The nights had grown longer. Smoke never left the city skyline, a reminder that Ethan’s rise was carved in fire. From his tower, he watched the streets below. Patrols marked with his sigil dragged enemies through the dirt. His voice was law. His orders were carried out without hesitation.Yet in the silence of his chamber, Cain’s whisper coiled tighter.“You bleed, they bow. But you hesitate, Ethan, and they will slit your throat. Do not trust their eyes, not Helena’s, not Wren’s. Only me. I am your shadow, your spine.”Ethan pressed his palms to the cold steel of the balcony, trying to shut the voice out. He had built something from nothing—mercenaries sworn to him, hackers who bent networks to his command, rogues who believed he was the storm that could topple the Nine. But the more he gained, the more fragile it felt, like a throne balanced on blades.Behind him, Helena entered, her steps soft but deliberate. She moved like a queen already crowned, crimson silk brushing against the

Steel screamed against steel as Ethan and Helena’s blades collided again and again, sparks leaping between them like lightning. Around them, the fortress burned. Mercenaries clashed with Council assassins in the smoke-choked hall, screams echoing off the stone walls. Blood slicked the floor, turning every step into a gamble.Helena’s lips curved into that maddening smile even as sweat and blood streaked her face. “You should thank me, Ethan,” she said, parrying his strike with a flourish. “I brought the Council here. I saved you the trouble of hunting them.”Her words were a dagger sharper than the blade she held. Ethan roared and struck harder, his fury driving her back. Each blow was a face-slap, each step forward a punishment for the betrayal she dared to wear like a crown.“You think this is victory?” he spat. “All you’ve done is dig your grave with your own tongue.”Her laugh rang out, cold and beautiful, as she sidestepped his strike and slashed his arm. Pain flared, but Ethan i

The night after Helena’s death was heavy with silence. Outside the fortress, the sky bled with smoke, the horizon lit by fires of villages and outposts that had fallen into chaos. Ethan’s men celebrated in the courtyards, drunk on blood and victory, but inside the ruined throne room, he sat alone, still stained in crimson.Every stone seemed to breathe betrayal. Helena’s voice lingered in his mind, Wren’s confession echoing over it, and beneath it all, Cain’s laughter coiled like a serpent.“Do you feel it, boy?” Cain’s whisper scratched against his skull. “The crown fits, but it cuts. This is the price of kingship. Blood. Always more blood.”Ethan didn’t answer aloud, but his grip on the armrest tightened until cracks spread through the stone.The doors slammed open. Darius strode in first, his scarred face twisted with urgency, followed by Ash, who carried his rifle slung lazily though his eyes were sharp. Behind them trailed two of the new recruits—ex-heirs of the Nine, both lookin

The fall felt endless.Ethan’s hand clenched around Wren’s as they plummeted through a tunnel of code. The walls writhed like serpents made of light, flashing scenes of his past—his childhood beatings, his rejection by the Nine, his failures, his humiliations. Each image slammed into his mind like a hammer.“Ethan!” Wren shouted, her voice drowned by the storm. “It’s trying to tear you apart!”He forced his eyes shut, clinging to her grip. “Hold on! Don’t let go!”The tunnel spat them out, and they slammed onto a street that wasn’t a street. It was glass, bending beneath their weight, reflecting distorted versions of themselves. Ethan stared down and saw himself as a boy—weak, bloody, broken. His reflection sneered.“You’ll never be a king,” it hissed. “You’re still the loser they all spat on.”Ethan crushed the reflection with his boot. The glass screamed, then fell silent.Wren staggered beside him, pale. “This place… it’s feeding on us.”Before he could answer, the city shifted. To

The storm swallowed everything. Fire and static roared together, melting towers into rivers of molten glass. Ghost soldiers screamed as they twisted in the flood, clawing at the air before dissolving.Ethan’s body burned. His lungs filled with ash, his blade shook in his hands, but he refused to fall. Wren clung to his arm, shielding them with her daggers that spun and whirled, cutting paths through the collapsing code. Camille crawled closer, her hands glowing weakly as she threw up a shield of fractured light.The blast finally ended. Silence fell, broken only by the crackling of shattered towers.Helena descended slowly from the ruins of her throne, her crown blazing like the sun. Her face was calm, almost bored, as though this destruction were nothing but an opening act.“Still standing?” she asked softly. “Pathetic. You should have knelt while you had the chance.”Ethan staggered upright, blood dripping from his mouth. He spat red onto the glowing floor, meeting her gaze without