"Hold her still! The purge blade is already charged!"
Tess hit the stone floor hard enough to bite her tongue.
Two armored guards slammed her shoulders down. A third caught her wrists and dragged them above her head. Cold metal bands snapped shut around both hands, locking her to a ring set in the floor.
She tried to kick. A boot drove into her hip.
"Stop moving, vessel."
"Get off me!" Tess twisted against the guards. "I don't know what a vessel is, and I sure as hell didn't volunteer for this!"
The man in the white robe stepped into her view. He held a narrow silver blade between two fingers. Blue light ran along its edge, bright enough to make her eyes water.
"Unfinished summons are not allowed to remain active," he said.
"That's your opening line?" Tess snapped. "Maybe try, 'Hi, sorry we dragged you out of nowhere and pinned you to the floor.'"
The robed man did not blink. "You were summoned incorrectly. Your soul has no registered class, no combat rating, and no royal mark. The ritual failed."
"Then fix it."
"The council ordered deletion."
The guards forced her flatter.
Tess looked past the robed man, searching for anyone who looked human enough to help. A circle of officials stood behind him. Men in red collars. Women in silver chains. All of them watching like she was a broken appliance being returned to a store.
At the edge of the circle stood a woman in black armor.
She was taller than Tess by a few inches, with dark hair pulled tight at the nape of her neck and a thin scar crossing one eyebrow. No robe. No ceremonial jewelry. Just fitted battle gear, a sword at her hip, and eyes so pale they almost looked gray.
Those eyes were on Tess's wrists.
Not her face. Not the blade.
The seal burned there.
"You," Tess said. "Black armor. You look less useless than the rest of them. Tell them to stop."
The woman lifted her gaze.
Her expression did not change. "Why?"
"Because I'm being murdered."
"You're being erased."
"That is not better!"
A few officials shifted. One of them laughed under his breath.
Tess turned her head toward him. "You think this is funny? Come down here. Let me erase you first."
"Enough," said the robed man. "The summoned soul is unstable."
"I'm unstable?" Tess barked. "You people put me in a glowing circle, shouted words in a language I don't speak, and then tried to cut my head off because I didn't come with a user manual."
The silver blade lifted.
The blue edge began to hum.
Tess pulled against the restraints until the metal cut into her skin. "Wait. Wait, hold on. You want a hero, right?"
The robed man paused.
"The kingdom paid for a hero," he said. "We received damaged data."
"Maybe your kingdom got exactly what it paid for."
"You have no stats."
"I have plenty of stats."
"Name them."
"Anger. Speed. Bad judgment. Fantastic hair."
The guard at her left shoved her cheek against the floor. "Quiet."
Tess bit his glove.
He swore and jerked back.
"She bites," another guard said.
"Good," Tess said. "Put that in my official report."
The robed man raised the blade higher.
A thin red window appeared in front of Tess's face.
[SUMMONING COMPLETE]
[ERROR: SOUL INCOMPATIBLE]
[CLASS: UNASSIGNED]
[LEVEL: 0]
[STATUS: UNFINISHED SUMMON]
[DELETION WINDOW: 29 DAYS, 23 HOURS, 58 MINUTES]
Tess stared at the words.
"What the hell is that?"
The robed man looked at the same space, though the window seemed to hang only for her. His mouth tightened.
"The System has recognized the flaw."
"A flaw?"
"You."
The blade dropped.
Tess screamed and bucked against the guards. The silver edge cut across her cheek instead of her neck. Heat flashed along her skin. A sharp line of blood ran toward her ear.
The blade struck the stone beside her head.
The impact cracked the floor.
For half a second, nobody moved.
Tess felt the cut sting. She smelled hot metal. The blue light crawled across the stone and ate a black groove into it.
"You missed," she whispered.
The robed man yanked the blade free. "Hold her tighter."
"You missed my face," Tess said louder. "That was a warning shot, right?"
"The ritual blade does not miss."
"Then your magic sucks."
The guard behind her shoved a knee between her shoulder blades. Tess's ribs compressed. Her breath came out in a rough cough.
"One more word," he growled, "and I'll break your arm before the blade takes the rest."
Tess turned her face toward the floor. "You could break it now. You seem like the kind of guy who needs a hobby."
His hand closed around her wrist.
The red System window flickered.
[HOSTILE CONTACT DETECTED]
[UNKNOWN SKILL AVAILABLE]
[TRIGGER CONDITION: RESISTANCE]
[ACTIVATE?]
Tess blinked.
"What does activate mean?" she muttered.
The guard twisted her wrist.
Pain shot up her arm.
"Yes!" she shouted.
The world stuttered.
The guard's glove split open with a flash of white light. He recoiled, screaming. A red number appeared above his head.
[-12 HP]
The other guards stared at him.
Tess stared too.
"Did I do that?"
The System window changed.
[SKILL ACQUIRED: BAD INPUT]
[SKILL TYPE: UNSTABLE]
[DESCRIPTION: FORCE A TARGET TO ACCEPT AN INVALID COMMAND]
[WARNING: RESULTS MAY VARY]
Tess gave the guards a wild smile. "Hey. Guys? I think I found the user manual."
The guard with the burned glove charged at her.
Tess snapped her fingers because it seemed like the right thing to do.
His boot caught on nothing.
He flew forward and crashed face-first into the man holding the blade. The purge weapon spun through the air.
Everyone shouted at once.
"Catch it!"
"Don't let the blade touch the circle!"
"Kill the vessel!"
Tess rolled sideways as the silver weapon struck the floor where her head had been. Blue fire burst across the ritual lines.
The stone beneath her shook.
One of the restraints popped open.
Tess yanked her right hand free and drove her elbow into the nearest guard's throat. He gagged. She scrambled up, but the remaining guard caught the back of her robe and slammed her into a pillar.
Her spine hit stone.
His forearm pressed across her collarbone.
"Stay down!"
"You first."