Axton woke to the sound of absence. Not explosions, but the terrible, sharp silence that precedes chaos.Then, three blasts. Sequential. Precise. The building heaved, his cot slamming six inches across the floor.His window exploded inward. Glass shrapnel, glinting silver in the moonlight, hit the wall where his head had been. He rolled, hit the cold concrete, and found the knife under the pillow.The door disintegrated.Kael stood in the doorway, robes torn, blood dark on his left arm. His sword dripped something black. "Twenty hostiles. Professionals. Extermination." He threw a cultivation-enhanced armor vest. "Put it on. Now."Axton fumbled with the complex buckles. The vest was heavy, cold against his bare chest.Another explosion, closer. The ceiling cracked, showering them in chalky dust."Now," Kael snapped.They ran.The hallway was a torrent of terror: sect members running, screaming. A woman, her face smeared with blood, carried a small child. The realization that the Shadowv

The convoy stopped after three hours at an industrial compound secured by high walls and guard towers. The main building was a modern structure of glass and steel, stark and corporate.Captain Ross led Axton and Lyssandra inside. The environment was sterile, colder than the outside air, smelling faintly of ozone and new plastic.They rode the center elevator to the top floor, which opened onto an unexpected indoor garden. Glass ceiling, natural light, real grass, an oasis of life overlooking the steel city.In the center, Zephyr Kraven sat at a dark wood table. Taller, broader, his youth replaced by sharp, cultivated angles. His golden pins were gone, replaced by a silver symbol Axton didn't recognize: a broken chain."Axton Vail. You came." Zephyr gestured to the chairs. "Drink. It's not poisoned. If I wanted you dead, the bounty would suffice."Axton took the tea, his hands steady despite the exhaustion. Lyssandra drank immediately."Let's establish baseline," Zephyr said, pulling ou

The Trap in the Maintenance BuildingAxton couldn't sleep. With one hour left until midnight, he chose action, descending the silent stairs to the observation deck. The lock to the arena clicked green for him. Someone was watching.On the arena floor, Designation Seven looked up, tilting his head. Come down.Axton descended. The three artificial Warborne waited. Seven removed his helmet. His face was blank, a vessel without a soul."Designation Seven. You are early. We are designed to replicate the Warborne legacy. Comparison is necessary."The initial fight was a swift humiliation. Seven shattered Axton’s Black Aegis in three strikes. He fought with mechanical precision and maximal efficiency.After Axton's wrist cracked, Seven offered his hand, clinical. "Assessment complete. Subject demonstrates Aegis capability but lacks refinement. Emotional responses compromise effectiveness."Axton was forced to train, Seven teaching through pure, brutal repetition. He learned to shift the Aegis

The facility had no windows on the ground floor.Just concrete. Steel. And cameras that tracked their approach like mechanical eyes.Axton, Lyssandra, and Twelve crouched in the alley across the street. Morning traffic moved past. Normal people heading to normal jobs. None of them looked at the building. None of them seemed to see it at all."Perception ward," Twelve said quietly. "Cultivation array. Makes civilians ignore it. See it but don't see it. Common for sensitive facilities.""Guards will see us fine though," Lyssandra muttered. She was studying the entrance through her rifle scope. "I count eight exterior. Probably twenty more inside. Maybe more in the sublevels."Axton felt the Aegis stirring in his chest. Responding to his fear. His anticipation. The power wanted out. Wanted to fight.Not yet."The maintenance tunnel Seven mentioned," Axton said. "Where does it connect?"Twelve pulled up a schematic on a handheld device. Stolen from Zephyr's facility probably. "Eastern wal

The safe house wasn't safe.Axton knew it the moment they arrived. The building was too clean. Too prepared. Like someone had been expecting them. Like someone had known exactly when they'd arrive and with how many people.Zephyr stood in the center of the main room. Waiting. He wasn't alone. Six guards flanked him. Armed. Alert. Not his usual security. These were professionals. The kind you hired when you expected violence.The vehicle had dropped them three blocks away. Kael had insisted on approaching on foot. Checking angles. Looking for ambush. Old habits from old wars.Now they stood in the doorway. Axton leaning on his father. Twelve and Lyssandra flanking them. All of them injured. Exhausted. Running on fumes and determination."Welcome back," Zephyr said. His voice was pleasant. Conversational. Like they'd returned from a grocery run instead of a suicide mission. "I confess, I didn't expect you to succeed. The odds were quite definitively