AURIXA did not move.
The corridor behind her was dark.
One by one, the lights along the ceiling had gone out, leaving only the blue and crimson glow crawling across Stormfang's blade.
Kael stepped closer.
"Someone is inside Virelith."
The words hung between them.
Xyren lowered his scanner.
"How many?"
AURIXA's eyes flickered.
For a moment, thin lines of light moved beneath her skin.
Then they vanished.
"I cannot see them."
Kael frowned.
"What do you mean, you can't see them?"
"This city has pathways." AURIXA looked toward the darkness. "Networks. Sensors. Root systems. Even damaged, Virelith should know when something enters its body."
Xyren glanced at the black screen in his hand.
"But it doesn't."
AURIXA slowly shook her head.
"No."
Elaris stepped toward the wall.
A thin root had pushed through a crack near her feet. She crouched and placed her fingers against it.
The root twitched.
Her expression changed.
Kael noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Elaris didn't answer.
Her fingers remained against the root.
Then—
BOOOOM.
The floor jumped beneath them.
A distant shockwave rolled through the corridor.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Xyren stumbled sideways.
"What the hell was that?"
Another sound followed.
Not an explosion.
A deep pulse.
The walls answered.
All around them, roots pulled themselves from the stone.
Lights flickered.
Then somewhere below—
another light went out.
Then another.
A line of darkness began moving through the city.
Kael ran toward the edge of the platform.
Far beneath them, Virelith glowed in scattered shades of emerald and silver.
But one section had gone completely dark.
Elaris stood beside him.
Her face had gone pale.
"Something's hurting them."
Kael looked at her.
"The roots?"
She slowly shook her head.
Her eyes remained fixed on the darkness below.
"The city."
The lower sector was awake.
It simply wasn't welcoming them.
The intruders moved through the ancient passage without speaking.
Their boots barely made a sound against the black floor.
Above them, roots hung from the ceiling.
Along the walls, dark metallic panels disappeared beneath centuries of growth.
The commander walked ahead.
In one hand, he carried the black object that had opened the hidden entrance.
Its crimson pulse had weakened.
One of the soldiers glanced at it.
"How much farther?"
The commander didn't look back.
"You tell me."
The soldier raised a small device.
A faint holographic map appeared.
Most of it remained dark.
Then a corridor ahead flashed.
"According to the recovered path—"
The map vanished.
The soldier stopped.
The commander turned.
"What happened?"
"Signal interference."
"From where?"
The soldier looked around.
"Everywhere."
Silence.
Then—
Click.
Something moved above them.
Every soldier froze.
Weapons rose.
The commander slowly lifted his eyes.
At first, he saw nothing.
Only roots.
Stone.
Darkness.
Then a single green light opened.
A circle.
Watching them.
Another appeared.
Then another.
The soldier closest to the wall whispered,
"Don't move."
Too late.
The wall split open.
Something dropped from the ceiling.
It struck the floor between them with a metallic scream.
The soldiers jumped backward.
The thing rose slowly.
Its body resembled a spider, but its legs were too long.
Too thin.
Green energy pulsed through transparent sections of its body.
A mechanical head rotated toward them.
Unauthorized presence detected.
The voice did not come from its mouth.
It came from the walls.
The floor.
The roots.
Every soldier raised a weapon.
The commander remained still.
Then another green light opened.
Across the corridor.
Then ten.
Twenty.
Hundreds.
Shapes unfolded from the walls.
Some crawled across the ceiling.
Others pulled themselves free from the floor.
Humanoid machines.
Winged machines.
Creatures made from roots wrapped around metal.
The entire corridor had been full of them.
Sleeping.
Waiting.
One soldier slowly backed away.
"Commander."
The commander looked around.
His expression did not change.
"Defense system activated."
A machine moved.
The soldier fired.
A black pulse struck the creature.
For one second, nothing happened.
Then its green light disappeared.
The machine collapsed.
Silence.
The commander smiled faintly.
"Good."
The soldier looked at him.
"Good?"
The commander stepped forward.
The black object in his hand pulsed once.
"If it is protecting this sector…"
His eyes moved toward the darkness ahead.
"...then we are on the right path."
The machines attacked.
Kael was already running.
Elaris kept pace beside him.
Xyren followed, trying to keep his scanner steady.
"AURIXA!" Kael shouted. "Where?"
"I can feel the disturbance!"
"That isn't a direction!"
AURIXA suddenly turned left.
"This way."
They followed her into a narrow corridor.
The moment Kael crossed the threshold—
the wall moved.
Stone folded between them.
Kael spun around.
"Xyren!"
The passage behind them sealed.
Xyren stared at the wall.
"Okay."
He took a slow breath.
"I officially hate this city."
Elaris pressed both hands against the stone.
Roots pushed through the floor around her.
"Move."
Nothing happened.
She closed her eyes.
The roots grew thicker.
The wall trembled.
Then stopped.
Elaris opened her eyes.
"It won't listen."
AURIXA stepped forward.
"Move aside."
Elaris did.
AURIXA placed her palm against the wall.
Thin lines of light spread beneath the stone.
For several seconds—
nothing.
Then AURIXA slowly lowered her hand.
Xyren stared.
"You too?"
AURIXA turned toward him.
"It isn't listening to me."
Kael's grip tightened around Stormfang.
The corridor shook again.
Far below them—
BOOOOM.
A crimson flash briefly illuminated the walls.
Xyren looked toward the floor.
"Can you override the system?"
AURIXA's eyes narrowed.
"I am trying."
Kael looked at the sealed wall.
"Then who is controlling it?"
AURIXA didn't answer.
Instead, she turned toward another corridor.
A path that hadn't been there seconds earlier was opening.
"Move."
They ran.
The first thing Kael saw was the destroyed gate.
It stretched across the corridor ahead.
Or what remained of it.
Half of the ancient structure had been torn apart.
Living roots hung from the broken frame.
Green fluid dripped onto the floor.
Elaris slowed.
Her eyes went to the damaged roots.
"Wait."
Kael stopped beside her.
"What?"
She crouched.
The roots were moving weakly.
One curled around her fingers.
Elaris's expression hardened.
"They're injured."
Xyren walked past them.
He was staring at the security panel beside the gate.
"That's strange."
Kael looked over.
The panel was still glowing.
"Can you read it?"
"Trying."
Xyren placed his scanner near the surface.
The device flickered.
Then a single line appeared.
ACCESS GRANTED
Xyren froze.
Kael looked at him.
"What?"
Xyren didn't answer.
He moved closer.
His fingers hovered over the panel.
"No."
A second line appeared.
AUTHORIZED ENTRY
The corridor went silent.
Kael looked toward the open gate.
"They forced it?"
Xyren slowly shook his head.
"No."
Elaris stood.
Her face had changed.
"What do you mean?"
Xyren looked at them.
"They didn't break in."
A distant explosion shook the floor.
No one moved.
Xyren pointed toward the gate.
"This system opened for them."
Kael stared through the darkness beyond it.
"Someone gave them access?"
"I don't know."
Kael turned sharply.
"Don't start with that again."
For the first time since they had entered Virelith, Xyren looked genuinely uneasy.
"Kael."
He pointed toward the display.
"Someone knew how to get inside."
Another explosion.
Closer this time.
A red flash lit the corridor.
Stormfang immediately began to hum.
Kael drew it.
"Then let's find out who."
They crossed the gate.
The sounds of battle grew louder.
Metal struck stone.
Roots crashed against something heavy.
Then—
a scream.
Kael broke into a run.
The corridor opened into a massive circular chamber.
And everything stopped.
For one second, Kael simply stared.
The entire room was alive.
Machines moved across the walls.
Spider-like bio-machines leapt between enormous roots.
Humanoid sentinels stood beneath broken arches, green light burning in their eyes.
Several were already lying motionless across the floor.
Black scorch marks covered their bodies.
At the opposite side of the chamber, figures dressed in dark armor moved between the defenders.
One raised a weapon.
A black pulse struck a sentinel.
The machine collapsed.
Kael's jaw tightened.
"Elaris."
She was already moving.
Roots erupted from the floor.
The nearest intruder spun around.
Too late.
Vines wrapped around his legs and dragged him backward.
He fired into the roots.
A dark blast tore through them.
Elaris stumbled.
Kael moved.
Stormfang flashed.
Blue and crimson lightning exploded from the blade.
The strike hit the floor between two intruders.
They were thrown apart.
Xyren raised his scanner.
"Left side!"
Kael turned.
A dark shape rushed toward him.
Stormfang came up.
CLANG.
A blade struck his.
Kael slid backward.
The intruder's helmet hid his face.
He attacked again.
Kael blocked.
Blue lightning raced along both weapons.
The stranger jumped back.
Another sentinel dropped from above.
Its mechanical limbs wrapped around the intruder.
Kael expected it to attack.
Instead—
the stranger touched something at his wrist.
A black pulse exploded outward.
The sentinel froze.
Its green light vanished.
Kael stared.
"They know the weak points."
Xyren's voice came from behind him.
"I noticed!"
Another blast tore through the chamber.
Kael turned toward the far side.
And saw him.
The commander.
He stood completely still while the battle raged around him.
His black coat moved slightly in the wind created by the collapsing roots.
He wasn't fighting.
He was watching.
Kael raised Stormfang.
The commander slowly turned.
Their eyes met.
Everything around Kael seemed to disappear.
The commander looked at Stormfang.
His expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Kael saw it.
Shock.
Real shock.
The commander took one step forward.
His eyes never left the sword.
Kael tightened his grip.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
The commander stared at the crimson line running through Stormfang.
One of his soldiers shouted something behind him.
He ignored it.
Then, quietly, he spoke.
"That weapon…"
Kael's eyes narrowed.
The commander slowly lifted his gaze.
For the first time, Kael saw uncertainty in his eyes.
"That weapon should not exist."
Stormfang hummed.
The crimson line pulsed.
And somewhere beneath the chamber—
something answered.
THUMP.