Morning came slowly, wrapped in fog and ash.
The villa stood scarred but unbroken, its walls blackened by fire and claw marks. Broken glass glittered across the floor like fallen stars. Luo hadn't slept.
He stood on the balcony, staring into the forest where the suppression units had vanished the night before.
They had tested him.
And they knew.
"You're going to drill a hole through the trees if you keep staring like that."
Lily's voice came from behind him. Soft. Sleepy.
He turned just as she wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her chin against his back.
"Couldn't sleep?" she asked.
"No," he admitted. "Too much noise in my head."
She tightened her hold slightly. "You scared me last night."
"I scared myself," Luo said quietly.
For a moment, neither spoke. The wind carried distant moans—zombies still roaming, still hungry.
Lily leaned closer. "Whatever you are… you don't feel dangerous to me."
His chest tightened.
"That's what scares me most."
---
Inside the villa, Mia sat at the dining table cleaning her rifle with unnecessary aggression.
Yuna watched her for a while before speaking. "If you scrub it any harder, it'll melt."
Mia didn't look up. "Good."
Yuna smirked. "So… how long are we pretending that kiss didn't happen?"
The cloth froze.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Yuna rested her chin on her hand. "You do realize you almost shot the wall when it happened, right?"
Mia clicked the magazine back into place and stood. "Focus. We're not safe yet."
She walked past them toward the surveillance room—only to stop dead in her tracks.
Someone was standing on the monitor feed.
A rooftop, three kilometers away.
Human silhouettes.
Watching.
---
"Luo," Mia called sharply.
He appeared seconds later, Lily close behind.
The feed zoomed in.
Four figures. Cloaks. Masks. Military posture—but not White Hand.
"They're not hiding," Lily whispered.
"They want us to see them," Luo said.
One of the figures raised a hand.
Then slowly lowered it.
A gesture of acknowledgment.
Not a threat.
The feed cut to static.
Silence filled the room.
Yuna swallowed. "I really miss normal problems."
---
Elsewhere, on the far side of the city, Aria stood barefoot in the ruins of a collapsed subway station.
Her hair was damp with sweat. Her breathing steady.
Before her, three figures knelt—her team.
Jin, his arms now fully crystallized steel.
Mara, whose veins glowed faintly with bioluminescent energy.
And Seo, whose shadow moved independently of his body.
"Again," Aria commanded.
They attacked her simultaneously.
She didn't move.
The air twisted.
Jin slammed into an invisible barrier. Mara was thrown backward as if struck by a giant hand. Seo's shadow was pinned to the ground, screaming.
Aria finally raised her hand.
"Enough."
The pressure vanished.
She turned away, fists clenched.
Still not enough.
Then the air changed.
A cold presence swept through the station.
The three cloaked figures emerged from the darkness.
Her team immediately braced for battle.
But Aria raised her hand.
"No."
The tallest figure spoke. "You carry a zombie core."
Aria's eyes darkened. "And if I refuse?"
"You will die chasing power you don't yet understand."
Silence.
Finally, Aria removed the core from a reinforced container and placed it on the ground.
The shortest figure stepped forward.
Symbols ignited in the air—ancient, glowing, alive.
The figure touched Aria's forehead.
Pain.
Then—
Nothing.
Her scars vanished.
Her monstrous veins faded.
Her reflection in a shattered mirror showed the girl she once was.
Human.
The figure whispered, "To become powerful… you must first choose to."
The three vanished into shadow.
Aria dropped to her knees.
Tears fell.
Then she smiled.
"I'll find you, Luo," she whispered. "As myself."
---
Back at the villa, the day passed uneasily.
Mia stood on the rooftop alone.
Luo joined her quietly.
She didn't look at him. "You always step in front of danger."
He frowned. "Someone has to."
She finally turned. "You did it back then too. When I didn't deserve it."
The words hung between them.
"I never asked why," she continued. "Why you protected me."
Luo searched his mind.
Nothing.
Just a feeling.
"I don't remember," he admitted honestly.
That hurt her more than any lie.
She nodded once. "Then don't forget again."
She walked away.
Lily watched from a distance, heart tight.
The world was breaking.
And everyone was standing on the edge of something irreversible.
---
That night, Luo dreamed.
A child's hand in his.
Blood on stone.
A promise sealed beneath a moonless sky.
And a voice whispering—
Not yet.