The dust from the collapsed chamber settled, choking the air, but Freecs didn't even cough. He stepped over the whimpering, broken form of Valerius as if he were stepping over a discarded sack of flour.[Objective Update: Infiltrate City Barracks. Target: Captain Halloway.]"City barracks, huh? Sounds like a party," Freecs muttered, wiping a smear of blood from his cheek."You’re a monster, Freecs! They’ll hang you for this!" Valerius wheezed, his fingers clawing at the stone.Freecs paused, looking down with a bored expression. "Funny. You told me the exact same thing when I asked for a slightly larger share of the loot last month. Remember?""I was testing you! It was for your own good!""And this is for mine," Freecs said, his voice flat. He didn't look back as he navigated the shifting ruins toward the surface.*Two days later, the City Barracks of Oakhaven stood like an iron fortress in the center of the district. Freecs adjusted his hood, his cloak—a reward from his previous ki

Freecs didn’t wait to see her reaction. He swung into the rafters of the abandoned tannery, his boots landing silently on rotted wood. He scrambled toward the skylight, heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird.[Warning: Primary Heroine closing in. Evasion failure imminent.]"Shut up," Freecs hissed, his fingers fumbling with a tripwire he’d rigged hours ago. "I'm busy surviving.""You’re hiding, Freecs," a voice called out, calm and terrifyingly close.He froze. Vivina stood in the center of the tannery, her golden armor shedding light into the grime. She hadn't even broken a sweat."Hiding? I’m just taking a smoke break," Freecs called down, his hand hovering over the tripwire."With a mana-bomb in your pocket and blood on your hands? You’re not a smoker. You’re a liability.""And you’re a Saint. You’re supposed to be saving cats from trees, not hunting down 'glitches' in the slums."Vivina tilted her head, her gaze locking onto the rafters. "I save the city. If that mea

The explosion of light hadn’t destroyed the Architect; it had merely blinded it long enough for them to vanish into the sewers, leaving the ruined tannery to collapse in a heap of splintered wood and phantom fire. Now, deep in the damp silence of a mountain grotto miles from the city, the adrenaline was finally bleeding out, replaced by the stinging reality of their injuries.Freecs slumped against the mossy wall, his chest heaving. Vivina sat a few feet away, her golden armor shattered and discarded in pieces across the damp stone. She looked less like a Saint and more like a survivor."You’re bleeding, Freecs," she said, her voice unusually soft in the cramped space."It’s just a scratch," he wheezed, pressing a hand to his side. "You look like you went five rounds with a meat grinder.""I took worse hits during the initiation trials," she replied, picking at a jagged tear in her tunic. "At least then, the enemy didn't have tentacles.""True. The Council’s flair for the dramatic is

The city of Oakhaven was a graveyard of lights. Every torch was extinguished, and the streets were patrolled by armored inquisitors with glowing, violet visors.Freecs adjusted his velvet collar, the silk itching against his neck. Beside him, Vivina looked dangerously out of place in a floor-length evening gown that clearly belonged to someone much smaller."Stop pulling at the neckline," she hissed, her voice barely audible. "You look like you’re trying to strangle yourself.""I am," Freecs muttered, keeping his head down as they approached the North Gate checkpoint. "If this corset doesn't kill me, the guards definitely will. Who wears this stuff? It’s basically torture.""It’s high-society fashion, you idiot. Just stop hunching. You’re a lord’s son tonight, remember?""A lord’s son who smells like a sewer and has an assassin’s dagger taped to his thigh? Perfect.""Lord Valerius the Third. My cousin from the southern provinces," she added, catching his eye with a warning glare. "And

"Don't tell me you're planning on dying in a sewer," Freecs shouted, parrying a downward strike that rattled his teeth. "That’s a pathetic way to go."Vivina ducked under a whirling blade, her golden aura scorching the damp brickwork. "I've had worse shifts, Freecs! Just watch your left!""My left is fine! It’s the dozen guys behind you that are the problem!""Then stop talking and swing your blade!"Freecs vaulted over a pipe, his boots splashing in the grime. He caught an inquisitor’s wrist, twisted until the bone snapped, and shoved him into the path of another. "You realize we’re completely outnumbered, right? There’s literally no way out of this pipe.""There is if you stop whining and start listening!" she yelled, thrusting her blade into an attacker's chest. "We need to clear the shaft! Move to the center!""The center? You want me to stand in the middle of a firing squad?""I want you to be the bait! Just for a second!""Bait? You want me to be the bait?""You're the glitch, a