2026-07-17 23:59:09
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 79
The settlement of *Crimson Dust* did not have walls; it had a barricade of rusted siege engines, sharpened dread-iron spikes, and the bleached bones of massive desert anomalies. It sat at the bottom of a dried, toxic lakebed in the southern badlands, permanently shrouded in a swirling vortex of abrasive red sand.They approached the heavily fortified main gates just as the blood-red sun dipped below the jagged horizon, wearing heavy, tattered mercenary cloaks over their civilian combat gear, their faces hidden beneath thick cloth wraps to filter out the suffocating dust."Keep your auras completely suppressed," Quinn commanded through the localized comm-link in his ear, his voice barely a rasp against the howling wind. "If they sense even a fraction of regulated mana, we will have a hundred rogue Strikers on us before we cross the threshold.""My core is locked down," Luna confirmed, walking with a rigid, calculated limp to perfectly mimic a wounded mercenary.Standing before the rust
CHAPTER 78
The room felt less like more like a crypt. Luna sat on the edge of Quinn’s bed, her hands trembling violently as she maintained a faint, sputtering aura of restorative white light over his shattered chest. She was exhausted, her own inverted pathways burning with agonizing phantom pain, but she refused to stop."Don't move, Quinn," Luna whispered, her voice hoarse, devoid of its usual icy bite. "If you shift, the sternum will pierce your lung. My cellular acceleration is barely holding the bone splinters together."Quinn lay flat on his back, his dark eyes staring blankly at the stone ceiling. He didn't flinch as the bone magically knitted itself back together. He simply existed in the pain, letting it forge a cold, unyielding callous over his tactical mind.Across the room, Darius sat on the floor, using his teeth to pull a roll of bandages tight across his own bruised ribs. Felix stood in the corner, his back to the room. He had salvaged a spare runic terminal, but the holographic
CHAPTER 77
It took two days of planning and brainstorming before they were able to find something. They found someone connected to the movement.The only sound was the rhythmic dripping of condensation from the rotting iron pipes above.Squad Seven crouched atop a massive, decaying crane, their auras completely suppressed."Target acquired," Felix whispered into the comm-link. His runic spectacles whirred, cutting through the dense fog. "Thermal signature matches the residual aether we pulled from the decoy cave. It’s him. The Syndicate’s primary handler."Below them, standing in the center of an empty concrete loading pad, was a singular figure. He wore a tailored, high-collared charcoal trench coat that seemed to absorb the ambient mist. He had no visible weapons, no heavy armor, and his mana output was terrifyingly quiet—like a flatline."He’s waiting for a dead-drop extraction," Quinn murmured, his tactical gaze analyzing the handler's perfectly balanced posture. "Darius, take his left flan
CHAPTER 76
Darius kicked a jagged piece of obsidian. It shattered against the canyon wall with a sharp *crack*. "You don't just erase a fortress! You don't make a dozen massive iron cages and heavily armed executioners vanish into thin air!""They didn't," Felix said, his voice trembling as he knelt in the mud, holding his runic spectacles close to the flattened earth. "A spatial erasure artifact doesn't disintegrate matter, Darius. It folds the localized space into a pocket dimension or forcefully teleports the contents to a secondary anchor point. But the energy required to move a facility of that size... it’s staggering. It leaves a massive aetheric vacuum.""I don't care about the vacuum, archivist," Luna hissed, pacing like a caged predator. The brawler’s tape on her hands was soaked with rain, but her fists remained tightly clenched. "I care about the children! If they teleported them, we need to know where!"Quinn stood perfectly still, his eyes closed, letting the rain hit his face. He e
CHAPTER 75
Following the tribunal shift, the Class-A Watchlist had been implemented with suffocating, terrifying efficiency. Two Vanguard Inquisitors, clad in their light-absorbing obsidian armor, were permanently stationed at the end of Squad Seven’s dormitory hallway. Heavy, ocular wards shaped like glowing silver eyes floated near the ceiling of the cafeteria, tracking Luna’s every movement. The ambient mana in the air was thick with the constant, invasive hum of scrying magic.But Squad Seven had no intention of playing the roles of obedient, terrified prisoners.Midnight brought a torrential downpour, the heavy rain hammering against the stained-glass windows of their secured room. The thunder perfectly masked the frantic, whispered conversation happening inside."The ocular wards operate on a thermal-aetheric spectrum," Felix explained, kneeling on the cold stone floor. He was surrounded by four glowing, fist-sized amethyst crystals. His runic spectacles whirred as he painstakingly carved
CHAPTER 74
Felix paced the narrow space between the beds, his runic spectacles flashing with frantic, cascading numbers. "The tribunal shift was a brilliant tactical delay, Quinn, but mathematically, it is a decaying orbit. Councilor Vesper controls the internal investigation committee. Within three days, they will falsify the aetheric residue reports, claim Luna's healing magic was innately offensive, and sentence her anyway."Darius leaned against the cold stone wall, his emerald eyes burning with restless agitation. "We can't fight the entire Academy bureaucracy. And we can't break her out without turning her into a hunted terrorist.""We don't fight the bureaucracy," Quinn said, sitting at the heavy wooden desk. His voice was a calm, lethal hum. "We amputate its legs. An investigation relies on witness testimony. The only witnesses to the breach were Commander Rael’s Vanguard Wardens. Specifically, the three men Luna directly engaged.""You want to intimidate them?" Darius asked, a sharp, da
You may also like
The Pervert Mage: First Peek
Kurt Dp.19.1K viewsHoly Demon God
LuoFeng91522.0K viewsI AM DESTINY'S MISTAKE
Dere_Isaac18.1K viewsWorld Evolution
Zero_writer53.4K viewsThe Dao-Slayer’s Paradox
Shuaib Balikis 76 viewsMuri The Lightning Primordial
Hermano22251 viewsHoarding Resources In Apocalypse
Sunday 124 viewsTHE SEVENTH FRACTURE
Cael Voss 315 views