The cavern roared like a waking beast.Stone shattered from the ceiling. Sparks of light spiraled around Collins Lutherchris’s body, whipping through the air like living fire. Echo Squad dove for cover, shouting over the thunderous vibration ripping through the ground.Zara didn’t move.She couldn’t.Her eyes locked on Collins—on the blinding light pulsing beneath his skin,on the fear twisting his face,on the raw power screaming to break free.“Zara…” Collins gasped, clutching his chest. “Stay—back…”“You’re hurting.” Her voice trembled. “Let me help.”“You can’t!” Collins shouted, teeth clenched against the pain. “It’s… inside me. It’s waking up.”Aiden watched with a chilling calmness, hands clasped behind his back like a teacher observing a stubborn student.“Magnificent,” he murmured. “Just as the prophecy described.”Damian glared at him. “Prophecy? What prophecy?”Aiden smiled faintly. “The Flameborn prophecy. The return of the ancient power that once reshaped continents.”He

The night was unusually calm, the kind of silence that felt intentionally placed—too heavy, too perfect, too unnatural. Collins Lutherchris didn’t trust it for even a second. Shadows clung to the edges of the manor walls as though watching him, waiting for him to slip.Inside the old study, the lamp cast a faint golden glow across the room. Maps, documents, red-marked notes, and torn files lay scattered across the table. Collins stood over them, hands clasped behind his back, brows tightened with a sharp but controlled determination.Every line, every document, every code—each one was a piece of the conspiracy circling him like wolves.He had connected three new dots tonight.Three dots pointing to the same person.“Eleanor…” he whispered, not the name of an enemy, but of someone who had once stood by him.The realization cut deeper than any blade.He had known betrayal before, but not like this. Not from someone who had shared his missions, his scars, and his promises.Collins exhale

Collins Lutherchris drove through the sleeping city without turning on the radio, without speaking a word, and without taking a single unnecessary turn. His mind was a battlefield of questions—each one louder than the last.Eleanor’s voice echoed in his head:“Someone inside your organization is playing you… turning you against the only person who would’ve died for you.”Her tone had not been the tone of a traitor.It had been the tone of someone running out of time.But Collins didn’t trust emotions—not anymore. Not after everything he had seen. Not after everything he had lost.His car rolled to a stop in front of an old vehicle-testing center he had purchased secretly years earlier. No cameras. No windows. Reinforced steel walls. Only Collins knew it existed.Perfect.Inside, he activated the signal jammers and set up a secure perimeter. Only then did he remove the small drive Eleanor had given him.The device was unlike anything he had ever seen.Matte black. No brand. No port. No

The silhouette that fled across the opposite rooftop moved fast—too fast for an ordinary scout.Collins Lutherchris sprinted to the edge of the building and leapt down onto the fire escape, landing in near silence. His boots barely scraped the metal as he descended in seconds.By the time he reached the alley below, the figure was gone.But Collins didn’t need sight.He crouched, touched the ground with two fingers, and focused.A faint warmth pulsed through his veins.His earth affinity stirred—the one his mysterious artifact had awakened.Pebbles trembled lightly beneath his fingertips, shifting to reveal tiny impressions on the ground.Footprints.Fresh ones.Light but quick.And—strangely—almost weightless.A trained infiltrator.Collins stood, following the prints down the alley. As he walked, his mind replayed the message from the rooftop.“Son of the forgotten flame.”“Your parents hid something the world was never meant to see.”“Join your parents beneath the earth.”His jaw t

The night over Veridion City was unusually silent, almost expectant—like the entire sky held its breath. Deep beneath the metropolis, in a place only a handful of people even believed existed, Collins Lutherchris descended marble steps that spiraled into the hidden chambers of Veridion Keep, the ancient fortress said to be older than the nation itself.He had followed the encrypted coordinates sent by the unknown informant. Every step he took tightened the knot in his chest. Something was wrong. Something big.The final step opened into an enormous circular hall carved into obsidian-black stone. Glowing symbols, written in an ancient political script of the old empire, ran around the walls like veins of light.Collins whispered under his breath,“This… this shouldn’t exist.”But it did. And someone wanted him to discover it.The air shifted—light footsteps echoing behind him.Collins turned sharply.A hooded figure stepped into the faint blue glow of the room.“You came earlier than e