Echoes of a Fallen Empire

The ruins of Jakarta stretched endlessly, a jagged scar across the earth where the Nine Dragons had once reigned supreme. The sky above was choked with ash, a smoldering reminder of the syndicate's downfall. The air tasted of decay, the bitter stench of victory brought at a horrifying cost. Amid the rubble, survivors moved like ghosts, their footsteps echoing in the hollow remains of a once-thriving city.

Sebastian stood atop a crumbling overpass, coat billowing in the wind. Below, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers leaned, their shattered glass like jagged teeth in the sky. His eyes scanned the horizon, but his thoughts drifted to those they’d lost—friends, allies, strangers who had perished in their fight.

“We stopped them this time...” he murmured, his voice barely audible over the howling wind. “But the cost... was it worth it?”