2025-03-25 20:49:15
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Their feet had just touched the outer surface of the ground when the night sky greeted them with a gentle drizzle. Samuel and Sarah didn’t even have time to breathe the free air in relief. From a distance, the roar of vehicles erupted, brutally cutting through the silence. Three unmarked armored cars surged toward them from the east.Sarah immediately ducked, drawing a sharp breath. “IMEA?”Samuel shook his head. “No. Their tactics are noisier. This is a third party.”Suddenly, a small explosion struck the ground two meters away. A stun grenade. Samuel pulled Sarah behind the ruins of an old military post, his face remaining cold. Sarah gritted her teeth. Her shoulder had been hit by shrapnel.“I can still fight,” she said, though blood had begun to seep out.Samuel didn’t answer. He stood up, letting his body stand tall before the enemy. Four individuals exited the vehicles, dressed in mismatched gear, wearing only chest armor and similar helmets. A sniper remained behind, a faint in
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The red siren was still flashing from the Omega-9 watchtower, but deep underground beneath the facility, Samuel and Sarah had already slipped past the security systems, which were busy responding to a false alarm. The atmosphere was tense, but they moved quickly—like two shadows, attuned to each other’s breathing rhythms.Their footsteps were muffled by Samuel’s Shadow Cloak, wrapping them in a spiritual mist that matched their body temperatures and aura emissions to avoid detection by sensors. Sarah breathed heavily but steadily, occasionally pressing her side where a bruise lingered—left by the inhibitor bracelet that had compressed her tissue for days."Still able to walk?" Samuel asked briefly without turning.Sarah simply nodded. "Even if my ribs were broken, I could still knock out one or two IMA heads."Samuel almost smiled, but another shadow flickered through his mind—not from the corridor ahead, but from a darker corner of his thoughts, a place he rarely touched.Suddenly, t
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The black cloak Samuel wore shimmered faintly as the Shadow Cloak merged with the darkness, shielding him from thermal sensors and radar. No footsteps, no glimmers of light. Only a chill remained in the air wherever he passed.In his hand, a small communication device displayed the rendezvous point: Omega-9 observation room, three floors underground. It was there he would meet one of the IMA Council members, Elder R, a man once known as a close friend of the Old Master—and now, the traitor Samuel hunted most.Samuel moved swiftly, navigating the ventilation shafts he had memorized with Void Reading—the ability to read the spiritual traces of inanimate objects. Elder R’s aura left behind cold, sharp patterns in the air, typical of someone hiding far too many secrets.Elsewhere in the facility, Sarah sat in the main detention room. Her body was weak, bound by spiritual-suppressing cuffs. But her mind was still sharp. She sat cross-legged, eyes closed, breathing slowly. With each breath,
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The corridor whispered as if it held its breath. Shadows curled along the walls like wary serpents, retreating from the steady footfalls of the man in black. Raze’s fingers grazed the cold stone as he entered the dim chamber, the two unconscious guards now mere obstacles on the floor behind him.His crimson gaze flicked through the darkness. The air was thick with memory—faded screams, ghosted laughter, and the scent of ancient betrayal.And then it happened.A sharp throb, not in his chest but inside his mind. A pulse that wasn’t his.“Melanie. Please... come back.”The voice was soft, distant—yet desperate. It sliced through the ether like a dull blade rubbing against old wounds. Raze froze mid-step.Samuel.He would know that voice anywhere.Still and alert, Raze tilted his head slightly as the message continued echoing in the spiritual thread, the ancient language of bonded bloodlines.“They’re closing in on us. I know you can feel it too. Please... I don’t want to lose you again.
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Samuel's steps halted amid the ruins of the underground corridor. His breathing was ragged, his body aching from the previous skirmish. Dust hung in the damp air, swirling with the scent of dried blood and crumbling stone. Beyond the pulsating wall of dark energy, he could go no further—not by strength alone. So he turned to the only thing left that might reach her: his bond.Samuel closed his eyes, placing his hand over his heart, and called out with everything he had.Melanie… listen to me, please.You don’t have to do this. I know there’s still a piece of you inside—beneath the darkness, beneath Draina’s voice.You’re still my sister. Remember Mom? Remember dancing in the northern fields under the spring rain? You used to laugh so hard your nose wrinkled. Come home. Please, come back before it’s too late.The message flowed from his soul like a river—quiet, but deep. And somewhere, far within the stone fortress drenched in shadows and rage, Melanie stirred.Sitting on her dark thro
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The atmosphere in the chamber grew thick with tension, and the very air seemed to pulse with anticipation. Raze’s eyes were locked on Draina, and every muscle in his body was coiled, ready to strike. His blade, the dark steel forged from the blood of fallen kings, hummed with energy. Yet, as the silence stretched on, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble.“Do you really think you can defeat me?” Draina’s voice cut through the stillness like a whisper on the wind, her gaze never leaving his. “I am not just a queen, Raze. I am the heart of the underground. This world bends to me.”Raze didn’t respond with words. Instead, he lunged forward, his blade cutting through the air with a deadly arc aimed directly at her throat.But before the steel could make contact, Draina’s hand shot up, a surge of violet energy emanating from her fingertips. The air crackled with power as the blade met an invisible barrier, the force of the impact sending a shockwave that rattled the walls.“You’ve a
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A dark room with dim lighting lay hidden inside one of the luxurious buildings in the city of Xaria. No one knew of its existence. Every resident passed by, unaware of the two red-eyed men sitting silently in front of a door. Their presence went unnoticed, as if they belonged to a realm outside of time.“Look at how stupid they are. No one realizes their world is slowly being taken over by the underground! I can't wait to make this house my personal palace,” sneered one of the guards, his arm darkened to the shoulder with pulsing veins of black.“Shut your mouth. You're down to your last chance before Queen Draina destroys you completely,” snapped the thinner of the two, his skin pale and his voice sharp.The comment caught the attention of a man dressed in black who had just walked past them. He stopped mid-step, narrowing his eyes before a cold, mocking smile curled on his lips. He didn’t hesitate to turn around and approach the two guards.“Psst! Look at this human, what an idiot!
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"He’s here again…”“Turn off the flashlight! Don’t make a sound!”Smoke from the refinery explosion still hung in the air when heavy footsteps pounded against the gravel. The fog split suddenly—pushed aside by an unnatural gust of wind. A tall figure in a dark cloak emerged. His long black hair shrouded part of his face, and a faint, violet glow shimmered from beneath his sleeves.“Once more, I ask,” his voice echoed, deep and unnatural, like it came from beneath the ground. “Where is Samuel Hayes?”No one answered.Behind a scorched oil drum, a boy whispered to his father, “Dad, he’s not human. He made the fire go back into the ground…”“Shhh! He can hear everything,” his father warned.The cloaked man—Kaelen—raised his hand. A burst of violet lightning shot into the sky, then crashed down, slicing through a massive shipping container. Molten metal dripped onto the earth. A single scream rang out before silence fell again.“I’m not here to play guessing games. You all work for him. B
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“Mr. Hayes, there’s a report of an attack at the oil refinery…”Samuel Hayes, in the middle of a yoga session, opened one eye. A whisper reached his ear, and the name mentioned was Brian.“Huh, such a nuisance. Him again, always him. Is there no one else in my life?” Hayes grumbled.His eyes scanned the three subordinates who looked terrified, clearly affected by Samuel’s disturbed expression.“Y—Yes, Mr. Hayes…”“I wasn’t speaking to you. Why are you scared? By the way, since you spoke, I want you to call Melanie,” Hayes replied.Ronald’s heart pounded erratically. How could he summon someone who had long been missing and presumed dead?“But… Mr. Hayes, Miss Melanie--”“How many times have I told you Melanie is not dead? Are you doubting me?”Ronald fell silent, his eyes pleading to his two teammates for help in making Hayes see reason—but no one dared oppose him. Samuel’s word had the weight of law.Hayes’s decisions had never failed, but this time, they were clueless. The last sigh
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