Skit skidded to a stop, panting, eyes vibrating like he drank six shots of demonic espresso.
"Okay okay LISTEN this is important like IMPORTANT important like Rafe is going to cry important"
Malerion lifted one hand, and Skit instantly froze.
"Three words," Malerion said.
Skit swallowed.
"…Envy Hub compromised."
Verosika's head snapped up.
"Compromised how? Blow up? Raid? Someone sneeze on your paperwork?"
Skit shook his head rapidly.
"No explosion. No attack. No physical breach. Just something WAY scarier."
Malerion folded his arms.
"Explain."
Skit paced in frantic circles.
"You know how the Envy Hub tracks financial flows and black market rumors? And how Doona set up triple blind routing and coded ledgers? And how Quill installed an automatic purge system if someone gets too curious"
"Skit."
"Right. Right. Short version:"
He pointed at the ceiling dramatically.
"Someone accessed our Envy network… from INSIDE Envy."
Verosika stiffened.
"That's… normal, isn't it?"
Skit shook his head so hard his goggles rattled.
"Nope! Because whoever did it wasn't a broker, dealer, spy, noble, thief, or merchant.
The trace signatures don't match ANY demographic we have on file."
Malerion's eyes narrowed.
"So unregistered."
"Worse," Skit whispered.
"Someone who shouldn't even exist in Envy's system."
A silence fell.
Verosika glanced at Malerion.
"…Do I even want to know what that means?"
"No," Skit said honestly. "But I'm telling you anyway."
Skit pulled a glowing tablet from his coat and displayed a shattered data cluster.
Quill's symbol was stamped across it
SYSTEM BREACH // UNKNOWN ENTITY
"Someone touched data that only Ouroboros uses," Skit said.
"Smart, Calm, Methodical, Not panicked or sloppy.
Like they were… testing the wires to see who jumps."
Verosika crossed her arms.
"So? Who would even do that?"
Skit looked at her, then at Malerion.
And whispered:
"…Someone looking specifically for us."
The room chilled.
Not magically. Emotionally.
THE COMMAND
Malerion didn't raise his voice. He didn't change expression. Didn't radiate killing intent.
But the air thickened around him.
"Call the inner circle," he said quietly.
"Now."
Skit didn't run out of the room
he vanished out of it, as if escaping gravity itself.
Verosika stayed seated on the edge of the desk, watching Malerion's profile.
His jaw was tight.
Shoulders still.
And presence heavy, controlled, focused.
She whispered:
"…This is the first time I've seen you look like a crime lord."
"This isn't crime," Malerion said.
War preparation."
That should have scared her.
It didn't.
Intrigued her.
And that was its own kind of danger.
Verosika watched him for another heartbeat.
Not Malerion the calm man. Malerion the almost confession.
But Malerion of Ouroboros. Malerion of five Rings. Malerion stepping into power no sinner had ever shaped before.
"Do you want me to leave?" she asked softly.
He turned to her.
"No."
Her breath caught.
"But I want you behind me."
Her pulse jumped.
"Is that your polite way of saying I'm a liability?"
"No," he said.
"It's my way of saying I don't want you in the crossfire."
Silence.
Warm, Sharp, Dangerous.
Then the door swung open again
Skit, Dreg, Liz, Rafe, Doona, Bit, Quill flooding in.
War council mode.
The moment between them dissolved
but didn't disappear.
It waited.
Quiet, Slow, Growing.
Because Envy was moving.
And so was the future of Ouroboros.