The sky tore in half.
Riftlight and shadow clashed like titans as Caleb collided with Lys midair, creating sonic ripple that shattered glass across four city blocks. For a heartbeat, there was only light—pure, blinding—and then came the impact.
Lys hit the ground hard, cracking the pavement. His staff splintered.
He didn't get up.
Caleb floated above the wreckage, breath heavy, eyes still glowing. Around him, the monsters froze… then screamed and scattered, fleeing into the fractures of reality they came from.
The breach closed. The second Rift sealed.
Silence.
Then came Elara's voice. "Caleb… you okay?"
He turned.
Elara and Mira were stepping carefully through the smoke. Mira lowered her rifle, but her eyes never left Caleb's.
"You just beat a Class-S corrupter," she said. "Alone."
"Yeah," Caleb replied hoarsely, lowering to the ground. "I'm just as surprised as you are."
He took one step forward—then staggered.
Elara caught him. Her hand brushed his shoulder, and she winced. "Your aura's overclocking. You're going to burn out if you don't stabilize."
Caleb's vision blurred again. That freezing numbness from Lys's hit—it was spreading.
"Why… why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" he muttered.
"Because he hit you with memory venom," Mira said grimly. "We need to get you to a Riftwell before it erases anything vital."
But even as they spoke, another sound broke the calm.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
From the wreckage emerged a tall woman in a gray trench coat. Her silver hair was tied back, and her left eye was mechanical, scanning them like a laser.
"Impressive show," she said. "Truly. You've drawn the attention of people who don't like attention being drawn."
Mira stiffened. "Director Yu."
Caleb frowned. "Who?"
Director Yu ignored him. "The Union is calling an emergency hearing. Sector 2 is compromised, and the boy's abilities are no longer classifiable."
She turned to Elara.
"You should've reported the Riftlink when it first appeared. Instead, you concealed a Class-Z anomaly."
"He's not an anomaly," Elara shot back.
"No," Yu said. "He's a threat."
Two armored agents stepped out from behind her, leveling disruptors at Caleb.
"Protocol 7," Yu said. "The boy comes with us."
Mira drew her weapon. "You're not taking him."
Elara moved in front of Caleb, shielding him.
But Caleb stepped out between them, his voice low and steady.
"No. It's fine. I'll go."
Elara snapped her head toward him. "What?!"
"I need answers," he said. "And if the Union knows something about my father… I want to hear it."
Yu nodded. "Smart choice."
But as she turned, Caleb noticed the flicker in her eye.
She knew something.
Something deeper.
And as the agents escorted him into the transport craft, Caleb realized…
This wasn't rescue.
It was containment.
And maybe, just maybe…
they were more afraid of him than the monsters ever were.