451: Dominion's Footsteps

Location: Vault Zero, Underground Subsector, Tavara – 4:39 AM

Alarms blared through the steel veins of Vault Zero, sending a chilling echo through the subterranean compound. Hidden deep beneath the capital, the vault was a place few had ever entered—and even fewer had ever left alive.

Damien's boots pounded across the metallic floor as his personal strike team trailed behind him. His earpiece crackled with updates.

"No sign of forced entry," Aria reported from central command. "Yet internal sensors are failing one by one. He's inside, Damien. Already."

Damien narrowed his eyes. "Seal the exits. Gas him out if necessary."

He came to a halt at the entrance to the Inner Sanctum. This chamber held the most sensitive data: ancestral codes, global fail-safe triggers, and…the genetic ledger of the Kane bloodline.

The reinforced vault door had not been broken into—it had been opened. Authenticated. Authorized.

By a Kane.

Damien's mind raced. Only three people alive held clearance: himself, Nora, and—

No.

He bolted into the chamber.

And there he was.

A man cloaked in obsidian robes, standing with his back turned before the Master Terminal. Silver threads laced his garments like veins, pulsing faintly with kinetic energy. His presence warped the space around him, like light itself bent to serve his will.

"You're trespassing," Damien said coldly, his weapon trained.

The figure turned.

It wasn't Dominus.

It was worse.

A familiar face stared back at him—one Damien hadn't seen in over two decades.

"Uncle Matthias?" Damien whispered, his voice cracking with disbelief.

The man smiled grimly. "They told you I was dead. Lied to you, raised you for war, bred you like a soldier. But the truth always echoes, nephew… especially in vaults."

Damien's fingers curled tighter around the trigger.

"You vanished in the Eurasian wars," Damien said slowly. "Presumed KIA. Father never recovered from your loss."

Matthias laughed—a sound as cold as granite. "Your father was the architect of my downfall. He sealed me away in here, buried alive with knowledge he couldn't control. But I learned, Damien. I evolved."

He held up a gloved hand, and the vault's defense grid blinked out. Everything—power, data links, sensors—went dark.

Damien's team lost contact.

Aria's voice died in his ear.

It was just the two of them now.

Matthias stepped forward, his presence overwhelming.

"You are strong," he said. "But not sovereign. You carry the Kane name, but you don't yet understand what it means. This legacy… it doesn't belong to you alone. It belongs to those who were forgotten. Like me."

Damien's gun never wavered. "Then explain why Dominus is using your blueprint. Why he's tearing through Tavara using tactics you designed."

"Because I gave him permission," Matthias said, eyes gleaming. "Dominus is the executioner. I… am the architect."

The truth hit Damien like a hammer.

Dominus wasn't the head of the serpent.

He was the fang.

And Matthias Kane—the forgotten brother, buried and betrayed—was the true venom in its blood.

"You're going to regret ever stepping out of the shadows," Damien whispered.

"I already do," Matthias said. "You're too much like your father."

With a flick of his hand, the chamber exploded in red light.

Lasers. Smoke. Fire.

And war… reborn.