The air felt heavy. As if every molecule had realized it was about to die.
Victor hovered above the rooftop, his demonic body radiating heat. Lia leaned against the cracked wall, trying to steady the trembling in her hands. Seth lay on the concrete—drained. The Scream had taken everything out of him.
But not enough.
— "Something's coming," Victor muttered, his fangs exposed, eyes blazing red.— "Not something. Someone," Lia corrected, her voice low and tense.
A footstep. Then another.Silence shattered.
From around the corner emerged a figure—tall, dressed in black with golden trim. The Council's insignia on his chest. A smooth, eyeless mask covered his face.
A high-ranking Savior. But not just a warrior.A synthesis of flesh and algorithm.
They called him:Index.
— "Seth. The last Apex," he said in a voice too even, too sterile. "You've violated the Control Directives. Surrender."
Seth pushed himself up slowly, leaning against Victor.— "If I were less tired... I'd have torn you in half already," he growled through gritted teeth.
Victor chuckled.— "Still could try."
Index raised a hand. Four creatures emerged behind him—genetically altered. But something was… off. Their eyes: a flat gray. No light. No fear.
Victor frowned.— "They're not bound by anything. No living essence..."
Seth rolled his shoulders. The blood roared in his ears.— "Scream."
From deep within, from bones broken by grief, the sound erupted—a scream not meant for this world, shredding the very fabric of reality. The building shook. Dust spiraled in shockwaves.
The creatures? Unmoved.
No obedience. No reaction.
— "They don't submit..." Lia whispered.
Index stepped calmly through the shockwave, raising an organic weapon from his shoulder—a tube that pulsed like a living artery.
— "The Council has evolved, Seth. We no longer use will-bound flesh. Only programs."
Victor struck. A blur of wings and claws. But Index blocked him with a single gesture—an invisible wave of force slammed Victor to the ground, unconscious, steam hissing from his mouth.
Seth trembled. No strength. No time.He couldn't run. He couldn't fight.
Then—A hand gripped his wrist.
Lia.
— "Wake up, Seth. You said no one else dies because of you. Don't start with me."
Then she kissed him. Fast. Fierce. Not love. Urgency.
And something woke up inside him.Not rage.Not flame.But something older.
A line of text appeared in his mind:
[System Update Detected]Soul Link – Emergency ActivationYou may bind one living being to your core essence. They will be connected to your survival. If you die, they die. If they die, you break.
Seth didn't choose. The system did.Lia was marked.
His eyes flared—violet, searing.
He stood.
Index had already fired. The biological round hissed through the air.
Seth caught it—with his bare hand.
It disintegrated on impact.
— "That's new," Lia muttered.
Seth bared his teeth in a grin, blood smeared across his lips.— "I have no idea what's happening. But it's on our side."
And then, he moved.
In a blink, he was in front of Index.
A second later—he punched straight through his chest.
But there was nothing there. Just silver mist.
Index vanished. A hardened hologram. A test.
A message lingered in the air:
"If you're reading this, Apex… the real war just began."— The Council
Seth turned. Lia was on her knees, breathing hard. Her eyes glowed faintly violet.
— "What… what did you do to me?" she asked, shaken.
— "I bound you to me. Or the system did. I don't know."
— "That's not a choice. You tied me to your death, Seth."
A silence fell—thick, heavy.
— "Then I'm not allowed to die," he said. "And neither are you."
Lia looked at him. Not with hate. With fear. And something unspoken: How much of you is still human?
—
⚠️ Above them, seven lights flared into life—burning holes in the clouds.
The Council had begun the true hunt.