Hundreds of red laser sights from the Order’s weapons locked all at once on Axel’s chest as he stood tall atop stacks of old cement pallets. The red lights flickered wildly painting a deadly pattern across every inch of him. Storm winds tore through the broken sides of the building carrying the sharp scent of wet cement and dust. Axel’s black coat fluttered slowly in the cold gust yet he showed no sign of wavering. "They have us surrounded on every side," Rena whispered shakily from behind a crumbling pillar. Axel swept his gaze over the entire perimeter unhurried. His sharp eyes marked every shooter position every gap in their formation and every possible opening he could still use. After a moment the corner of his mouth lifted faintly. "Let them see exactly who the prey really is," Axel replied coldly. Rena curled her fingers tight. Her heart hammered harder as she realized just h

The spiritual pressure rolling off Grandmaster Henderson’s gold plated longsword was so immense that clouds of cement dust lifted off the factory floor all at once warped by sheer force. The low hum of sacred metal rang loud enough to rattle every ear present. Even the puddles of leftover rain trembled sending out tiny ripples as the old man’s presence spread across the entire battlefield. "You have strayed far from the sacred path Rian," Henderson said evenly. His gaze pinned Axel without blinking once. That voice. The same voice that once ordered him awake before sunrise. The same voice that first taught him how to hold a weapon. The same voice that for years drilled into him that obedience was the only way to survive. The supreme leader of the Order’s Jakarta branch. The man who had raised him trained him and rewritten his mind since he was eight years old. Had finally stepped onto the field himself

The blade of Axel’s black bone spear tore through Henderson’s golden armor, slicing open the Grandmaster’s left shoulder so fresh blood poured down and soaked his fine robes. The screech of metal blended with the hum of dark energy that seared the air. Rain pouring through the shattered factory roof hissed where it met the black aura wrapping Axel, leaving thin swirling mist all around them. "Damnation!" Henderson snarled. He leaped back several paces and pressed a hand hard to his wound, but blood still seeped thick through his fingers. For the first time this fight his composure cracked, and raw pain showed plainly on his face. Axel gave him no time to recover. With eyes turned entirely black, he stepped forward without hesitation. 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘗𝘪𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 surged wild through his veins, muscles coiling tight and dark veins faintly visible beneath his skin. Unleashed and unhinged, he pushed his power to its absolute limit

The asphalt along Jalan Sudirman split wide open, spewing sulfurous violet vapor that melted the tires of trapped vehicles where they sat beneath a sky turning ash-gray. Screams rose and merged with the howl of gale-force winds battering the remains of skyscrapers. Great fissures snaked down the road like living wounds spreading ever wider, while violet light pulsed deep within the earth in a slow, heavy rhythm exactly like a giant’s heartbeat. "Hold fast to my arm, Rena," Axel called out as he caught her wrist. He gasped for breath, and every movement sent pain lancing through his chest as though pierced by a thousand needles. Rena tightened her grip as another violent tremor shook the ground beneath them. "The road ahead is completely gone," she replied, her voice sharp with fear as she pointed toward the overpass that had crumbled and collapsed. "If we keep this way, we will fall with it." Axel stared at the dan

"Let her go old man," Axel shouted hoarse as he wrenched his black bone spear free from the ground. The moment the blade lifted the only anchor holding them in place vanished in an instant. Axel and Rena were swept higher still toward the heart of the dimensional vortex raging directly above Monas. Wind howled in from every direction spinning their bodies without mercy. Shards of concrete iron and glass tore through the air all around them like jagged projectiles ready to cut through anything in their path.The vortex roared so loud it felt like a thousand voices piling one upon another inside his head. Axel’s skin burned raw where dimensional energy scraped and wore at him. Yet his fingers stayed locked tight around Rena’s hand as though he would never let go. Far below them Henderson still held fast his sacred chain driven deep into marble ruin while his left hand clamped around Rena’s ankle with crushing force enough to shatter bone."You shall not escape your destined end," Hender