Arkvale burned under a crimson sky, its towering spires bathed in an unnatural glow that pulsed like a heartbeat. The city was a wound, bleeding light and chaos. Sirens wailed, their discordant cries echoing through the glass canyons of Upper Arkvale, while news drones hovered like vultures, broadcasting panic to every screen in the city. Emergency alerts flashed relentlessly: **"Red Phantom Mass Event – Evacuate Upper Arkvale. Curfew Enforced."**
Charles stood against the floor-to-ceiling glass wall of his penthouse, chest heaving, his eyes glowing like twin furnaces of molten red. Invisible to all but him, red threads of Sync energy radiated from his body, weaving through the city like a spiderweb that stretched for miles. Every heartbeat, every gasp of pleasure, every tremor of fear in Arkvale—they were his now, pulsing through him, feeding the Red Core buried deep in his chest. The power was intoxicating, a symphony of dominance that made his blood sing.
