The voices of the colony drowned in the distance with the crashing of rocks between them. Jax and Mira could feel the weight of being separated from the pack, but everyone knew that survival came first. Jax held tightly to Mira's hand as they ran, his feet ahead of hers but he never let her lag behind.With her chest pumping hard too, she couldn't afford to be the one who dragged them back.Heavy growls hung in the air, making the ground quake as the Wyrm chased close. As scary as it was to admit, Jax was grateful the rest of the team hadn't been caught."The tunnel is getting dark. I can't see anything." Mira said as her feet occasionally caught small stones and it hurt.Jax was able to use System Sight to see through the pure darkness. Not a single trace of light entered. Even the view of the Royal City they had seen earlier was now just a memory.The distant shrill of the Wyrm continued to chase after them."Just follow my lead." Jax said and Mira hummed.She trusted him fully.The

Jax woke up to the system activating in his mind.[Jax Thorn. Title: Glitch Overlord. Level: 18. Health Status: Restored. Core Energy: Recovering. Active Skills: Glitch Absorption (Tier 2), Glitch Pulse (Cooldown cleared), System Sight (Stable), Flame Sword, Shadow Bind (Unstable), Shadow Step (Settling), Stolen Shield. Core Fragments: Vortex (Stable), Silver (Stable). Passive: Dragon's Fear Resistance. Pending Integration: Shadow Snare (Shadow Bind + Shadow Step — requires full energy recovery).]He stayed still for a moment, letting the read settle. It was the first time in a long while that his body didn't feel like it was being held together by sheer will. He pushed himself off the bed and went to find Mira.Along the corridor, he slowed. His colony and Sera's were moving through the same spaces now, sharing meals, sharing benches in the library, the younger ones already running together like they had always known each other. Something in his chest loosened at the sight of it. May

Even as the group prepared to leave, the figure Jax had seen through System Sight the night before stayed with him. It gnawed at the back of his mind and kept pulling him out of the present no matter how hard he tried to focus.He was in his room finishing up when Mira nudged him from the side."You look like you've seen a ghost." She said. "And we've seen ghosts."Jax blinked and looked at her. "When did you start making jokes?""I've always been funny." She shrugged.He rolled his eyes but the corner of his mouth lifted. She was feeling better and it showed. The lightness in her was deliberate too that he could tell she knew something was sitting heavy on him and she was trying to lift it the only way she could right now.And he let her.When they finished gathering what they needed for the journey, they went outside to meet the rest of the team. Eldric and Sera were saying goodbye to the colony members, passing instructions to the two new Watchers left in charge until their return.

Eldric moved first.His blue eyes flared bright and the rock responded. Boulders tore free from the cavern walls and slammed into the creature's body, sending it skidding backward across the floor. The creature screamed and its tentacles flailed wildly, but the impact bought them seconds.Jax stared at him.Eldric caught his breath and cracked his knuckles. "You didn't think my colony survived all this time just by running, did you?"The blue in his eyes was dimming slightly already. The cavern amplified his ability but the cost was real. He was an old warrior and he had not wanted to fight again. But here he was.Jax nodded once and turned.He launched fire at the creature's tentacles, targeting the base where they connected. The creature deflected each shot, its movements adapting faster than he expected, shifting angles between attacks. He pushed Shadow Snare and blinked behind it, Shadow Bind firing on arrival, locking two tentacles in place. He drove the Flame Sword through them.

Lina did not waste another moment before she widened the scope of the projection. It reached everyone in the room, showing the vast structure of the Royal City, what powered it, what governed it, and what stood between all of them and the core. The group leaned in without being told to.Lina stepped down from the platform and began layering the city's structure before them. Out of the full schematic, two particular codes rose above the rest."There are two major obstacles standing between us and the core. These are what we focus on above everything else."Jax crossed his arms and kept his eyes on the projection.Lina surveyed the group before she continued. "When it comes to the guards protecting the core, I can handle them. There is an alarm system. When it is triggered, every personnel must evacuate the powerhouse. That window is the most crucial point of the mission. That is when you access the core.""But the Primordial Overseer will still be waiting." Jax said."It never leaves i