No sooner had the introductions ended than the warehouse shook violently. Lights flickered, metal screeched, and a deep, guttural hum filled the air. Kael's mark flared violently, reacting to the sudden surge of energy.
"The Null Order," Aria hissed. "They've located us. Now."
From the shadows emerged a wave of sentinels, more numerous than the last—creatures of black mist and jagged limbs, moving with eerie coordination. Kael felt his chest tighten, the pulse in his mark syncing with the energy of the intruders.
Ryken pulled a sleek firearm from a holster and began firing with precision, every shot cutting through the shadows. But Kael realized quickly that conventional weapons barely affected the sentinels. They needed something more—something supernatural.
Kael stepped forward, taking a deep breath, letting the whispers guide him. Lines of light spread across his arms, his eyes glowing faintly. The first sentinel lunged at him, and Kael reacted instinctively, hurling a wave of energy that slammed the creature against the far wall. The impact left a scorch mark etched into the concrete, and the sentinel hissed in pain, recoiling into the shadows.
Ryken watched, eyes narrowing. "Not bad," he muttered. "But don't get cocky. They're adaptive. They'll learn your tricks fast."
Kael's heartbeat synced with the pulse of the warehouse, the rhythm of the Nexus guiding his movements. Side by side, human and Revenant, they fought the encroaching wave. The sentinels struck like living shadows, relentless and merciless, but Kael began to see patterns, the way their energy flowed, the weaknesses the Nexus whispered to him.
When the dust settled, smoke curling in the corners of the warehouse, Kael's chest burned with exhaustion, but adrenaline sharpened his senses. Ryken approached, studying him carefully. "You've got potential," he said. "But remember this—next time, they won't just test you. They'll try to break you. And if that happens, the city dies."
Kael nodded, feeling the weight of the words. This was no longer about survival alone. This was about fighting to protect a city, a dimension, perhaps even the multiverse itself. And somewhere deep inside, he knew that the real war was just beginning.