The Zombie System.

"Why aren't they getting back up?"

Kael wiped blood from his mouth. His body hurt everywhere. Each breath felt like swallowing glass. The red runes on his arms were dim now. Flickering like dying candles.

Around him, bodies lay scattered across broken stone. Common Blood and Pure Blood mixed together in death. But something was wrong.

The corrupted nobles should be rising again. Should be healing like before. He'd watched them come back from wounds that would kill normal people. Watched them laugh as their hearts grew back.

But they weren't moving.

Kael limped toward the nearest noble corpse. Lord Vex lay twisted on the ground. His skin looked gray. Ashen. Like old paper left in the sun too long.

His veins were black. Not the healthy black of power. The sick black of rot. And his eyes...

His eyes were sunken. Empty. Like something had burned him out from the inside.

"That's not normal," Jorik said behind him.

"None of this is normal." Kael knelt beside the body. "But you're right. This is different."

He moved to another fallen noble. Same thing. Gray skin. Black veins. Hollow eyes. Her body was intact. No missing pieces. But she looked dried out. Like a fruit left to wither.

"Kael," called a voice from across the battlefield.

He turned. Mira was bent over another noble corpse. She was one of the awakened healers. Used to work in the palace kitchens before everything changed.

"You need to see this," she said.

Kael walked over. His legs felt like lead. Every step hurt. But he needed to understand what was happening.

"Look at this one," Mira pointed to Lord Kellor's body. "I've seen this before."

"Where?"

"In the healing halls. When someone tries to awaken their bloodline but fails." She touched the corpse's arm. "They call it burnout. The body uses up all its life force trying to access power it can't handle."

"But these aren't failed awakenings," Kael said. "These are Pure Bloods. They've had their power for centuries."

"That's what makes this weird," Mira frowned. "This only happens to people who push too hard. Too fast. Like they're drawing power from somewhere they shouldn't."

Kael thought back to the battle. The way the corrupted nobles had fought. They'd been brutal. Vicious. But also desperate. Like something was driving them past their limits.

"Remember how they healed?" he asked.

"Yeah. Instant regeneration. I've never seen anything like it."

"What if it wasn't instant?" Kael knelt beside Kellor's body. "What if they were just burning through their life force faster than we could see?"

Tam walked over. The dock worker's fists were still bloody from punching nobles. "That would explain why they got more twisted as the fight went on."

"What do you mean?" Mira asked.

"Look at their faces," Tam pointed. "Early in the battle, they still looked human. By the end, they were more demon than person."

Kael studied the corpses again. Tam was right. The corruption had gotten worse during the fight. Like the more they used their stolen power, the more it changed them.

"It's not just demonic corruption," said a new voice.

They turned. Ren was approaching. He'd been a scholar before his awakening. Worked in the libraries copying books for Pure Blood masters.

"What do you mean?" Kael asked.

"I've read about this. In the old texts. Before they burned most of them." Ren adjusted his broken glasses. "It's called overdrawing. When you use more power than your body can handle."

"But their bodies could handle it," Jorik said. "We saw them regenerate."

"That's just it," Ren shook his head. "They weren't regenerating. They were burning through their life force to fix the damage. Like using a candle to light a fire. It works, but the candle gets smaller each time."

Kael felt something shift in his chest. His blood runes flickered. He looked down at his arm. The markings were responding to something.

"Everyone back up," he said.

"What's wrong?" Mira asked.

"My runes are reacting to the bodies." Kael watched the red lines on his skin pulse. "There's some kind of resonance."

He stepped closer to Lord Vex's corpse. The runes glowed brighter. Like they were recognizing something familiar.

"It's the blood," he whispered.

"What?" Tam leaned in.

"The blood. Even corrupted, it's still human blood. Still connected to the same source as ours." Kael's eyes widened as understanding hit him. "They weren't immortal. They were just burning up faster than they could die."

"That's insane," Jorik said.

"Is it?" Kael stood up. "Think about it. They made deals with demons for power. But demons don't give gifts. They make trades."

"What did the nobles trade?" Mira asked.

"Their future," Ren said quietly. "They traded their future for power now."

The ground shook. Dust fell from the broken buildings around them. Something was moving in the distance.

"More of them," Tam growled.

Kael squinted through the smoke. More corrupted nobles were descending from the upper towers. Their eyes glowed with the same hellish light. Their skin had the same pale, sick look.

But now he knew something they didn't.

"Listen to me," Kael called to the surviving Common Blood. "Gather around."

About twenty of them limped over. All hurt. All tired. But all still breathing.

"I know how to beat them," Kael said.

"How?" asked a woman named Sara. "They keep healing."

"No, they don't. They're burning through their life force to fix the damage. Each time they heal, they get weaker."

"But they look stronger," Jorik pointed out.

"That's the corruption taking over. The more they use the stolen power, the more demon they become. But demons don't have unlimited energy either."

Kael looked at each face around him. These people had been servants. Farmers. Workers. Now they were warriors. And they needed to understand what they were really fighting.

"The nobles made a deal," he continued. "Power now, death later. But they're too proud to see the cost. They think they're immortal."

"So what do we do?" Tam asked.

"We make them use their power. Force them to heal. Over and over until they burn out."

"That sounds dangerous," Mira said.

"It is. But it's the only way." Kael clenched his fists. His runes flared brighter. "We bait them into overusing their stolen power. Make them think they're winning until they collapse."

The approaching nobles were getting closer. Their footsteps echoed off the broken buildings. At least thirty of them. All corrupted. All thinking they were untouchable.

"Remember," Kael said. "Don't try to kill them quickly. Hurt them. Make them heal. Hurt them again. Keep them burning through their life force."

"What if we run out of strength first?" Sara asked.

"Then we die," Kael said simply. "But we die knowing we tried."

The first noble landed in front of them. His robes were marked with symbols. His face was pale and twisted. But his eyes held the same arrogance they'd always had.

"Still breathing, mongrels?" the noble sneered. "How disappointing."

"Lord Marek," Kael recognized him. "Still ugly, I see."

Marek's face twisted with rage. "You dare mock your betters?"

"Betters?" Kael laughed. "Look around. Your 'betters' are dried up husks on the ground."

"Impossible. We are beyond death now."

"Keep telling yourself that," Kael said. "Right up until you collapse."

Marek raised his hands. Dark energy gathered around his fingers. "I'll show you the power of true nobility."

He launched a spell that could have leveled a building. Kael dodged, but just barely. The attack grazed his shoulder. Pain flared through his arm.

But he smiled anyway.

Because he'd seen what he needed to see. Marek's skin had gotten a little grayer. His veins a little blacker.

The spell had cost him. And he didn't even know it.

"Is that all?" Kael taunted. "My grandmother hit harder than that."

Marek snarled and attacked again. More power. More corruption. More life force burning away with each spell.

Around them, the other Common Blood followed Kael's lead. Dodging. Taunting. Making the nobles use their stolen power over and over.

It was going to be a long fight. But for the first time since the battle began, Kael thought they might actually win.

The nobles thought they were immortal.

But everything had a price.

And that price was about to come due.