"There is enough cruelty in the world without adding to it with tales of vengeance." ― Daniel Thorman (Calamity at Conclave)

* * * *

The night is silent, like any other day. But today, it seems like the Goddess has something different in store.

Wes was startled out of his thoughts when the entire building trembled, and the faint sounds of combat could be heard in the distance.

The walls shook again.

Dust rained down from the vents above, particles dancing in the sliver of artificial light that flickered faintly in his cell. Distant echoes rolled like thunder—deep, reverberating booms that vibrated through the floor.

Explosives. He recognised the pattern. Controlled. Intentional. Not a fire drill. Not a system failure.

Real.

The overhead alarm wailed like a banshee, shrill and relentless, each pulse digging into Wes's skull like a needle.

He stirred. Slowly, as if each movement came at a price, he pushed himself up from the metal bench bolted to the wall. The manacles on his wrists and ankles clattered against each other with a sharp, jarring clang. The chains dragged behind him as he staggered toward the door, frail limbs shaking under the effort.

"…What…?" His voice was a rasp of gravel, unused, and hollow. He barely recognised it himself.

Gunfire followed next. Dull pops in the distance, then sharper ones closer—too consistent to be random. Screams. The panicked, choked cries of guards and hunters dying without understanding how or why.

Wes stared at the reinforced door, breath catching in his throat.

Four years. Nearly five years.

Five years in this godless hole—this experimental wing buried beneath the hunters' headquarters at Blackpool. Time hadn't just passed; it had gnawed away at him, layer by layer, until only this thin husk remained. But his mind… His mind they hadn't broken.

Not for lack of trying.

They had tested him, taunted him, and bled him. Nicolosi, especially, had delighted in it.

But Wes had endured.

He had whispered names in the dark to keep himself sane—Sera, Zest, Jamie, Alisa, Leroy, Lleucu. And even the names of all his other Blade comrades. Over and over. Every day. His mantra against forgetting, against disappearing. A sacred tether to the world he once knew.

And then, just a week ago…

"Jamie," Wes whispered now, almost inaudibly, remembering that voice over the intercom.

"I'll come back for you."

He had thought it a hallucination. A cruel echo of hope. But now…

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The pounding on the metal door shattered his thoughts.

"Wes! Can you hear me?! Get away from the door!"

Leroy.

Wes's eyes widened. His pulse spiked. For a second, he couldn't move—frozen between disbelief and desperate longing. Then instinct took over, and he hobbled back, dragging the chains, shielding his face.

BOOM!

The wall cracked open in a deafening blast, fire and smoke blooming outward in a storm of plaster and steel. The door blasted inward, slamming into the far wall. Rubble rained down.

Wes doubled over in a coughing fit, the acrid smoke clawing at his lungs, but through the haze…

"Jamie…? Leroy…?"

Two silhouettes emerged from the fog—grim, armed, and alive. Jamie stepped forward first, gun in hand, scanning the hallway behind them. His dark fringe, now streaked with that unmistakable white lock, was damp with sweat, his eyes hard and focused.

"Wes," He breathed, for a moment dropping the cold sharpness in his expression. "By the Goddess, Wes…"

Leroy cursed under his breath when he saw the state Wes was in. His gaze swept across the old wounds, the raw shackle marks, the rail-thin arms and sunken cheeks. For a heartbeat, he looked like he might be sick.

Then Jamie tossed the keys. "Unlock him. I'll cover."

Leroy caught them and didn't hesitate. "We're getting you out of here."

Wes didn't speak as the shackles came free one by one. His hands trembled uncontrollably when they were released, blood rushing painfully back into his joints. When the last manacle clanged to the ground, Wes stumbled, and Jamie caught him.

"Easy," Jamie muttered, supporting his weight. "Lean on me. I got you."

"Why would you…?" Wes managed.

Jamie didn't look at him—just raised his gun again and fired two shots down the hall, dropping a pair of hunters without blinking. "You really think I'd leave you behind?" he growled. "I said I'd get you out. We're not alone. Sera and Zest are here too. Alisa. Even Lleucu."

Wes's breath hitched. "Lleucu…?" He nearly crumpled then, tears burning behind his eyes, but Jamie's grip tightened. "They told me he was dead… They all said he was dead…"

Jamie's voice was low. "They lied."

Leroy clicked his comms. "We got Wes. Repeat, we got him. Clear out! We're getting out of here! We have an hour!"

Then, they were moving.

The corridors were a maze—sterile, concrete tombs winding endlessly through the experimental sector. Jamie knew them intimately now. He barked directions, led them through twisting hallways, shooting as he moved. Each step was agony for Wes, but he pushed through it, clutching Jamie's jacket for balance.

Gunfire erupted around corners. Leroy covered the rear, his own weapon blazing with precision. The hunters came in waves—some half-armed, caught off guard; others in full combat gear.

But none of them expected this. None expected Blade.

They rounded a turn, and stopped.

Ahead stood a hunter, bulkier than the rest, armoured in prototype gear, his eyes glowing faintly red—one of the users of Blue Pandora. He raised his weapon, and Jamie shoved Wes against the wall to shield him.

There was the sound of a gunshot just then, and the man dropped instantly.

A third silhouette stepped forward, his weapon still raised. Blood stained his sleeves. Pale skin. Raven black hair.

Lleucu.

His expression was blank, even haunted, but when his eyes fell on Wes, something in them cracked. "…Let's get out of here," he said, his voice ragged. Then, softer, "Wes…"

Wes managed the ghost of a smile. "…Lleucu."

Lleucu crossed to them silently, glancing over his brother with a storm of emotions behind those grey eyes. But there was no time. "Alisa, Sera, and Zest are waiting," he said.

They ran again.

Wes leaned more heavily on Jamie now, but they were faster. Closer. Then suddenly, they broke into a larger corridor and there they were—Sera, Alisa, and Zest, their backs to each other, cutting down a squad of hunters with ruthless precision.

Sera's eyes snapped toward them first, her mismatched gaze widening as she saw Wes.

"We got him!" Jamie shouted.

Zest's lips curved into a cold, furious grin. "Finally."

Alisa glanced back, breathing hard. "Let's move!"

They surged forward as a unit, cutting across the courtyard outside. The air was bitter cold, thick with smoke and the distant glow of flames from detonations still going off inside the compound.

Wes was half-conscious now, barely upright.

And then… Click.

The lights blazed on.

Every step halted.

Dozens of floodlights flooded the courtyard in harsh white. And from the shadows came boots. Black uniforms. Rifles.

Hunters. And not just low-level thugs.

Elite.

Albert Nicolosi stepped forward like a demon from the pit, his trench coat flaring slightly in the wind, a mad grin splitting his face. Beside him were several ESA agents, and among them, members of Team Alpha and Team Delta.

Sera's expression darkened as she spotted Lucas standing amongst them.

"…Damn it," Zest muttered, his eyes narrowed.

"Nicolosi," Sera said coldly.

"Sera Kroix… The Death Reaper," Nicolosi drawled like they were old acquaintances. "And Zexter too."

"The name's Zest," Zest snapped, lifting his weapon. "Can't say this is a pleasure."

Leroy shifted beside Sera, his jaw clenched. "So, it's a trap, after all. Thought we got in too easily."

Nicolosi's eyes gleamed. "You Blade remnants have been a thorn in our side for far too long. Playing heroes. Protecting the filth. While the Abyss spreads like rot. And now look, dragging the dead back to life." His gaze slid to Wes like a blade.

Sera stepped forward, a murderous look on her face. "You hunters…" Her voice cracked like thunder, low and furious, "You just did whatever you wanted. You experimented on people. Hunted them down like animals. You called it 'justice'. But it was cruelty. It was power. And it was wrong."

"Gifted are people too, you assholes!" Alisa shouted. "How many died because of you?!"

"Tools," Nicolosi said softly, almost fondly. "That's all they are. Broken things to be repurposed."

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Sera's hand curled at her side, lightning flickering between her fingers. "You think we don't know about the experimental labs? Blue Pandora? The unsanctioned raids? We know everything now."

Nicolosi tilted his head, his smile sharpening. "Then you know too much."

He raised his hand.

Sera narrowed her eyes, feeling every vibration of tension around her. "…Enough talk," she whispered.

Then, the wind howled, sudden and furious—an unnatural gale tearing across the courtyard of the hunters' headquarters like the breath of a storm god.

Gravel and debris blasted through the air, knocking half the assembled hunters and several stunned ESA agents off their feet. One of them let out a strangled curse before slamming into a steel barricade. Others were flung against the stone walls lining the compound, groaning.

"W-What…?" A hunter stammered, squinting through the whirlwind, hand groping for a sidearm.

He never made it. A blinding flash of fire erupted across the courtyard—a sweeping inferno like a dragon's breath, igniting the night with a savage roar. At least ten hunters were incinerated where they stood, screams snuffed out in an instant as fire swallowed flesh, metal, and shadow.

"Gifted?!" Someone shrieked, desperation lacing their voice.

Sera's fingers tightened around her dagger, her eyes narrowing. "I should've known…" she muttered. "I should have guessed that Ethan would've said something."

"Wha—?"

Before Leroy could speak, more shapes burst from the fire-wrought haze—eight silhouettes stepping through the flames like revenants. Their presence was unmistakable.

Laura. Raul. Claudia. Ness. Tatius. Neil. Kailey. Lucie. Letha.

Aegis.

Laura was at the front, her eyes reflecting the firelight, calm and composed. Trails of water streamed from her hands, spiralling in snake-like ribbons before solidifying into whips, cracking against the ground and smashing apart a row of gun emplacements. Behind her, Lucie flanked with grace and fury, flames erupting from her arms with each motion—her power dancing and dangerous, beautifully controlled.

A moment later, barriers shimmered into existence—translucent domes of force bending around Aegis like ghostly shields. Neil stepped forward, his long black hair swept by the winds, his eyes glowing a pearly white. His barriers, nearly invisible to the untrained eye, had cloaked their approach entirely.

Sera's breath caught. "Laura… Raul… Everyone…" she whispered.

"I wish I could say I was surprised," Zest muttered with a faint, grim smirk. "But I knew you'd show."

Leroy turned to Laura, disbelief bleeding into relief. "How did you know where we were?"

Laura exhaled, her expression hardening. "Ethan tipped us off. Said something big was going down here. Told us it was the hunters' headquarters and that you were walking into hell." She looked toward Sera. "We couldn't let you do it alone."

"You should've told us," Neil said sharply, stepping forward beside Kailey. "We would've helped. This affects all of us."

Sera didn't answer at first, her gaze flickering across the battlefield, seeing the chaos yet to come. Her voice was steel when she spoke. "Save the complaints for later."

Her head snapped to Aegis and Blade alike. "Take down the hunters," she commanded. "Try to knock out the ESA agents if you can. Don't kill them. But we're getting out of here. Together."

The answer came, loud and clear.

"KILL THEM ALL!!" Albert Nicolosi's voice thundered across the courtyard, rabid and giddy. The twisted glee in it was almost tangible.

The hunters surged forward with a battle cry.

And then, for several moments, there was nothing but chaos.

Aegis, however, who were engaging the hunters in battle, felt something off about them. The red, glowing eyes, and even jerking like puppets on strings. Something was wrong.

Very wrong.

Ness recoiled, eyes wide. "Oi… Isn't something wrong with them?" His fingers fumbled at the pouch strapped to his belt. "They're too fast."

Claudia's eyes sharpened. "They're not just fast. They're…wrong."

Zest's head tilted slightly, his crimson eyes narrowing. "They're doped. Blue Pandora… Or red, now, I guess."

Nicolosi's laughter erupted again—sickening, and almost manic. "That's right. The ultimate enhancer! One to make perfect soldiers! What better way to test the results of our labour than on you? Especially you, Aegis!"

The hunters were already upon them—their eyes blood-red, irises dilated to nothing. They moved like monsters: erratic, feral, and unshackled by anything human.

They tore through the battlefield with inhuman speed, some leaping from rooftop to rooftop like beasts, others sprinting across stone and metal, their limbs jerking and cracking as if their bodies barely remembered how to hold shape.

Sera spun, a barrier cast from Neil flaring over her head as one of the doped hunters slammed into it, claws—actual claws—raking against the invisible force. She swept her hand forward, launching a wave of telekinetic force that crushed two advancing hunters into a wall.

Raul let out a whistle. "I've seen some freaky things, but this…?"

A burst of beetles erupted from Raul's sleeve—hardened, metallic-blue carapaces hissing through the air, forming a living wall between a group of ESA agents and Kailey, who was desperately trying to heal a wounded Lucie. A bolt of lightning crackled from Sera's fingers and ignited the wall of bugs like an explosion of light.

"Claudia, left!" Ness shouted, flinging a pocket watch into the air. It hovered, then with a snap of his fingers, animated, growing jagged, monstrous clock hands that lashed out at an approaching hunter.

Claudia's wind roared in tandem, forming slicing arcs around her, holding the enemy at bay.

Laura darted forward, water coalescing into jagged spears, her movements were swift, elegant, and deadly. Her face twisted as she recognised someone across the way—Leonid, of Team Alpha. He was hesitating, torn.

Their eyes met.

"…Laura…" Leonid breathed, his eyes wide. "You're still alive…"

"Leonid…" Laura murmured. "Raul told me, but…" She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "You're really still alive. I heard rumours, but I didn't think… What a hand to be dealt with by the Goddess, huh, big brother?" She breathed. "…You are actually helping those monsters hunt down the Gifted? You're helping them hurt your own kind?!"

Leonid took a step forward, only to be struck by a barrier from Neil, knocking him off balance.

"Don't," Neil warned coldly. "Not now."

"Leonid, don't fight us," Laura said, her voice breaking slightly. "We don't want to fight you."

"I don't…" Leonid shook his head, then looked at Nicolosi. "What are they?! This isn't right! Those aren't normal soldiers!" His hands trembled.

"Don't you see? We're not the monsters here," Laura whispered.

Another explosion rocked the courtyard. Flames and water and earth and wind clashed, a storm of elements ripping through the night. Claudia screamed as Tatius was tackled by a snarling hunter, his arm nearly crushed before sand surged up and swallowed the attacker whole.

"I'm fine!" he barked, clutching his bleeding side, his sand shielding him.

More barriers. More chaos.

A hunter leapt at Lleucu with a blade in hand, but Jamie stepped forward, calm and precise, catching the attacker's wrist mid-air and plunging a dagger into his throat with mechanical precision.

"He's not breathing," Lleucu muttered, shaken.

"Neither was he living," Jamie said coldly. "He was gone the moment they drugged him."

Alisa ducked under a blow, rolling to her feet. "We're being overwhelmed!" she shouted. "There's too many of them!"

Sera stood at the center of it all—telekinetic blades spiralling around her in orbit, lightning crackling down her arms. Her scarf whipped wildly in the gale. She looked at Zest, at Leroy, at her family. Her people.

"We don't die here," she said, voice cutting through the madness. "We don't fall here!"

"But we're outnumbered ten to one!" Kailey cried out, shielding Neil as he staggered.

Sera's jaw clenched. Her fingers brushed the hilt of her hidden dagger. "This…isn't good."

Around them, the hunter forces closed in—blood-red eyes and twisted grins, monsters dressed in the skins of men.

And above them all, Albert Nicolosi stood, untouched, arms spread in mockery of salvation. "Come then!" he roared. "Let's see what your little resistance is really worth."

The war for Eldario had reached its flashpoint.

And blood was about to be spilled beneath the pale moonlight.

Jamie gritted his teeth, sweat dripping down his jawline, his grey eyes blazing with strain as he helped Lleucu hoist Wes's barely conscious form onto his back.

Wes coughed, his frame trembling, emaciated from five years of torture, experimentation, and solitude. His eyes, still defiant but hollowed by trauma, flickered toward Jamie. "I can still fight," he rasped, even though his limbs dangled like paper.

"You're damn right you can," Jamie replied, brushing back the blood-matted hair from Wes's forehead, "but not here. Not like this."

Lleucu's face was hard, sculpted by fury and desperation. "We don't leave family behind," he muttered, almost to himself, as he tightened the strap of his rifle across his back and cradled Wes more securely. "But we will get you the hell out of this nightmare."

Behind them, Sera's voice rang out like thunder—firm and unyielding. "We'll draw their attention!" Lleucu turned sharply, looking to Jamie, still crouched beside him, his eyes dark and wide. "Head to Zalfari. Wes needs immediate medical attention."

Jamie hesitated. "But Sera…"

"Don't be stupid! You can't deal with this by yourself!" Lleucu argued.

"My guys are here. Get Wes out of here!" Sera said again, her eyes scanning the battlefield, and drawing out her dagger.

"I'll stay with Sera. Get Wes to Zalfari. As soon as you can. Go!" Zest's face was grim. "We'll meet you there!"

Lleucu hesitated, before he nodded. "Come on."

Jamie, however, hesitated, looking back, his gaze meeting Sera's for one last second.

Sera's eyes met his. "…We'll come back. I promise," she whispered.

The way Sera's eyes locked with Jamie's—the command in them, the defiance, the trust—they had spoken that way before Blade fell, and now again in this fractured world.

Jamie gave a grim nod.

"I'll hold you to that promise," he whispered before turning and sprinting, one hand always on Lleucu's shoulder as they vanished into the smog and ruin of the courtyard's eastern breach, a shadow trailing in the storm.

Back in the heart of the battlefield, the storm erupted in full force. Aegis surged forward like an unstoppable tide.

Laura's eyes flashed as she twisted the air with her hands, summoning a torrent of water blades from the rain around them. The water licked across the battlefield, slicing across a hunter's arm, and yet, the man kept coming, snarling with lips peeled back like a rabid dog.

They were unfeeling. No pain. No fear. Just frenzy.

"Tatius!" Laura shouted, pivoting.

"Got it!"

Tatius slammed his hands into the wet earth, a tremor ripping outward. Stone and sand burst from the ground, enveloping a charging hunter and tearing upward like jagged spears. The creature howled but kept moving, driven by something beyond mortality.

From above, Claudia descended like a shadow, her wind-imbued body crashing into the monster's side, finally toppling it. "These aren't soldiers!" Claudia shouted over the wind and chaos. "They're something else!"

"I know," Laura growled. "Blue Pandora… It's changed them."

Raul stood in the eye of it all, whispering words too low to hear. A flock of black crows surged from behind a crumbled wall, tearing toward the enemy in a frenzied cyclone. Insects rose from the mud, beetles and wasps alike joining the fray.

Around them, Team Alpha struggled—divided by loyalty, truth, and the unraveling illusion of control.

Leonid stood at the courtyard's edge, staring at the hunters with visible unease. He had known cruelty. He'd seen war. But this… This was mass production of monsters, a horror factory.

"This isn't us!" he shouted toward Lucas, who was trading blows with Raul.

"Then stand down!" Raul bellowed back.

Lucas hesitated, brief, but real, until a blast of fire shot toward his side. He barely dodged, and snarled. "We have orders!"

"And what's the price for obeying them?" Raul demanded. "What's left of your soul?"

Not far away, however, Kailey stood still amidst the storm, facing Jonan like a phantom conjured from his own guilt.

The water coiled around her hands, glowing like spirits. Her pearl-white eyes were unreadable—not empty, but overflowing. Pain, betrayal, duty, and compassion—all at once.

Jonan's lips twitched. Both of them haven't seen each other since that day. "…Kailey."

Kailey didn't smile. Swirls of water were starting to gather around her hands. "…Let's dance," she said at last.

Her palms surged forward. Two blades of water exploded toward him.

But elsewhere, where it all converged, the real storm brewed.

Albert Nicolosi, drenched and livid, his eyes wide with bloodshot fury, stormed toward the center of the courtyard, barking out orders to the remaining hunters. His long black coat billowed, soaked, and stained with battle.

His aura, seething with hatred, drew eyes. Drew dread.

"You're not going anywhere!" Nicolosi roared toward the retreating figures of Jamie, Lleucu, and Wes.

He lunged forward—

—but Zest stepped in his path, dragging his dagger along the ground, sparks flying where steel kissed stone.

"You really don't know when to quit," Zest murmured, spinning the blade lazily in his grip.

Nicolosi's snarl could've shredded iron. "Zexter!"

Zest sighed. "They do say that hearing is the first to go. It's Zest."

Nicolosi lunged at Sera. "You think you can escape my grasp, Death Reaper?! There's nowhere you can run in Eldario!"

Sera was beside Zest, now, lightning crackling along her arms, her heterochromia eyes glowing like twin suns. Her voice was ice and steel. "I'm done, Nicolosi. Done hiding. Done letting you poison everything we touch."

"You're a failed experiment," Nicolosi hissed. "A broken toy. You were made to serve!"

"You'll pay for what you did to her," Zest said softly. Too softly. Then, in a blur, he moved. Zest's punch connected with Nicolosi's jaw with a sickening crunch, sending the older man reeling backward.

"Sir!" A nearby hunter shouted, moving to help.

"Stay back!" Nicolosi snarled. Blood dripped from his mouth, but his eyes never left Zest. "You dare turn against me?! I made you what you are!"

Zest's eyes flared red. "You murdered my parents in cold blood. You carved up children. You twisted lives. You didn't make me. You broke me."

Nicolosi's scream split the air. "You bastard!"

"My parents were married, thank you very much," Zest narrowed his eyes, twirling his dagger in his hand.

Sera, beside Zest, let the lightning coalesce into a sphere, her body pulsing with restrained energy. She stepped forward, wind and thunder following her. Zest drew his dagger up, poised, breathing slowly, but his fury sang like a blade against glass.

Zest raised his chin and whispered, "Let's dance, shall we, Nicolosi?"

The battlefield froze around them for a breathless moment. Everything narrowed to this.

To vengeance. To reckoning. To justice.

Sera's eyes burned with purpose as she fought, her limbs a blur of lethal grace, her mind pushing and pulling the elements around her. Yet, even she couldn't feel it. Couldn't sense what was coming.

No one could.

Amid the chaos, beneath the veil of smoke and distraction, a singular figure moved with chilling calmness.

Maia Travis.

While everyone's focus had been drawn toward the clash between Aegis, Blade, the hunters, and the divided ESA ranks, Maia had slowly, methodically circled the battlefield. The barrel of the handgun in her grip gleamed dully under the blood-red sky, its casing matte black, suppressor attached. She moved like a wraith—unnoticed and uncaring.

Her ruby eyes narrowed as she took aim.

Her target stood only a few paces ahead—Laura O'Boyle.

Aegis's third-in-command, focused on shielding Raul and Neil from a snarling hunter who had twisted into something feral from the Blue Pandora coursing through his veins. She didn't see Maia. She didn't sense her.

But Maia saw her. Saw all of them.

"They're all the same," she whispered beneath her breath, her finger tightening on the trigger. "Freaks pretending to be heroes."

There was no remorse in her heart. No hesitation.

In her mind, this wasn't betrayal. It was duty.

For years, Maia had hidden in plain sight, walking among them, pretending camaraderie in Team Delta. But it was all a lie. A calculated mask. One that grew thinner and thinner with each mission she was forced to stomach beside the Gifted—those cursed, unnatural abominations born with powers they didn't earn.

She would not let them rewrite history.

Her target didn't even know she was about to die.

And then—

Bang.

The shot rang out, barely audible over the cacophony. And hit not flesh, but fire.

A body moved.

"NO!"

Lucas.

A streak of black and red crossed the space in a blur, and a cry tore through the chaos as the bullet slammed into Lucas Alescio's upper arm. The impact forced him back with such force it spun him halfway around and sent him crashing into the blood-soaked ground with a sickening thud.

For a moment…

Just one moment—

The battlefield froze.

Not in full, but enough that every heart seemed to stop.

"Lucas!" Leonid's voice was raw, cracking with disbelief.

"Brother!" Misha's shout tore from his throat as he dropped everything and sprinted across the field, skidding to Lucas' side.

He pressed his gloved hands to his brother's wound, but the blood, dear Goddess, the blood, it wouldn't stop. It pulsed from his arm in thick waves, bright crimson painting Misha's hands. He looked down and saw the nature of the wound.

The burn. The corrosion. The slow spreading black vein patterns.

"No…" Misha breathed, eyes wide with horror. "This isn't normal." His eyes scanned the battlefield frantically, falling on Coleen. "Coleen!" he shouted, his voice cracking.

Coleen was already moving, her boots slamming across the stones as she ducked under a wall of wind conjured by Claudia, racing to Lucas's side. She dropped to her knees and immediately began assessing the wound. Her eyes narrowed, the trained assassin reading the signs like scripture.

"Not good," she muttered grimly, tearing at her medical pouch. "Lucas, stay awake, do you hear me?" She urged.

Remi and Louis flanked them a second later, weapons drawn and forming a protective semi-circle, their bodies trembling with fury.

"What the hell is going on?!" Misha demanded.

"It's not a normal bullet," Coleen said sharply. "I can see the damage spreading. That's an anti-Gifted round—one used only by the Gifted Task Force, coated with inhibitors and nerve disruptors. It's designed to shut down Gifted. Not just kill. And it's tearing his arm apart from the inside. And I can't extract it! Only the Gifted Task Force can!"

Remi's head snapped toward where the shot had come from. Maia was still standing there, her gun in hand, her expression cool.

Unrepentant.

"You bitch!" Remi howled, rage tearing from his chest like a tidal wave. "What did you just do?!"

He surged forward, only for Louis to slam an arm across his chest and hold him back. "Don't, Remi! Not now! Now's not the time!"

Maia didn't blink. She didn't lower the weapon. Her gaze swept over the scene, face carved in marble. "I took out a threat," she said, cold and clear. "You people are all too blind to see what they are. What they'll become. If no one stops them, they'll reduce Eldario to ash."

Louis stared at her as if seeing her for the first time. Misha, still covered in his brother's blood, rose to his feet with terrifying stillness. "…You were a mistake," he whispered. "I should have trusted my gut the moment you smiled during the arrests in the Skye district. I should've trusted my instincts when you volunteered for the Gifted registry missions with the hunters and never hesitated."

Maia's grip on her gun didn't falter. "You're too soft, Misha. Always have been. Your brother's infected with their filth. You think they're worth saving? You think they won't burn this country to the ground the moment you blink?"

A boom split the air behind them.

More hunters charged the field, their bodies twisted by Blue Pandora—their faces distorted in grotesque sneers, their eyes glowing red, with their veins blackened with poison. They tore into the field, their movements erratic, unnatural, and fuelled by something far more insidious than rage.

"…They don't even look human anymore," Raul growled, standing protectively in front of Laura.

"They don't feel human," Lucie whispered, her flames flickering unnaturally. "It's like… They're not even alive. Just puppets."

Sera clenched her teeth, sweat dripping from her temple as she deflected another wave of bullets with her telekinesis. Nicolosi laughed in the distance, standing atop rubble, watching the chaos with gleaming eyes.

"This is what they call justice now," he mocked. "Aegis. Blade. Even the ESA. All pawns dancing in the dark. You can't stop the tide. Blue Pandora is the future. Eldario will be cleansed. Reborn."

"Shut up!" Zest snarled, firing another shot at him.

Nicolosi, however, dodged it with a cruel smirk.

Across the battlefield, Claudia Black stood at the periphery, her eyes scanning the chaos. She turned to her brother, Ness, her expression resolute. "…This might really be the day when we'll meet the Goddess," she whispered.

Ness nodded, his gaze fixed on their younger brother, Tatius, who was engaged in a fierce battle with a hunter. "No matter what, Tatius MUST survive," he said. "He's my twin, but I'm still his big brother."

Claudia's lips curved into a sad smile. "You read my mind, little brother."

She raised her hands, summoning a powerful gust of wind that swept across the battlefield, pushing Aegis and the remaining Blade members toward the sole exit, along with the ESA agents. Claudia and Ness remained behind, encircled by the enraged, drug-enhanced hunters.

"Claudia! Ness!" Tatius cried out, his voice tinged with fear.

"What are you guys doing?!" Sera demanded, a sense of dread creeping into her heart, eyeing the eye of the storm where Claudia and Ness now stood alone—forming a barrier of howling wind that encircled a growing number of mutated hunters and Nicolosi himself.

Claudia met her gaze, her eyes filled with determination. "You guys run. Go!"

"What?"

"We'll buy some time," Ness added. "Run."

"Claudia, Ness, what are you both saying?!" Tatius was horrified, his voice tearing through the storm.

"It's been a few fun years, Sera," Ness said, reaching into his satchel and pulling out various devices that floated around him. Explosives, Sera realised. Too many. Compact, but deadly. "I designed these to bring down bunkers," he said with a sad smile. "They should be enough." He grinned at Aegis. "Thank you for everything."

"…Take care of Tatius for us," Claudia said, her hand trembling. She looked over her shoulder, giving Aegis a sad smile."End this nightmare for us. Let's meet again by the side of the Goddess. Tatius… Live on."

Tatius's eyes widened in horror. "Claudia, Ness, NO!"

Ness ignited all the explosives within the compressed wind barrier that Claudia had erected, the wind amplifying the destructive force.

Then the world raged and exploded.

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