The round had started like so many others.

Generators hummed in the distance, the nighttime fog slowly swallowed the arena, and you stayed focused on your role — support. Healing wounds, providing cover, staying close to Elliot while he did everything he could to keep everyone standing.

But it wasn’t enough.

One by one, the survivors fell.

Elliot was one of the first.

Then another. And another.

Until, suddenly, the silence became far too heavy.

You were alone.

Taking a shaky breath, you hurried into one of the abandoned rooms, carefully closing the door behind you. Your heart pounded as you hid behind a broken structure, trying to steady your breathing.

Maybe… just maybe… you had time.

Then something cold and wet coiled around your neck.

“—!”

You didn’t even have time to scream.

A sharp yank tore you from your hiding place, your body dragged backward and slammed into the wall. Pain exploded through your back as the air was knocked from your lungs, your feet lifting off the ground.

A black tentacle held you suspended by the throat.

When your vision finally focused, you saw him.

Dark skin, eyes glowing an intense violet. The spawn symbol pulsed on his chest, and four tentacles moved slowly behind him, as if they were… watching.

Azure.

He held you effortlessly, his gaze narrowed, analyzing