Hunter’s Guild Headquarters in Yundao, the capital of the realm.

The marble floors gleamed under the soft glow of mana crystals embedded in the ceiling, casting a luminous light that danced with the shadows. Tao’s expression was calm, his voice steady as he laid out the report in meticulous detail.

"Grandmaster," he began, fingers tracing the edge of the dossier before him. "The situation in Sector Nine has reached a concerning stage. We’re experiencing Rift instability—residual contamination has been detected, and unfortunately, a few members of our personnel are unaccounted for."

Li’s interest piqued at the mention of missing personnel. He remained silent for a moment, absorbing Tao’s words. Clad in his ceremonial robes that enveloped him like shadows, he raised an eyebrow.

"A minor concern, you say?"

"Precisely," Tao replied, maintaining an air of political poise. "We could address it internally before it gains any traction in the media or raises suspicions about the Guild’s operations."

A faint smile crossed Li’s lips, though it never truly touched his eyes.

"Wasn’t there a test group active in that region? One of them was led by... the Reclaimer, Ning Que?"

Tao nodded, concealing the brief flicker of unease that threatened to break his composed facade.

"Correct. Communication was lost after the Rift imploded. There may be survivors, yet their signals are scrambled. We are unable to get in touch. Standard protocol suggests we verify their condition before escalating the situation."

Li’s gaze sharpened, examining him for hidden truths.

"Ning Que is the first Reclaimer to activate an Independent Awakening. You realize the implications of this?"

"Of course," Tao said, a slight bow in respect. Internally, he suppressed a wave of dread. Each heartbeat echoed in his ears as the overwhelming anxiety of losing control curled his insides.

"If Ning Que is alive, I want him brought in," Li concluded, his voice a low rumble. "We need to monitor his evolution. He is not just an asset anymore. He represents a precedent."

Tao forced a smile, his exterior mirroring the calm demeanor expected of him.

"You will have my full efforts, Grandmaster."

Li’s gaze momentarily drifted towards the window, the weight of his thoughts heavy in the air.

"The Guild’s reputation rests on our ability to handle such anomalies quickly and efficiently. Do not underestimate the potential consequences of a failure here."

"Yes, I understand," Tao assured, yet internally he already weighed the gravity of his clandestine decisions: the kill orders had been issued under the hush of approaching darkness.

His best squad was already en route to eliminate Ning Que before the Grandmaster could even comprehend what the boy had become. He feared what Ning might evolve into—not due to any sense of morality, but from the sheer unpredictability of a power beyond his control.

Exiting the meeting room, Tao activated his comm link. The screen flickered to life, revealing the face of his elite squad leader.

"Report," he commanded, sending a wave of urgency through the connection.

"Commander, we’ve managed to triangulate Reclaimer Ning’s last known signal using the tracking shard you implanted," the leader stated, the background crackling with static. "We’re narrowing in as we speak."

Tao leaned closer, an icy resolve sparking in his chest.

"Ensure there are no survivors. I want this wrapped up discreetly."

"Yes, Commander," the leader replied, and the transmission ended with an ominous beep.

***

Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest where the old scouting post stood, Linx moved through the mess like a man on a mission. He wasn’t loud, but every movement he made was filled with urgency and focus.

His fingers moved quickly over buckles and straps, checking and double-checking every item. Nothing could be forgotten. Not now. His brow was drawn tight, and his jaw locked as he scanned their supplies. He couldn’t afford mistakes, not when the unknown was pressing in from all sides.

"Viera!" he called out, lifting his head from the bag he was sealing. His voice sliced through the noise. "Did you check the exits?"

"Already done!" Viera shouted back, spinning around from where she had been peeking through a crack in the wooden wall. Her shoulders were stiff, her stance tense, ready to move at a second’s notice. Her fingers hovered near the blade at her hip. "But we need to leave. Now. They’re not far—I can feel it."

She was jumpy. Every shadow made her twitch. The kind of fear that came from experience, not imagination, clung to her like a second skin.

Across the room, half in shadow, Lian Zhen was the only one who didn’t look like she was about to sprint out the door. She leaned against a moss-covered stone wall, one boot propped up, her black glaive resting across her lap. She dragged a whetstone along its curved edge with practiced ease, the soft scraping noise almost relaxing.

"Relax, everyone," she said, not even looking up. Her tone was dry, edged with her usual bite. "Panicking won’t do a damn thing. We’ve gotten out of worse situations than this."

She glanced around at the others and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, you’re all acting like scared little birds waiting for the hawk to swoop down. We’re not helpless."

Her calm didn’t help, though. It only made the others more on edge, like they couldn’t understand how she could be so unaffected. But that was Lian—always two steps ahead or pretending she was.

Not far from her, Aeris stepped closer to Ning. Her face was softer than the others, her eyes filled with a worry that had been building since they’d regrouped. Her hand hovered near his arm but didn’t touch him, like she wasn’t sure if he’d flinch away.

"You scared me," she said quietly. Her voice was barely above the wind that filtered in through the broken boards. "When you didn’t come back right away, I thought... I thought maybe you weren’t going to."

Ning stood still, staring at a point on the ground as if trying to remember how to be present. His clothes were torn in places, dirt and ash still clinging to his skin. He looked like a man who had walked out of something terrible and hadn’t fully left it behind.

"I was gone," he said at last, his voice low and rough. "For a moment... I really was."

Aeris’s brows furrowed.

"But you’re back now, right?" she asked, trying to smile but failing. "You’re here with us."

Ning shook his head slowly, like the weight of the world had attached itself to his neck.

"No," he said. Just one word, but it carried a whole storm behind it.

A long pause followed. The kind that felt too quiet, too raw. Aeris didn’t know what to say, and Ning didn’t seem ready to say anything more. The silence between them was heavy, thicker than any words.

Then she tried again.

"What happened in there, Ning? What did you see?"

His lips parted, but for a few seconds, nothing came out. His eyes flicked up, and for just a moment, there was something haunted in them.

"I... I don’t know," he said finally, shaking his head. "It’s all foggy. I remember the light, the pressure. And then it just... stopped."

Before Aeris could press him further, a sudden whap broke the moment. A small piece of dried fruit hit Ning square on the chest and dropped to the floor.

They both turned.

Lian Zhen was smirking, still leaning back like she didn’t have a care in the world.

"Still brooding, Reclaimer?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "I thought your kind were supposed to be terrifying. But you’ve been walking around like someone kicked your puppy and stole your lunch."

Ning’s eyes darkened as he glared at her, tired of her games.

"My system’s dead," he said flatly. "It’s gone. I’ve got nothing now. Not even the interface. Just me."

"Maybe it doesn’t like you anymore," she smirked, spinning her glaive effortlessly. "You know, machines can sense things too."

"It chose me," Ning countered, irritation bubbling in his voice.

"Then maybe you pissed it off," Lian shot back with a playful huff.

Their banter was light-hearted at first, yet it soon steered into deeper waters. Lian scoffed at authority, mocking the Guild’s hierarchy that imposed boundaries.

"They think they control us," she said defiantly. "It’s a joke. You’re more than just a pawn, Ning."

Ning’s eyes narrowed as he observed her. Beneath the tough exterior, he sensed something raw.

"You don’t seem to care about the rankings at all."

"Why should I?" she replied boldly. "Rankings are for suckers who think they can be boxed in. That’s not me."

A brief silence fell, and Ning caught a glimpse of the scars hidden beneath her bravado—deep, imperfect lines of a life lived outside the constraints of the Guild. Yet he chose to remain silent, recognizing the walls she had built around herself.

Then Linx interrupted their tension, pointing outside.

"Signal flare!" he exclaimed. "Not from us."

Panic surged through the group like wildfire. They exchanged glances, hearts pounding. The realization hit them with a cold clarity: scouts—another layer of complications wrapping around their already fragile situation.

"Everyone, extinguish the lights!" Viera commanded, urgency thickening her tone. "We need to move, now!"

They extinguished the lights and slipped silently into the shadows. The ruins whispered secrets from the past as they moved through wet hills, weaving between ancient stone ridges that bore the scars of collapsed Rift zones. Each footfall was cautious, tension thick in the air.

As they finally found a moment to catch their breath deeper in the wilderness, silence enveloped them. They set up a temporary camp, nothing but the sounds of nature echoing in the background. Ning, feeling the weight of uncertainty pressing down on him, slipped away from the others.

He leaned against a jagged wall, drawing in deep breaths, trying to find his center.

"Focus," he murmured to himself, feeling the flicker of his earlier experiences wash over him. "Call the interface." But nothing happened. The silence from his system was deafening, the absence of that familiar connection leaving him feeling more isolated than before.

He dropped his head, defeated, until his hand brushed against something cool and solid. He pulled out the shard he had kept from the Shadow Battle—the only reminder of his past struggles.

It glowed faintly, pulsing with a life of its own. For a fleeting moment, hope tinged with disbelief surged through him.

Then—

SYSTEM RESTORATION INITIALIZED

RECALIBRATING CORE PATH...

USER: NING QUE

STATUS: ALTERED

WARNING: INDEPENDENT EVOLUTION DETECTED

SYSTEM UPLINK ESTABLISHED

CLASS PATH: [REDACTED]

DATA STREAM: PARTIAL

[LEVEL SYNC PAUSED]

MODULE: ETERNAL ASCENT—BEGINNING INITIALIZATION...