Dugan's eyes narrowed, his jaw tightening as the memory of the past crept into his mind. He stepped closer to Jayar, his voice low and filled with venom. "He drove my father insane. Took my family from me. He wanted to turn me into nothing more than a twisted puppet for the Ootsoro clan. You really think I need someone like that in my life? Someone who destroyed everything I cared about?"
Dugan's words hung in the air, thick with the weight of his bitterness. His body was rigid, the tension palpable, but the flicker of pain in his eyes was undeniable. It wasn't just anger that drove him, but the deep, gnawing emptiness left by those who had shaped his fate.
Jayar looked at Dugan with a mixture of confusion and concern, his eyes narrowing as he tried to process what Dugan had just said.
He sighed deeply, shaking his head. "I don't get you, Dugan," he muttered, his tone softened, but still laced with disbelief. "But… if it helps, you can come to my place. Maybe we'll find something there that can help you—at least calm down for a bit. You're not alone in this."
Jayar's hideout was cluttered with an assortment of junk, the kind of place most people would avoid. Among the mess, however, were the unsettling "legs" of enormous iron spiders—Eight in total. But Jayar only had six of them. Their metal legs, cold and gleaming in the dim light, looked like something straight out of a nightmare.
Jayar had collected them over time, each one adding to his odd collection of discarded treasures, but their purpose was unclear.
Dugan eyed them warily as he stepped inside, glancing at the legs with a mix of curiosity and disdain. He leaned against the wall, his voice low as he addressed Jayar, "I only need four. That'll be enough for the demonstration. Just need a bit of canteegon… you know the stuff."
Jayar raised an eyebrow at Dugan's request, his confusion growing. He had never heard of "canteegon" before. "You're really going to do something with those… things?" he muttered, glancing at the iron spider legs.
Dugan, however, was already focused on the task at hand, his mind working quickly. "Yeah," he replied curtly, "I can make it work. Just trust me on this."
Kim stepped into the hideout, a small cube of canteeegon in hand, no larger than a centimeter across. He handed it to Dugan with a simple, silent gesture. The substance gleamed faintly, its intricate design almost mesmerizing under the dim light. Jayar eyed it with a mix of suspicion and curiosity.
"What's the plan, Dugan?" Jayar asked, leaning against the cluttered table, his gaze fixed on the cube. "What exactly are you going to do with that… thing?"
Dugan took the cube from Kim, inspecting it for a brief moment before looking up at Jayar with an unwavering calm. "A portal," he said simply.
Jayar blinked, clearly not expecting such a response. "A portal?" He let out a short laugh, half in disbelief. "You're serious about this?"
Dugan didn't react, his focus already on the task ahead. He was used to being underestimated.
...
Two days ago
City BI
"Alex, where are you?" Alai's voice was calm on the surface, but beneath it there was a shade of unease, the kind that only those who had lived long under the weight of responsibility carried in their speech. "Do you know what's happening with Dugan?
Alex did not answer at once. He let the pause stretch, as though savoring the moment. Leaning back in his chair, he let his eyes rest on the figure moving before him in the dim light of the chamber. Dugan. The boy was unaware—or perhaps only pretending to be—that every step, every flicker of his expression was being watched.
Finally, Alex spoke. His voice was calm, deliberate, and carried that particular softness which was often more unnerving than open hostility.
"I know enough," he said. "I'm watching him. At this very moment."
He let the words linger in the air, like smoke from an extinguished candle, before falling silent again.
Alai's voice came through the line, clipped and direct:
"Where are you?"
Alex glanced around, then answered without hesitation.
"Heading toward Core Three, I believe."
The call ended abruptly. Silence followed, broken only by the faint hum of machinery around him. Moments later, a message from Alai appeared on the screen:
Marty forced my hand. He's coming for you.
Alex took a deep breath, "it was expected."
Dugan walks briskly along the center of the road of a ruined city. The city was filled with red smoke and the smell of smoke mixed with blood.
The blond man stopped. His gaze went up to the tower of the huge building on which the nexus core was located. It was like there was a huge pimple on the building. It glowed with faint lights from inside. Dugan quickened his pace and ran inside the building.
A hooded Alex was looking at it all from the side, his robe glowing with a red nexus. He just grinned and began to watch the blonde, even though he summoned four monsters with his nexus with a snap of his fingers.
The monsters moved like gorillas and looked like a piece of flesh and muscle two people tall. There were swollen veins on their body in red, there is a small core in the place where the head should have been located, as well as on the building.
One of the monsters climbed up and hid in the shadows of the building, waiting in ambush. The second monster broke the road and threw a rock smashing himself right at the blonde. The blonde noticed this and did a backflip to avoid being hit. I took advantage of the moment when the first monster jumps out of the third floor right at the blond man. All the monsters surrounded him.
The guy in the hood looks at it with disappointment.
"I expected more from you, son of K. L.," he said and turned his back on heading to another place.
But standing in his way is a man with dark skin and the same red Nexus glow from his clothes.
"Marty..." the hooded guy said with a smile. "I didn't expect to see you here."
Marty grabbed him by the throat and slammed him to the ground.
"I'll rip out your spine," Marty said coldly through clenched teeth.
"how nice, but I think I'll decline," he replied with a bloody smile.
The guy fell through the building, leaving Marty alone. The building began to collapse completely. But he stood motionless, staring at the neighboring building. He was there, Alex.