"Are all of these necessary?" Theo asks Julian, who is busy securing a helmet on Theo. "I thought you said HB dungeons are safe? So, what's with all these safety gears?" Theo is puzzled.
Julian had firmly asked him to wear knees and elbows protectors, bullet proof vest, gloves, and now a helmet. He feels buried. And he looks buried. Thea is not short and small, like Leila. But she's also not that tall. But with all the incorrect safety gears sizes, he looks ridiculous.
But Julian doesn't want to take any chances. So, he ignores Theo's silent plea. Theo sighs and finally says, "Jules, you know that I can turn on my own personal Aegis Y, right? Isn't that better than any of these safety gears?"
Julian stops moving. He hits his forehead. "Sometimes I can be such a dumb dumb." Then he turns to Theo, smiling. "You're right." He starts taking off the helmet. Theo sighs in relief and helps with taking off everything else.
Julian then comes to the control panel and starts tapping. "Thea, just remember, even though all these Haelions cannot give you any physical wound, but you'll still feel the pain. It's a safety protocol that I installed. It's to remind the HB users that these beasts are dangerous."
"And," he continues. "Remember that Aegis Y, being a personal shield, with the Heartstone we possess now, it's still not as strong as I would like it to be. It can't dissipate all the kinetic energy. It'll stop a blade from cutting you, but you'll still feel the full force of the swing behind it. It'll stop a bullet, but the impact will feel like a solid punch. You won't bleed, but you'll be bruised."
He grins, "Little pain is good for you." His smile grows widely.
Theo nods. "Good. If I was afraid of a little pain, I won't be asking you for this room."
They both are grinning like mad children.
"Okay! I'm turning it on! Ready?" Julian gives Theo last chance to back down.
Theo activates his Aegis Y in front Julian to see. And nods. "Ready!"
Julian taps the panel.
A low hum fills the gym. Then, without warning, a stone arch materializes in front of Theo — about the height and width of a normal door.
It looks completely out of place amid the polished floors and gleaming machines, like something torn from a forgotten temple and dropped here by mistake. There's nothing beyond it — no swirling light, no portal — just empty air framed by stone, as if a wedding arch had been left standing where it shouldn't be.
Along its surface, faint symbols pulse with light. Theo feels a tug of familiarity but can't remember where he's seen them before.
"It's the gate to the dungeon." Julian explains without Theo asking. "I don't know why there's an arch, but no door. It's always been like this."
He gestures to Theo. "If you pass the stone arch, you'll arrive at the dungeon. Let's go, stay behind me."
Julians holds his hand for Theo to hold. He rolls his eyes behind Julian, but takes his hand and positions himself behind him.
Julian grabs Theo's hand tight. "Okay. Here we go!"
He crosses the gate, follows by Theo.
------------------------------
Arthur is checking his reflection in the mirror, making sure his appearance is perfect. Today is a big day for Montrose Corporation. With these two government deals, his company will be the second company in the world that deals with at least three different governments, after Monfort Industries.
Even Blackwood Enterprise only have two major deals, and they're selling weapons.
Arthur sighs. Detailed reports of each incident from their respective governments are spread across his desk, along with independent summaries from his own agents. He had deliberately required these detailed reports as part of Montrose Corporation's contracts — officially to help the company fine-tune the Aegis to each client's needs.
In truth, he wanted to know everything there was to know about those incidents.
His mind still can't let go of the possibility that Thea might be connected to them — and to the purple flame in the lab, and the sprinkler malfunction.
After days of studying the data, he's noticed something strange. The three events people were calling catastrophesweren't actually disasters at all. They were majestic and terrifying to look at, yes, but ultimately harmless. Even the torrential rain, which had caused panic at first, ended the Sandrinards' ten-year drought.
The fire-wind pillar in the Zarathun Desert didn't cause a single casualty or any property damage. Not even one head of cattle was pulled in — as if the pillar had no suction power at all. Yet the size of it was greater than an F5 tornado. It was impossible for a wind that massive to leave nothing destroyed.
Even the forest fire, which everyone believed had burned part of the Emeralis Forest, hadn't. What kind of fire doesn't burn? It doesn't make any sense. None of it does.
But the rest of the world doesn't know that. Those governments would rather let people think they were exaggerating than admit they're hiding something they can't explain.
It's as if there's a sentient being announcing its existence to the world — through manifestations.
And those governments are terrified of the sheer display of power. That's the real reason they ordered the Aegis. They want to feel safe, even if they don't know whether the Aegis can truly protect them. But Montrose Corporation is the only company in the world capable of building a shield that strong.
They have competitors, sure — but no product comes close to the Aegis.
There's a knock on the door.
Sam opens it. "Sir, they're here."
Arthur nods. "Put them in the conference room. We'll do the signing there."
Sam disappears, leaving the door open. Arthur takes one last glance in the mirror, adjusts his tie, and heads out.
------------------------------
DUCK!"
WHOOSH.
Liam drops just in time as the serpent's tail slices through the air above his head. He rolls aside and springs back up, ready for the next strike.
His body is covered in small cuts, and a deep gash runs along his left forearm. Blood drips steadily onto the ground — but he ignores it.
He and his team have been fighting this serpent-like haelion for almost three days with no success. It has already killed four of his people. Despite the nonstop battle, it shows no sign of fatigue. In fact, its attacks are only growing more vicious, more precise.
Liam refuses to retreat. "Get ready! It's circling back!"
The remaining five scramble for their weapons, some still trying to get to their feet. No one wants to be caught off guard by the haelion.
"Attack!" Liam shouts.