The giant shadow snapped its jaw shut, swallowing Tariq's entire ledge in a single second.A sharp, terrified cry echoed from the pit before cutting off completely. The air grew freezing cold as the massive beast turned its glowing yellow eyes up toward the edge where Amina and I stood. In our world, the deep mining pits beneath Sector 4 were not just old tunnels. They were ancient monster nests sealed away fifty years ago by the Elder Council to protect the inner city's energy reserves. When high-grade magic spilled into these dark depths, it woke up creatures that fed on raw magic cores."Kofi, run!" Amina said, grabbing my uninjured arm and pulling me back toward the narrow stone passage.She didn't waste a single moment looking back to see if Tariq was dead. Amina never wasted energy on dead enemies or empty reg

"Because selling us back to the Executioners gets your entire camp burned to the ground," Amina said, her voice dropping into that same cold, steady tone that always meant she was about to strike a bargain.Even with black iron chains wrapped around her delicate wrists, she did not flinch from the massive battle axe hanging two inches from her neck. In the wild lands beyond the sector walls, law did not exist, but trade alliances did. The outer factions fought constantly over territory, relying on black-market magic cores and stolen inner-city tech to survive against the Council's enforcement squads. Amina had memorized the faction maps locked in Lord Malakor's vault, and she knew the red-haired warrior standing over us was not a random bandit.The red-haired woman narrowed her dark eyes, resting the flat side of her heavy axe against Amina's collarbone. "You talk big for a runaway servant.""I talk facts, Commander Valerie," Amina replied, using the woman's name without a single seco

The black steel arm of the war-construct slammed down like a falling building, crushing three Syndicate guards into the stone floor before anyone could draw a weapon.High-grade war-constructs were forbidden inside the lower sectors. The Elder Council built them using ancient core engines found in the deepest wild ruins, sealing their control chips with inner-city blood seals. Only high nobles like Lord Malakor had the wealth to purchase these walking fortress machines. Malakor had not just tracked us across the mountain border. He had brought an illegal weapon of mass destruction directly into the Iron Fang stronghold, proving he would break every law on the continent to drag Amina back to his estate."Kofi, move left!" Amina shouted, grabbing the back of my leather vest and hauling me sideways as a massive iron fist smashed into the wooden bed where Chief Gar