An assistant in white gloves carefully transferred the black and gold artifact into a secure carrying case lined with dark velvet. Dante took the case, gave the auctioneer a final nod, and walked toward the exit without looking at anyone in the room.As he climbed the narrow staircase toward the surface, his senses sharpened automatically. The combat instincts Mars had burned into his nervous system fired in rapid succession, cataloging every detail behind him with predatory precision.Footsteps. Whispers. The subtle shift of fabric as several people turned in their chairs to watch him leave.He pushed through the unmarked door and stepped into the cold night air. The abandoned street was dark and empty, but Dante could feel the weight of attention pressing against his back like invisible hands.He walked three blocks before glancing over his shoulder.Two figures stood near the corner of the warehouse building, partially hidden in shadow. They were not following him.They were watchi

Dante sat at his apartment table, tracing the artifact's origin through layers of hidden transactions on his laptop. Each trail led deeper, winding through shell companies and anonymous accounts that most forensic accountants would never have clearance to access. One name appeared repeatedly across every layer."The Black Veil." Dante leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen. "Not a company. Not a syndicate. Something much older."He picked up his phone and called Alessia."I need access to your father's private archive again." Dante kept his voice even. "Specifically anything connected to organizations operating before the nineteen fifties that were never registered publicly.""What did you find?" Alessia's voice carried immediate concern."A name that keeps appearing in every transaction connected to that artifact I purchased. The Black Veil. Have you ever heard of it?""Never." Alessia paused. "But my father might have. I will ask him. What exactly are you looking for?""Mem

Silas moved first. His thin frame materialized behind Dante like smoke solidifying into flesh, both dark blades slicing toward Dante's spine in a silent, perfectly coordinated double strike.Dante twisted sideways. The blades missed his back by inches, but the dark energy surrounding them left a burning trail across his shoulder that felt like acid being poured directly onto raw nerve endings."You felt that, did you not?" Silas whispered from somewhere behind him, already gone, already repositioning. "My blades do not just cut flesh. They cut deeper. Into the parts of you that Mars touched."Before Dante could respond, three floating blades shot toward him from the opposite direction.Vera stood twenty feet away, her gloved hands conducting the weapons through the air with subtle finger movements, each blade trailing ribbons of dark energy as it spun toward its target.Dante dropped low and rolled beneath the first two. The third caught his forearm and opened a thin gash that burned

He changed his strategy instantly. Instead of trying to overpower Ronan, he began targeting the markings directly.He dodged Vera's next attack and drove his fist into the brightest marking on Ronan's left forearm.The effect was immediate. Green light exploded outward from the impact point and the marking cracked like broken glass. Ronan screamed. For the first time, genuine pain twisted across his massive face."What did you just do?" Ronan grabbed his arm, staring at the fractured marking with wide, horrified eyes. "How did you know to hit there?""Because your healing got slower every time." Dante straightened up, blood still dripping from his jaw. "And your markings got dimmer. You are not invincible, Ronan. You are running on a battery. And I just cracked it."Ronan's healing failed. The gash on his arm stayed open, bleeding freely. For five full seconds, his body did not repair itself.Dante attacked. He drove forward with every remaining ounce of physical strength, targeting e

"I mean exactly what the word implies." The violet light pulsed brighter. "You are flesh and bone and borrowed fire. You walk around this sanctuary like you own it, touching statues, reading murals, demanding answers from forces that existed before your species learned to stand upright. And yet you cannot even maintain a basic connection to Mars' power during a simple fight with mortal enhanced soldiers.""That fight was not simple." Dante's fists clenched at his sides. "They had abilities connected to divine energy. They knew about the sanctuary. They knew about Mars.""Of course they knew." Neptune laughed, and the sound shook the sanctuary so violently that dust fell from every statue in the chamber. "Did you think you were the only being in this world aware of divine power? The Black Veil has been scavenging scraps of our energy for centuries, feeding on fragments like insects chewing on the corpse of a giant. They are nothing. Parasites wearing borrowed skins. And yet three of th