CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWOThe stolen pickup rattled down the narrow service road, its engine coughing like a dying man. Declan kept the headlights off, navigating by the faint silver glow of the moon that sliced through the overhanging branches. Every bump sent fresh jolts of pain through his grazed arm, but he clenched his teeth and pushed the truck harder. Behind them, the distant roar of pursuing engines grew louder, closing the gap like hungry wolves.Zara gripped the dashboard, her knuckles white. “They’re gaining. We can’t outrun them in this rust bucket.”“Watch Stefan,” Declan snapped, eyes locked on the road ahead. The folder lay heavy on the seat between them, its secrets burning a hole in his resolve. “He’s slipping. If we lose him now, everything falls apart.”From the truck bed, Stefan let out a weak groan under the tarp. “Boy… your mother… she wasn’t just running from Elias. She was running to something bigger. The Consortium.”Declan’s head snapped toward the rearview mirror.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOURBullets shredded the air like angry hornets, tearing bark from ancient oaks and kicking up fountains of dirt at their feet. Declan’s heart slammed against his ribs as he shoved Zara behind a moss-covered boulder, the folder digging into his chest like a live grenade. Elena rolled in beside them, her pistol barking twice in quick succession. One Veil operative spun backward with a guttural cry, his masked face exploding in a spray of red before he hit the ground.“Move!” Elena snarled, yanking Declan’s collar. “The helicopter’s dropping more!”The downdraft from the hovering chopper whipped the forest into a maelstrom of flying leaves and snapping branches. Ropes uncoiled from its belly, and black-clad Veil soldiers fast-roped down like spiders descending on prey. Their suppressed rifles coughed death in controlled bursts, pinning Viktor’s survivors behind a cluster of fallen logs.Viktor himself roared like a wounded bear, blood streaming from his shoulder wound.

Chapter 76The heavy rain slashed through the night air, mingling with the bitter smell of burnt gunpowder and burning steel. High above the roaring black abyss of the chasm, the suspension bridge creaked, its thick support cables snapping one by one like gunshots. The iron framework groaned beneath their feet, tilting at an absurd angle over the dark, churning waters of the river below.Declan spat a mouthful of blood onto the slick wooden planks, his breath coming in ragged, shallow hitches. His body was a tapestry of agony. His left arm hung uselessly at his side, his ribs burned with every breath from a deep fracture, and blood trickled into his left eye from a gash across his forehead. Yet, his grip on the heavy combat knife in his right hand remained dead set, unyielding, and absolute.Before him, Viktor leaned heavily against the wrecked frame of an overturned armored SUV. The man was in no better shape. His leg was mangled, his face covered in soot and blood, but his dark eyes

Chapter 78The high-pitched wail of the prison sirens reverberated off the damp, black-stone walls, shaking the dust from the vaulted ceiling. Red magical wards pulsed in rhythm with the alarms, painting the narrow subterranean corridor in flashes of harsh, crimson light.Declan knelt beside the two dead executioners, his hands moving with practiced, methodical speed. He stripped the lead guard of his reinforced leather vambraces, strapping them tightly over his own forearms, and retrieved a short, serrated iron dagger from the man’s belt. He slid the weapon into his waistband before standing up, testing the balance of the heavy cleaver in his right hand.The translucent blue interface flared in his vision, updating his current attributes in real time.[Host Status Updated][Name: Declan][Level: 1][Attributes: Strength: 12 | Agility: 16 (+5) | Endurance: 10 | Perception: 14][Equipped: Leather Vambraces (+2 Defense), Serrated Iron Dagger, Executioner's Cleaver][Active Sub-Quest: Ce

Chapter 80The ice of the poison spread through Declan’s veins like liquid nitrogen, turning his blood into slush. His sight blurred, the gold-leaf detailing on his twin pistols smearing into streaks of light under the flickering red alarms. Every muscle in his back screamed as the mind-controlled bodyguard twisted the thin stiletto blade deeper into his flank, grinning through her glowing purple eyes.[CRITICAL ALERT: Neuro-Toxin Injected!][System Emergency Override: Expending 100 System Points to Neutralize Toxin...][Purification Progress: 20%... 40%...]The heat of the System’s counter-burn exploded in his chest, fighting back the numbness. Declan didn't scream. He didn't even drop to his knees. Instead, his left arm whipped backward with blinding, inhuman velocity, his fingers locking onto the female bodyguard's throat like a hydraulic vice."Wrong mistake," Declan rasped, his voice dropping into a register that didn't sound human.He slammed her forward over his shoulder, throw