Their boots crunched in rhythm on the snow as they filed down the dark street, laughter echoing faintly against shuttered shops.

"After we eat, let's hole up at a hot spring hotel for a few days. Just relax, no bullshit."

"There's also the Ice and Snow World," Lilith chimed in. "I've always wanted to see it."

Vince smiled at their chatter, his breath fogging in the cold. "Fine, fine. I'll treat you all."

Cheers broke out at once. The team rarely got to squeeze favors out of their captain, so every voice tossed in something extravagant, and Vince—good mood carrying him away—agreed to everything.

But before Kaia's raised fist even dropped, the watches on Vince and Lilith's wrists lit up at the same time.

The alert cut through the warmth like a blade.

Vince lowered his wrist, his smile already fading. "Sorry, everyone. That promise will have to wait." His voice hardened. "Northern Spiritual Town is under threat. We've been ordered to reinforce within twenty-four hours."

He turned toward Lilith. "You got it too?"

Her playful expression vanished, eyes sharpening. "Yes. The Flower Poison Team's been sent to Northern Suppression Town."

A chill heavier than the snow settled over them. They both understood at once—this was bigger than a single call-up. The Whisper Syndicate was about to launch a coordinated strike.

"Twenty-four hours?" Phoenix frowned. "Where the hell is Northern Spiritual Town? I've never heard of it."

Vince answered plainly. "After the last beast tide, the military and Senate voted to build forty-eight new walled cities outside the great wall—one to three hundred kilometers out. They were meant to house the overflow population and serve as early warning outposts. This is Krythos' first step in taking back our homeland. The project's called Spider."

He glanced at each of them, his voice calm but absolute. "That's the end of our team-building. We move out."

No one complained. No one groaned. Millers only smiled. "Figures. I feel weird if I go a day without a mission."

Rosaline chuckled. "Isn't that what we signed up for?"

Vince's gaze drifted north, into the endless black sky. He drew in the icy air and let it burn in his lungs.

"Obsidian Team," he ordered, voice like steel. "Assemble. Departure in five minutes."

Five minutes later, the Obsidian Team regrouped. Each of them had changed into their standard-issue black combat uniforms, their vacation gear left behind at a nearby hotel. On the right breast of every jacket gleamed a crescent moon insignia, polished bright under the lights.

"Captain Lilith, take care," Vince said quietly.

She nodded back, but instead of leaving right away, she turned to Annabelle. "Annabelle, I have something for you."

Annabelle blinked, confused, and stepped closer. A moment later, a cool white crystal was pressed into her palm. Axel froze—the same dimensional crystal Lilith had once given him.

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"Sister… no, this is too much," Annabelle stammered, shaking her head. She knew the value of what she was holding. Rumor had it Lilith only managed to forge one of these crystals every six months. No matter how kind she seemed, Annabelle couldn't bring herself to accept such a gift without reason.

"Keep it. I'm leaving." Lilith gave her no chance to argue and disappeared into the snow-laden darkness.

"Captain, what the hell is she doing, giving Annabelle something like that?" Axel asked, still baffled.

"Maybe because her last name is Everstone, too," Vince murmured, eyes narrowing northward. He didn't linger on the thought. "We're about three hundred kilometers from the wall. Northern Spiritual Town is another two-seventy out. Let's move."

With Axel's newfound strength, transport was no longer necessary—they could cover the distance on foot.

The squad set off immediately. Vince and Rosaline surged ahead, used to leading the pack, but within moments they realized things weren't the same anymore. Axel was still the monster he'd always been, but Millers and Kaia had both made staggering leaps after the Dragon Pond soak. Even Kaia—once the slowest of them—was now only half a beat behind.

.......

Meanwhile, at the Kensington estate, Howard roused Hudson from his bed. The man was already fully armed, clad in a sleek set of black battle armor, a bronze longsword gleaming at his waist.

"Hudson, I'll be away for a while. You and your third uncle will handle family business in the meantime."

Hudson stared. Howard, acting head of the family, almost never left Ebonreach. "Uncle, why—?"

"General Jerome has given the order," Howard cut him off. "Not just me. A lot of the old guard are being sent out."

At the name, Hudson's breath caught. "General Jerome? Is it the beast tide? War already? Why haven't I heard a thing?"

Howard hesitated before answering. "Who knows what's going on? The General keeps his distance from the aristocracy. But when he calls, no one says no. That's all you need to know."

He clapped Hudson's shoulder once, and then in a blur, vanished from the room.

........

In the wilderness beyond the wall, a pack of blood wolves caught scent of human prey. They bared their fangs, ready to pounce—until a cluster of shadows shot overhead, moving too fast to track. The wolves collapsed to the ground, whimpering, tails tucked tight.

"Millers, status?" Vince called, his voice sharp over the wind.

Two of Millers' combat drones swooped down from the sky, projecting the report.

"Captain, it's bad. We're still thirty klicks out. Four of the five gates are already on the verge of collapse. The west and north are the worst—multiple Level Fours spotted. Central's swarming with lower-class beasts. Thousands of them. The soldiers are barely holding with rifles and energy cannons, but most of them are wounded. At this rate, they won't last long."

Faces hardened all around.

Their orders had given them twenty-four hours to mobilize. But clearly, command had underestimated the crisis. If they'd taken ground transport, the city would've been overrun before they even got there.

"All five gates critical. And not nearly enough of us to cover them all."

The primary goal of Project Spider was to ease the population pressure inside the walls—especially in the sprawling slums clinging to their edges. The plan was simple: give the poor a safety net, foster more human Awakeners, and slowly expand humanity's reach.

But reality was messier. The slum-dwellers refused to move too far beyond the walls. The mutant beasts were too close, too dangerous. Of the forty-eight cities planned under Project Spider, barely half were occupied.

And if Northern Spiritual Town fell tonight, the whole project might be branded a failure.

Axel's voice cut through the night. "Once the city's breached, nobody's ever going to live outside the walls again. Project Spider dies here. We don't have a choice—we split up."

The words hit like ice water. Vince and the others fell silent.

"It's safer to stick together, but we'll never cover ground fast enough. Captain—you and Rosaline take the west and north gates. Phoenix and Millers, the south gate. Kaia and I will hit the central gate." Axel's tone didn't waver.

Vince frowned. "You should go with Phoenix or Millers. They're stronger."

"Captain," Axel said, steady and calm, "trust my judgment."

Vince hesitated, then exhaled slowly. Trust the people you put in the field. Doubt them, and you shouldn't have brought them in the first place. Axel could explain later—if they survived.

"Fine. Do as he says. Split up. We hold Northern Spiritual Town at all costs—tens of thousands of civilians are still inside. Move!"

Cloaks snapped in the wind as the team split in three directions, Axel carrying Annabelle in his arms, Kaia trailing hard behind.

.....

The central gate of Northern Spiritual Town was hell on earth.

Artillery thunder shook the night, setting the sky ablaze and painting the battlefield in fire. The gate was a slaughterhouse—mutant corpses charred black and piled high alongside mangled artillery carts and fallen soldiers.

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