Chapter 111

Chapter 111:

All eyes were fixed on the figure above, his presence dominating the plaza as if he were a god gazing down at mere insects. The man in white robes hovered effortlessly in the sky, his expression unreadable but his intent clear. Lina felt an overwhelming sense of danger emanating from him, a suffocating pressure that seemed to crush the very air around them.

She glanced beyond the protective perimeter of the SRAs, her eyes catching the horrifying sight of the plaza itself. The ground twisted and retracted, folding and stretching in ways that defied the natural order. Impossible geometries took shape, space itself bending and warping under the influence of the reality bender's power. Her stomach churned as she forced herself to look away, the scene feeling as though it threatened to shatter her mind.

Around her, the operators reacted in their own ways. Some stood frozen, trembling with fear, while others knelt and began to pray. A few, their expressions steeled, maintained their composure and stared at the man with unyielding resolve. The oppressive silence was broken when the figure finally spoke.

"Miserable insects," he declared, his voice reverberating through the air, shaking the ground beneath their feet. It wasn't loud, but it carried an unrelenting weight, as though the words themselves held the power to crush their spirits.

Suddenly, every Kant Counter in the group emitted a piercing alarm, the devices flashing frantically. One operator, his voice strained with panic, shouted, "DAMN IT, THE SRAs ARE OVERHEATING! THEY WON'T HOLD FOR MORE THAN TEN MINUTES!"

The chaos grew as the radio crackled, static breaking through the transmission. A distorted but familiar voice cut through. "Bla …gle, this is Marsh…. I have … request. Cover … Foundation's retreat."

Black Eagle didn't respond immediately. Instead, he turned to Red Eagle, his voice calm but urgent. "Where did the Administrator go?"

Red Eagle quickly replied. "South. They must've left the city following the river's flow. I can track them once we're out of this zone."

Black Eagle nodded sharply, his decision made. "Understood." His voice rose, carrying authority as he addressed the gathered operators. "Group 1 and 2, effective immediately, Alpha-2 will take command in my place. At my signal, deactivate all your SRAs."

Black Eagle tapped the side of his helmet, his voice calm as it echoed through the comms.

"Black Eagle to Marshal, request accepted. But there's a condition, find our boss. I'll teleport the squad to the south of the city. They'll continue tracking the Administrator."

A brief silence followed. Then Marshal's voice cut through, tinged with static:

"Understood. Good luck."

Black Eagle straightened, his voice booming with authority.

"All operators, prepare to deactivate your SRAs. If anyone disables theirs too early or too late, we're all dead."

The weight of his words hung heavy in the air. Several operators gripped round, white devices glowing faintly in their hands. The tension was palpable, the seconds stretching into eternity.

"On my count!" Black Eagle shouted, raising his hand.

"Five… four… three… two… one!"

At the exact moment, every operator pressed the button on their devices. In an instant, the entire squad, including Lina, vanished in a flash of light.

The next thing Lina knew, they reappeared on a vast plain, landing with varying degrees of grace. Some operators hit the ground hard, while others managed to stay on their feet. Quickly, they regrouped and scanned their surroundings. They were a few hundred meters from the city, near a winding river flowing southward.

Red Eagle's voice cut through the lingering confusion, drawing everyone's attention as he held a tracking device in his hand.

"Pull yourselves together. Let's move, the area is still dangerous."

Without waiting for a response, he turned and began walking along the riverbank. The other operators exchanged brief glances, the silent camaraderie passing between them like a shared language. One by one, they followed Red Eagle.

Lina lingered, her eyes drawn back to the city. In the distance, flames rose high into the sky, most prominently from one central point. Unease settled over her as she stared at the chaos they'd left behind.

A hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her thoughts. She turned to see Mendoza standing beside her. His voice was steady, a quiet reassurance beneath the grim tone.

"We've got a mission to finish."

Lina hesitated for a moment longer, her gaze returning to the burning city. Mendoza spoke again, his voice carrying a weight of certainty.

"Don't worry about him. Not everyone can become the commander of Resh-1."

Clenching her fists, Lina nodded. "Let's go. We need to find the Administrator."

Together, they turned and joined the others, following the group along the river, the burning city fading into the distance behind them.

---

In the heart of the city, the plaza had fallen eerily silent. Graves, known as Black Eagle, stood firm, his piercing gaze locked on the robed figure floating above the ground. The two faced each other like immovable forces, the air thick with tension.

The robed man drifted closer, halting a few meters from Graves. His voice, deep and dripping with arrogance, echoed across the plaza.

"You are a god, like me. How dare you lower yourself to serve these inferior beings like a loyal dog?"

Graves's reply was calm, cutting, and laced with disdain.

"You're not a god, and neither am I. I don't have time to waste on a delusional idiot with a god complex."

The robed man's expression twisted with fury. His voice rose, brimming with indignation.

"How dare you disrespect me, god from Earth? I cannot believe I've wasted even a fraction of my divine power to communicate with such a weak deity!"

Graves smirked, folding his arms. His tone was unflinching, like a blade aimed straight at Adrian's ego.

"I could've done the same, but I make it a point not to waste energy on pompous assholes."

Suddenly, massive columns of flame erupted around them, scorching the air and turning the night sky crimson. The robed man bellowed, his voice shaking the ruins.

"I tried to remain civil, speaking to another god, but since you insist on such venomous insolence, I'll show no mercy! I am Adrian V, sovereign and absolute ruler of the Isleens. I am He-who-rule-isleen. And you what is your name?"

Graves's smirk widened into a grin as he raised an eyebrow. His voice was calm, almost mocking.

"My name is Deez."

Adrian's eyes narrowed, confusion flashing across his face.

"Deez what?"

Graves's grin turned into a wolfish smile.

"Deez NUTS."

In a split second, Graves vanished from his spot. Before Adrian could react, Graves reappeared behind him, delivering a devastating kick squarely to his two balls. The robed man's scream of pure agony echoed across the plaza, cutting through the silence like a dagger. Adrian crumpled mid-air, clutching his midsection, his divine composure shattered in an instant.

Graves stood over him, shaking his head with an amused chuckle.

"He-Who-Rule-Isleen? More like He-Who-Lost-His-Balls."

Adrian V's agonized scream continued to propagate through the city, a sound so raw and guttural it seemed to crack the air itself. His trembling form hovered back upright, and the fire in his eyes was now an inferno of unbridled rage. His voice boomed like thunder across the plaza, the sheer weight of it warping the space around them.

"I WILL DESTROY YOU! I WILL TEAR YOU APART, YOU INSOLENT WRETCH!"

The very ground trembled beneath their feet, cracks spidering out from where Adrian floated. Then, without warning, the air seemed to twist as reality itself buckled under his fury.

The battle began.

Adrian raised a hand, and with a snap of his fingers, the entire plaza folded in on itself like a crumpled sheet of paper. Cobblestones twisted into spiraling tendrils, reaching for Graves like the claws of some colossal beast. Buildings around them peeled away, rising into the air as if gravity had ceased to exist. The fractured structures hung like jagged shards of glass, rotating ominously above.

Graves barely flinched. With a single step forward, his presence seemed to stabilize the chaos around him. The tendrils of cobblestone froze mid-air, then shattered into harmless dust. Graves waved a hand dismissively, and the jagged shards of the floating buildings disassembled, their fragments reforming into perfect cubes that hung in orderly rows around them.

"Is that all you've got?" Graves taunted, his voice steady as he cracked his neck. "I thought gods were supposed to be impressive."

Adrian snarled, his hand shooting forward. A cascade of golden, molten light erupted from his palm, surging toward Graves like a tidal wave. The heat alone was enough to scorch the earth, reducing the plaza to molten slag in its wake.

Graves didn't dodge. He raised a single finger and drew a line in the air. The golden wave split in two, crashing harmlessly to either side of him. He smirked, but Adrian was already moving.

Adrian vanished in a blur, reappearing just inches from Graves. His fist, glowing with raw energy, drove forward with the force of a meteor. Graves tilted his head to the side, the punch narrowly missing him and obliterating the air where he stood. The shockwave from the strike flattened the remaining ruins and sent a hurricane-force gust ripping outward.

Graves retaliated with a swift uppercut, but Adrian's form shimmered, distorting like a mirage. The punch passed through empty air. Adrian reappeared a few meters away, his hand clenched into a fist. With a sharp motion, he dragged his hand downward.

The sky above them cracked open like a shattered mirror. Giant fragments of the heavens fell toward Graves, each one a kaleidoscope of distorted realities. One shard showed a city engulfed in flames, another a frozen wasteland, and a third an endless void of stars.

Graves raised his hand, clenching his fist. The falling shards froze mid-descent, their fractured surfaces warping as he crushed them with a thought. They imploded into specks of light, winking out of existence.

Adrian roared, both hands surging with power. He slammed them together, and the plaza beneath Graves folded inward, collapsing into a massive sinkhole. Reality twisted violently, and the sinkhole didn't end, it spiraled downward into infinite darkness.

Graves dropped into the void but didn't fall far. With a casual gesture, he created a glowing platform beneath his feet. 

Then, Graves raised his arms, and the darkness surrounding him ignited. Flames of brilliant blue consumed the void, racing upward to engulf Adrian. The robed figure snarled, forming a dome of golden energy around himself. The flames licked at the barrier, scorching the edges, but Adrian held firm.

Adrian shot upward, tearing through the fiery void with sheer force. He broke free and soared into the sky, his voice thundering. "ENOUGH OF THIS!"

With a gesture, he created a mini sun and turned it into a massive spear of burning plasma. He hurled it downward at Graves, the sheer brilliance of the weapon blinding.

Graves smirked and reached out, catching the spear mid-air. The plasma sizzled and hissed against his skin, but he remained unharmed. With a flick of his wrist, he sent it hurtling back at Adrian, who barely managed to deflect it with a shimmering golden barrier. The redirected spear veered off into the horizon, detonating with the force of a thousand suns. The resulting shockwave flattened mountains in the distance and turned the clouds into spiraling vortexes.

The two combatants charged at each other again, their forms colliding mid-air with a deafening boom. Each blow they exchanged sent ripples through reality, distorting the world around them.

Adrian lashed out with a wave of golden energy, but Graves countered with a swipe of his hand, the golden wave disintegrating into harmless particles. Graves retaliated by clapping his hands together, creating a shockwave that sent Adrian hurtling backward through the air.

Adrian caught himself, glaring at Graves with pure hatred. His voice was low, deadly. "You will regret disrespecting me."

Graves shrugged. "Big talk for someone who just lost his future kids."

The insult only fueled Adrian's rage. He screamed, his power surging outward. The sky darkened as storm clouds of molten gold spiraled above them. Lightning, black and crackling with energy, rained down, each strike threatening to obliterate the earth itself.

Graves raised his hands, catching the bolts of black lightning and redirecting them back at Adrian. The robed figure deflected the strikes, each one splitting into dozens of smaller bolts that scorched the battlefield below.

As the storm raged above them, the plaza, or what was left of it, shifted violently. The ground beneath them seemed to breathe, rising and falling in waves. The fabric of reality continued to warp and twist as the two combatants unleashed their full power.

And so, the clash continued, each strike reshaping the very fabric of the world around them. Neither combatant showed any sign of backing down, their battle escalating with every passing second. The air itself screamed under the strain of their powers, and the horizon burned with the remnants of their destruction.

Adrian V hovered above the ruins, his golden aura blazing like a sun. His gaze burned with raw power, every muscle in his body taut as he unleashed another wave of destruction. Graves stood below, seemingly unfazed, his smirk unwavering as the battlefield crumbled around him.

"Is this it?" Graves called out, his voice carrying effortlessly through the chaos. "You keep throwing tantrums, but I'm still standing. Maybe being a 'god' isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Adrian roared, and the sound was deafening. His voice alone shattered nearby structures into dust. "YOU DARE MOCK ME? I AM DIVINE PERFECTION! I WILL SHOW YOU TRUE POWER!"

He raised both hands, and the air around him shimmered. The clouds parted violently as a vortex of golden light spiraled downward, slamming into the earth. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outwards, reducing entire city blocks to rubble. The once-proud gothic spires crumbled like sandcastles, their remains scattered into the wind.

Graves leapt into the air, avoiding the destruction. His body glowed faintly as he countered Adrian's attack with a sweep of his arm. The golden vortex twisted unnaturally, bending into a swirling ring that surrounded Graves like a shield. He gestured again, and the ring exploded outward, sending fragments of pure energy hurtling toward Adrian.

Adrian snarled, forming a massive barrier in front of him. The fragments struck the shield with enough force to crack it, each impact sounding like thunder. Adrian's teeth clenched as he poured more energy into the barrier, fortifying it against Graves' relentless assault.

Graves' smirk widened. "Struggling already? Maybe you should've stayed in your little palace."

Adrian's barrier shattered with a deafening crack, and Graves closed the distance in an instant. He appeared directly in front of Adrian, his fist already swinging. Adrian barely managed to block, the force of the punch sending him hurtling backward through the air. He crashed into a distant clocktower, the impact obliterating the structure and sending debris raining down.

Adrian emerged from the wreckage, his robes torn and his golden aura flickering with instability. His eyes blazed with hatred as he raised both hands, summoning a torrent of molten light. The light coalesced into a massive spear that hovered above him, its tip crackling with destructive energy.

"I WILL ERASE YOU FROM EXISTENCE!" Adrian bellowed.

He hurled the spear with all his might, and the air itself seemed to scream as the weapon tore through it. Graves stood his ground, his eyes narrowing as he raised his hand. The spear struck with unimaginable force, creating an explosion that engulfed half the city in a blinding flash.

When the light faded, Graves stood unharmed in the center of a massive crater. He brushed dust off his shoulder, his expression calm. "Impressive light show, but you're still not getting anywhere."

Adrian's fury reached its peak. He extended his arms, and the ground beneath Graves erupted into massive tendrils of molten rock. Each tendril lashed out like a whip, their heat so intense that the air shimmered around them. Graves dodged effortlessly, his movements precise as he weaved through the onslaught.

With a snap of his fingers, Graves turned the tendrils to glass. They froze mid-attack, their molten surfaces solidifying into crystalline structures. He gestured, and the glass tendrils shattered into countless shards, which he then hurled toward Adrian like a swarm of daggers.

Adrian growled, summoning a whirlwind of golden light that deflected the shards. The two combatants clashed again in mid-air, their strikes creating shockwaves that rippled across the battlefield. Each punch, kick, and counter sent tremors through the earth, their sheer power reshaping the landscape.

The intensity of their battle reached a new level as both began to bend reality on a massive scale. Adrian waved his hand, and the city itself rose into the air. Buildings floated, twisting and rotating like pieces on a chessboard. He directed the structures toward Graves, each one accelerating like a missile.

Graves countered by snapping his fingers, causing the flying buildings to implode into black holes. The implosions sucked in debris and energy, collapsing into harmless bursts of light.

Adrian wasn't done. He clapped his hands together, and the sky above them split open. A massive rift appeared, revealing an endless void filled with stars. From the rift, streams of golden energy poured out, cascading toward the battlefield like waterfalls.

Graves raised his arms, and the streams of energy halted mid-descent. With a flick of his wrist, he redirected them upward, sending them back into the rift. The void shuddered and collapsed, leaving the sky intact once more.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," Graves said, his tone almost mocking. "But all this effort just to lose? Kind of sad, really."

Adrian's eyes narrowed. He thrust his hand forward, and a beam of pure light shot toward Graves. The beam tore through everything in its path, leaving a smoldering trench in the earth. Graves sidestepped the attack, appearing behind Adrian in the blink of an eye.

"You're too predictable," Graves muttered before delivering a devastating kick to Adrian's back.

Adrian was sent hurtling into the remains of a cathedral, the impact obliterating what little was left of the structure. He emerged moments later, his aura flaring brighter than ever.

The battle showed no signs of stopping, but the city couldn't withstand their clash. Half of it was already in ruins, the once-proud gothic architecture reduced to rubble. The streets were unrecognizable, filled with craters and molten rock. Fires raged uncontrollably, their smoke rising into the darkened sky.

Adrian and Graves stood amidst the destruction, their power radiating like twin suns. Both were battered but far from defeated, their determination unshaken.

"THIS IS FARE FROM OVER" Adrian growled, his voice laced with venom.

Graves smirked. "Good. I was starting to get bored."

The two surged toward each other again, their clash sending shockwaves through the ruined city. Reality itself seemed to strain under the weight of their battle, the fabric of existence bending and twisting around them.

The fight continued, each strike bringing more destruction, and neither combatant willing to back down.

Above the city of Isleen, the sky was alive with chaos. Adrian V and Graves clashed in a ferocious exchange of reality-shattering blows. Every strike warped the air, rippling through space and time with a deafening roar. The two combatants blurred in and out of visibility, their forms bending the very fabric of existence as they danced through the ruins of the half-destroyed city below.

Adrian's fist glowed with a golden intensity as he hurled it toward Graves, the sheer pressure of his strike obliterating a line of buildings in the distance. Graves countered with a flick of his hand, conjuring a barrier of black energy that deflected the attack upward, sending a shockwave rippling into the clouds.

With a roar, Adrian thrust his hands forward, bending the ground beneath the city. Massive stone pillars erupted from the earth, hurtling toward Graves at impossible speeds. Graves dodged effortlessly, weaving through the onslaught as the pillars crashed into one another, forming an apocalyptic maze of destruction.

"Is that all you've got?" Graves taunted, his voice calm despite the chaos.

Adrian snapped his fingers, and the pillars stopped mid-motion, the stone melting into molten streams that spiraled upward. The liquid magma encircled Graves like serpents, each stream snapping toward him with deadly precision. Graves narrowed his eyes, snapping his hands outward to freeze the magma in place. With a flick of his wrist, he shattered the molten constructs into thousands of shards, sending them hurtling back toward Adrian.

Adrian let out a guttural laugh as he waved his hand, warping the shards into harmless golden feathers that scattered into the wind. He surged forward in a blur of light, catching Graves off guard with a sudden upward strike to his jaw. The impact sent Graves flying upward with a thunderous boom, breaking through the cloud layer and into the open sky.

Graves twisted mid-air, stabilizing himself with a controlled burst of energy. His head tilted as he looked around, his vision taking in the vast emptiness surrounding Isleen. The island floated in an endless void, a solitary bastion of life in a sea of nothingness.

"An island in the middle of nowhere," Graves muttered. "How fitting."

Before he could gather his thoughts, Adrian was upon him, moving at an unimaginable speed. The golden figure collided with him, and the two were sent spiraling further into the void above the clouds. Adrian's laughter echoed as he unleashed a barrage of attacks, each blow rippling through the space around them.

Graves grunted under the relentless assault but retaliated with a devastating counter. He twisted reality, bending the void into jagged edges that slashed at Adrian from all directions. Adrian roared, his aura flaring as he disintegrated the edges with sheer willpower.

The two combatants clashed again, their fists colliding with such force that the shockwave dispersed the clouds for miles. Below, the city trembled, entire sections crumbling as the battle's intensity continued to escalate.

"Do you feel it?" Adrian growled, his eyes blazing. "The power of a god coursing through me? This is your end!"

Graves smirked, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "A god? Oh damn I'm glad I've never been touched by the God complex."

Adrian roared in fury, his hand glowing with golden light as he formed a massive spear of pure energy. He hurled it toward Graves, the weapon tearing through the void with a blinding brilliance. Graves responded by raising his hands, summoning a vortex of crimson energy to swallow the spear whole. The two forces collided, creating an explosion so vast it lit up the sky like a second sun.

The blast sent both combatants hurtling apart. Graves steadied himself, wiping away the blood from his face. Adrian emerged from the explosion unscathed, his golden aura brighter than ever.

The two glared at each other, floating above the now-destroyed clouds. Adrian raised his hand, the air around him shimmering as he prepared his next attack. Graves clenched his fists, his own aura flaring in response.

"This isn't over," Adrian snarled.

"Not by a long shot," Graves replied, his voice cold as ice.

With that, the battle resumed, the two charging toward each other in a clash that would shake the very fabric of reality.

Above the endless void surrounding the floating island of Isleen, Graves and Adrian clashed with a ferocity that seemed to defy the very laws of nature. Each blow they exchanged sent ripples through the fabric of reality, bending time and space to their will. The remnants of their previous battles left scars in the sky itself, fractured stars and twisted fragments of clouds floated aimlessly, bearing witness to their unimaginable power.

Adrian, glowing with golden energy, shot forward with a speed that broke the sound barrier, his fists leaving trails of light as they struck. Graves countered each attack with equal precision, his dark aura crackling like unstable electricity. The air around them seemed to collapse and reform with each collision, as though the universe itself struggled to contain the intensity of their duel.

Adrian roared, his voice reverberating across the void. "Is this all you have? I expected more from someone who dares to call himself my equal!"

Graves smirked, blood dripping from a gash on his forehead. "Equal? You think too highly of yourself. You're just another obstacle I need to remove."

Adrian's eyes narrowed, his golden energy flaring brighter. He raised both hands, and the void around him began to tremble. Massive spires of golden light erupted from the nothingness, spiraling toward Graves like celestial harpoons. Graves moved with fluid grace, weaving between the attacks as they shattered the void behind him, leaving trails of glowing destruction.

"DIE!" Adrian roared, lunging forward.

Graves responded by twisting reality itself, bending the spires of light into jagged shards that turned back toward Adrian. The king growled, batting them away with a casual wave of his hand. He shot upward, his golden aura intensifying, and slammed both fists into Graves' chest with the force of a meteor.

Graves grunted as he was sent hurtling through the void, but he regained his footing mid-air, skidding to a stop as the empty expanse seemed to solidify beneath his feet. 

With a flick of his wrist, Adrian summoned a blinding storm of golden lightning, each bolt arcing toward Graves with devastating precision. Graves raised his hand, conjuring a shield of crackling crimson energy that absorbed the bolts before redirecting them back toward Adrian. The golden king laughed as he dissipated the attack with a mere glance, his confidence unshaken.

"You're only delaying the inevitable," Adrian taunted. "This ends when I say it ends!"

He surged forward again, his fists glowing with golden fire. Graves met him head-on, their punches colliding with such force that the resulting shockwave tore through the void, scattering fragments of light and shadow in all directions. The two combatants became blurs of motion, trading blows at speeds too fast for the human eye to follow. Each strike left a trail of destruction in its wake, further unraveling the already fragile fabric of reality around them.

Adrian unleashed a devastating kick, catching Graves off guard and sending him crashing into an invisible wall of force. Before Graves could recover, Adrian was upon him, delivering a relentless barrage of punches that pushed Graves further into the depths of the void.

Graves snarled, his aura flaring as he retaliated with a powerful upward strike that sent Adrian reeling. Seizing the opportunity, Graves twisted the void around them into jagged spikes of crimson energy, driving them toward Adrian like spears. Adrian roared, shattering the spikes with an explosion of golden light, but the effort left him momentarily vulnerable.

Graves lunged forward, delivering a devastating blow to Adrian's stomach that sent the king hurtling backward. Adrian crashed through the fractured remains of the cloud layer, only to catch himself mid-air with a burst of energy.

"You're starting to slow down," Graves said, breathing heavily. "All that bravado is catching up to you."

Adrian wiped blood from his mouth, his expression twisted in fury. "Shut up!"

With a primal roar, Adrian unleashed a massive wave of golden energy, engulfing the entire battlefield. Graves responded in kind, his crimson aura expanding to meet the onslaught. The two forces collided, creating a cataclysmic explosion that briefly lit up the void like a second sun.

As the dust settled, both combatants emerged, their bodies battered and bruised but their determination unwavering. They floated a short distance apart, their eyes locked in an unrelenting stare.

Graves' breathing was ragged, blood dripping from numerous wounds, but his smirk remained intact. "Still think you're unstoppable?"

Adrian glared at him, his eyes full of rage.

The silence between them was deafening, charged with an intensity that promised the battle was far from over. Neither moved, their auras flickering like dying flames as they gathered what remained of their strength. The void around them seemed to hold its breath, waiting for the next clash that would surely shatter what little remained of reality itself.

Suddenly, a third figure appeared beside Adrian, his expression laced with mocking amusement. Adrian glanced at him and scoffed, "Took you long enough to get here,Solémar."

The newcomer, Solémar, grinned widely, his sharp features exuding confidence. Without a word, he turned his attention toward Graves, his gaze unnervingly calm yet carrying a weight of malice. Graves immediately felt a chill run down his spine as the air around them seemed to tighten.

He muttered under his breath, "Great. Another Level 4 reality bender. Just my damn luck."

Solémar's smile only widened as he vanished from his spot and reappeared right next to Graves in the blink of an eye. Reacting instantly, Graves lashed out with a powerful kick aimed at Solémar's midsection. But Solémar vanished again, effortlessly dodging the attack, only to reappear several meters away, his grin never faltering.

"Stop," Solémar said, his voice calm yet eerily playful. "I'm not here to kill you. Not yet, at least."

Graves narrowed his eyes, his instincts screaming at him to stay on guard. "Then what the hell do you want?"

Solémar's gaze flicked between Adrian and Graves, his smirk deepening as he replied, "I've got a proposal for you… A deal you might find interesting."

Graves clenched his fists, his body tensing further. "What kind of deal?"

Solémar's grin widened as he spoke with an air of amusement, "If we all fight at full capacity, there's no doubt we'll obliterate Isleen. So, I have a proposition. Let us, as superior beings, step aside and let our armies of lesser beings fight in our place. If your side wins, we will submit to you. If we win, you will submit to us. Do we have a deal?"

Graves narrowed his eyes, suspicious of the offer. His gaze fell to Solémar's outstretched hand. Without shaking it, Graves replied coldly, "Deal accepted. Just make sure you keep your word when we make you eat dirt."

For a brief moment, Solémar's confident grin faltered, his expression tightening into something more menacing. "That's something we'll just have to see, won't we?"

In the next instant, Graves vanished, his presence dissipating like smoke in the wind. Adrian, still hovering nearby, cast a murderous glare at Solémar.

Solémar sighed dramatically, waving his hand dismissively. "Oh, spare me the theatrics, your majesty. Let's keep this civil for once."

With a snap of Solémar's fingers, the world around them shifted. The two of them were teleported back to the ruined remnants of the city, the aftermath of the clash between Adrian and Graves still lingering in the air. Craters marred the earth, buildings were reduced to rubble, and the air reeked of smoke and destruction.

Then, Solémar clapped his hands together, his expression calm and focused.

In an instant, the destruction rewound itself like a scene played backward on a broken reel. The shattered buildings reassembled themselves brick by brick, the smoke evaporated into nothingness, and the craters filled themselves in. Within moments, the city was restored to its original form.

Guards marched through the streets, their boots clinking against the cobblestones, while citizens slept soundly in their homes, oblivious to the devastation that had just been undone. The night was calm, peaceful, as though none of it had ever happened.

Solémar turned to Adrian with a knowing smirk. "See? It's as if nothing happened at all."

---

The MTF operatives of the Foundation were steadily advancing along the riverbank, their boots crunching against gravel as they drew closer to a distant forest. The faint sound of their radio communications buzzed in the tense silence of the night.

Suddenly, all the Kant Counters on their gear blared out an alarm in unison. The shrill sound sent a chill through the group as Red Eagle immediately barked, "REGROUP AROUND ME! ACTIVATE ALL SRA'S, NOW!"

The operatives scrambled to form a tight perimeter, each activating their Scranton Reality Anchors. One of them muttered under his breath, "Shit, not again."

Weapons were raised, eyes darting across the landscape, scanning for any sign of movement. Then, without warning, a figure appeared directly in front of the group, just beyond the SRA field's reach.

"MOVEMENT!" one of the operatives shouted, and in a flash, every rifle was aimed squarely at the figure.

The individual, completely unfazed by the weapons pointed at them, spoke in a calm yet commanding tone, "Alpha-2, report."

The operative at the center of the group stepped forward cautiously, raising his hand and shouting, "STAND DOWN! LOWER YOUR WEAPONS! That's Black Eagle!"

The tension eased slightly as the operatives lowered their rifles, taking a closer look at the figure. Recognition swept through the group as they quickly saluted, acknowledging the arrival of Black Eagle.

From within the formation, Red Eagle stepped beyond the SRA field, nodding respectfully before giving a quick report. "They escaped by swimming down the river. I believe they exited through the forest."

Black Eagle stood still for a moment, his intense gaze fixed on the darkened forest ahead. His fists clenched tightly as frustration flickered across his expression. Then, with an abrupt shout, he ordered, "Deactivate your SRA's, they're distracting me."

The operatives hesitated for a fraction of a second before obeying, switching off their devices one by one. 

Black Eagle turned to Red Eagle, his tone sharp and commanding. "There's a village near that forest. You take Group 2 and follow the trail along the river. I'll take Group 1, and we'll head toward the village. Move out!"

Without waiting for acknowledgment, Black Eagle began marching toward the forest, his pace brisk and determined. Group 1 operatives exchanged uncertain glances before quickly falling into step behind him, their gear clinking softly as they jogged to catch up.

Red Eagle lingered for a moment, his gaze fixed on Black Eagle's retreating figure. His eyes narrowed, betraying a hint of unease, but he said nothing. Turning back toward the river, he motioned for Group 2 to follow.

As they moved along the bank, Red Eagle's focus remained unwavering, his sharp eyes scanning the water's surface for any signs of disturbance or clues left behind. The steady sound of the river's flow filled the silence as Group 2 pressed forward, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife.

———-

My brain is in pieces, their fight made it incredibly difficult for me to write 😭