After Kael lost
consciousness, he was dragged into an old underground cellar—buried deep
beneath the ruins. The technology around him was outdated, remnants from 2037.
Flickering panels, rusted machines, and crude medical rigs lined the dimly lit
room.
Kael was strapped to a
chair, thick restraints locking him in place. Multiple tubes and cables ran
into his arms and chest, pumping strange, dark fluids through his veins. Blood
soaked his clothes. His breathing was shallow—barely alive.
Eventually, his eyes
fluttered open, but he couldn't move.
A tall figure entered,
cloaked in shadow—Seraph.
He stepped into the
flickering light; his voice laced with disdain. "See? This is what happens when
you trust your own power. You end up like this."
Without hesitation, Seraph
lifted a thick power cord and plugged it directly into Kael's core.
Kael gasped, the
connection sending a surge of searing pain through his body.
"I'm injecting Dark Energy
into your core," Seraph said coldly. "And bringing it under my control. You'll
be my weapon now. Soon, you'll forget who you are… everything you ever were."
Kael's vision blurred. His
body trembled. He could feel his mind slipping into darkness. Is this
the end? he wondered, as his thoughts slowly dissolved into silence.
Seraph turned to a massive
screen on the wall. With a few taps, he opened a call—direct to Senjuro.
Back at the hotel,
Senjuro's communicator buzzed. He answered groggily, "Who is this?"
Seraph's voice came
through, calm and cruel. "That doesn't matter. Just take a look at your
friend."
The screen flickered on.
Kael's battered, blood-soaked body appeared, barely recognizable.
Senjuro's eyes widened in
horror. "You bastard… If anything happens to Kael, I swear, your death will be
by my hands!"
Seraph ended the call with
a smirk.
Kyrin, having overheard
the conversation from the next room, burst in. "We're not waiting."
Senjuro nodded grimly.
"Let's move."
Within minutes, the two
were geared up, weapons secured, and speeding toward Ashvein Cradle—with
vengeance in their hearts and no time to waste.
The road to Ashvein Cradle
was silent, save for the hum of the hoverbikes cutting through the cold night
air. Neonis faded behind them like a distant dream, and the landscape grew
harsh, riddled with scorched earth and collapsed infrastructure—scars left from
the Flux Wars.
Senjuro gripped the
handlebars tightly, his jaw clenched. Beside him, Kyrin sped forward, his eyes
sharp beneath his visor. Neither spoke, but the tension between them was a
silent agreement—Seraph wouldn't walk away from this.
Ashvein Cradle loomed
ahead, a dark silhouette against the night sky. Long abandoned, the site was
once a high-tier military zone built over massive flux veins. Now, it was a
graveyard of obsolete war machines, twisted pylons, and decayed bunkers. The perfect
hiding place for someone like Seraph.
As they approached,
Senjuro activated the cloaking grid on their bikes and signaled to slow down.
"Thermals are spiking
ahead," Kyrin muttered. "He's here."
Senjuro nodded. "We go in
quiet. We find Kael, and we burn anyone who stands in our way."
The two dismounted and
moved on foot, slipping through the shadows of broken structures. Every step
deeper into the Cradle brought an eerie sensation—like the air itself had
turned heavy, poisoned by the Dark Energy Seraph was channeling.
Deep beneath the surface,
in the old cellar, Kael lay motionless. His body twitched every few seconds as
the corrupted energy pumped through him. His core, once fueled by the rhythmic
pulse of Hyper Resonance Flux, now pulsed erratically distorted by the
malevolent force being injected into it.
Seraph stood nearby,
observing him with a detached fascination. "You always had potential, Kael. But
you were never meant to wield it freely. Power like yours needs control."
Kael's mind was adrift. In
the darkness of his subconscious, memories flickered fragments of laughter with
Kyrin, sparring with Senjuro, the first time he touched Xalvareth and felt its
harmony.
But the memories were
slipping. Blurred. Tainted.
A voice echoed inside
him—deep and cruel. Give in. Let go. There is no 'you' anymore.
Suddenly, a sharp tremor
rattled the cellar.
Seraph glanced up.
Boom.
The reinforced ceiling
above shuddered again.
He frowned. "They're
early."
Above ground, Senjuro had
just slammed an explosive charge into the outer blast doors of the bunker
entrance. The controlled detonation blew the doors inward with precision,
revealing a pitch-black tunnel descending into the Earth.
"They'll know we're here
now," Kyrin said, drawing his blades.
"I'm counting on it,"
Senjuro replied, eyes burning with focused fury.
They entered swiftly,
moving in sync. Shadows moved ahead—armored guards rushing to intercept them.
The assassins wore the same dark silver armor as those who ambushed Kael.
Modified, fast, and brutal.
Kyrin dashed forward,
blades glowing faintly with infused Flux. He struck first, slicing through the
armor of the nearest enemy in a fluid spin. Sparks and blood flew as the body
collapsed.
Senjuro followed, drawing
his glaive and cleaving through another pair with raw force. He moved like a
storm—precise, overwhelming, unrelenting.
"I'll carve a path," Kyrin
said. "You find Kael."
Senjuro nodded and broke
off, charging down a side corridor with speed enhanced by Flux pulses surging
through his limbs. His heart raced with every step.
Back in the cellar, Kael's
body began to react.
His core, corrupted as it
was, pulsed violently.
Seraph stepped closer,
intrigued. "What's this?"
Kael's eyes fluttered
open. Faint. But conscious.
From deep within, a
resonance was trying to reawaken—not the pure Hyper Resonance Flux… but a
hybrid, corrupted fusion. It was unstable. But it was his.
Seraph grinned. "Ah, I
see. Your will is trying to fight back. Admirable… but futile."
He slammed a pressure
device onto Kael's chest, attempting to suppress the surge.
At that moment, Senjuro
burst through the steel door, glaive spinning.
"SERAPH!"
Seraph stepped back,
smirking. "Right on time."
Senjuro charged, fury in
every strike. Their weapons clashed with a thunderous clang. Seraph's cloak
flared as he activated his personal Flux field, shielding himself from the
initial barrage.
"You're too late," he
spat. "Kael is mine now."
Senjuro didn't reply—his
focus was unbroken. Each strike pushed Seraph back, cracking the ground beneath
them.
Kael, weak but aware,
watched the battle unfold. A flicker of light pulsed in his core. Not
yet… not like this… he thought.
Suddenly, Kyrin arrived,
sliding under a volley of dark flux blasts and landing beside Kael.
"Hang in there, brother,"
he whispered, slicing through the restraints.
Kael collapsed forward,
gasping. "My core… corrupted…"
"We'll fix it later,"
Kyrin said. "Right now, you need to stay awake."
The moment Seraph noticed
Kael was free, he slammed a flux charge into the ground, sending out a
shockwave that flung Senjuro across the room.
He advanced toward Kael.
"No," Senjuro growled,
pulling himself up. Blood ran from his forehead. "You're not touching him."
Seraph raised his hand,
ready to fire a core-disrupting bolt.
But Kael—barely
conscious—moved.
His hand gripped Kyrin's
wrist, and his corrupted core flared violently. The hybrid energy within him
surged—not pure, not dark, but something in between.
Xalvareth materialized in
Kael's grasp in a burst of unstable flux energy.
Kael stood—barely. His
eyes glowed faintly, and though his body shook, his voice was steady.
"You won't control me,
Seraph."
He lunged.
The dagger-scythe cleaved
through the flux bolt Seraph had launched, dispersing it mid-air. Sparks danced
around them as Kael's weapon—unstable and wild—cut into Seraph's armor, sending
him staggering.
Kael dropped to one knee
immediately after, coughing blood. The effort had nearly broken him.
Kyrin caught him before he
collapsed again.
Seraph hissed, retreating
through a blast door that sealed behind him.
"This isn't over!" his
voice echoed. "He's already mine!"
Senjuro rushed to Kael's
side. "He's fading fast."
Kyrin nodded. "We need to
get him out. Now."
The building shook
again—self-destruction protocols activated.
Senjuro scooped Kael into
his arms, and together, the trio raced back the way they came, dodging
collapsing walls and fire as the bunker began to implode.
As they emerged into the
night, flames erupted behind them, painting the sky in crimson.
Kael drifted in and out of
consciousness. The last thing he heard was Kyrin's voice—
"We've got you, Kael. Just
hold on."