Ethan watched a young man fall after trying to reach a safe corridor. Two masked attackers kicked him while others rushed the Tribunal line. “Use force,” Ethan ordered, his suppressed anger finally entering his voice. “Break every violent formation. Put down anyone attacking civilians or soldiers, but keep live ammunition locked unless there is an immediate lethal threat.”The commander did not hesitate. “Understood, Grand Master. Shield units, advance. Water teams, target the armed lines. Extraction officers, take every masked organiser alive.”The Tribunal formation moved as one. Heavy shields crashed against the first line of attackers, throwing several men to the ground. Water cannons struck the rioters behind them, sweeping petrol bombs and iron rods across the wet pavement before they could be used.The masked leader tried to hold his position on the vehicle. “Stand your ground!” he yelled, but terror had already entered his voice. “There are more of us than them. Ethan cannot d

The streets outside were almost empty. Cold wind moved discarded papers across the road while military vehicles guarded major junctions. Ethan travelled in an old delivery van containing sealed medicine boxes, with the two disguised operatives following several vehicles behind him.Avalora felt unfamiliar without traffic. At each junction, soldiers checked permits beneath floodlights. An operative spoke through Ethan’s hidden receiver. “The northern post is fifteen minutes away. Brant remains there; no courier has crossed yet.” Ethan however drove on silently without answering.Not everyone outside was violating the curfew. Ethan passed hospital workers travelling with permits, drivers delivering food to relief centres and a father carrying a sick child toward an emergency checkpoint.These were the people he had exempted because a country could not stop breathing simply because movement had been restricted.The father shouted as his child struggled to breathe. “Please open the lane.

Brant turned toward him in disbelief. “I thought I had already taught you to control your mouth. Do you believe refusing one payment gives you the right to interfere with another?”“The curfew order exempts medical emergencies,” Ethan replied. He glanced at the medicine lying on the road. “You do not have the authority to invent a fee or keep that woman away from saving her child.”Brant then slapped Ethan across the face. The force turned Ethan’s head and opened the inside of his lower lip. Several soldiers laughed again, unaware that they were watching their commander strike the man who controlled the entire Tribunal Army.The woman moved beside Ethan despite her fear, clutching her empty purse while staring at the medicine on the ground helplessly nearby. “Please, Commander, he is only defending my child. I have obeyed the curfew and brought the documents you required. There was no need to hit him.”Commander Brant ignored her and maintained his angry stare at Ethan. “You ordinary

The approaching vehicle did not slow at the main barrier. It turned toward the northern lane as Brant returned to the control panel inside the office. Ethan remained handcuffed, watching the commander enter a private code that raised the steel barrier.A soldier glanced at the road and frowned. “Commander, that vehicle has not been inspected. Should I record its registration before it passes?”Brant turned sharply toward him. “You heard nothing and saw nothing. Remove this crossing from your written report. If anyone asks, the northern lane remained closed throughout your shift.”The soldier lowered his head, understanding the consequences of questioning his superior's orders. “Understood, Commander. There will be no record of the vehicle.”Brant watched the vehicle through the glass, keeping his fingers on the controls. His unusual tension made the nearby soldiers avoid looking toward the road. “Nobody opens this lane after me. Report damaged barrier if headquarters calls.”The dark

Ethan looked past Brant toward the stolen property filling the office. His wrists remained locked behind him, but his posture showed no fear. “The property in this room could put you in prison for years. The money, jewellery and medicine are enough to prove what you have done.”Brant followed his gaze and laughed. “You believe these boxes can frighten me? None of those citizens have the power to challenge my report. Everything here can disappear before sunrise.”“Moving the evidence will not erase the people you robbed,” Ethan replied. His eyes settled on the encrypted phones. “Eventually, one of them will speak to someone you cannot silence.”Brant pulled another chair forward and sat opposite him. “You still do not understand how Verdanis works. Powerful people placed me here, and powerful people will keep me here. They control which complaints are investigated and which ones are forgotten.”“Powerful men rarely leave their names beside their crimes,” Ethan said. Two soldiers across