The main avenue of the Central City was crowded as usual that evening. Giant screens towered above the streets, broadcasting news bulletins, weather forecasts, and flashy advertisements—faces of young ministers and celebrated figures smiling down at the masses.
Then—
a shrill, piercing whine tore through the air.
It drowned out the noise of the crowd.
Tiflos erupted into the scene like a living catastrophe, carrying the bleeding body of Noor in his arms. Her blood scattered behind him like a tragic crimson tail. The image was horrifying—
a man driven mad by despair, clutching a woman as she slipped toward death.
People froze. Stared. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Tiflos landed hard on the street and began screaming hysterically.
"A doctor! Someone help me! I need a doctor!"
He shouted as he ran through the stunned masses.
But before anyone could move—
A blazing ring of fire exploded around him.
Three figures emerged from the shadows.
Three members of the Organization.
They were armed with terrifying visual weapons, silver eyes looking down with contempt. Their faces carried cruelty, vengeance, jealousy—each with a clear, personal objective.
At the front stood Phoenix—once their companion on missions. His eyes burned with rage and betrayal. He was one of Cain's most loyal followers.
"Tiflos! Stop!" Phoenix shouted, his hands igniting with searing red flames.
"This is treason!"
Beside him stood Selena—the woman who had barely survived death after nearly being killed by Tiflos himself. She was calm, unnervingly so, but her eyes held the spark of revenge. Her ability was water manipulation, yet tonight it carried deep grief instead of her usual cold indifference.
On the other side stood Raiden, Tiflos's former instructor. He had never liked Tiflos—ever since Tiflos defeated him during a training duel. When Cain later nominated Tiflos as a commander, the bitterness in Raiden's heart turned into hatred. Now, violent arcs of electricity crackled around his body, revealing the depth of his malice.
Together, they were known as The Seventh Unit—one of the Organization's elite squads.
Tiflos leapt out of the ring of fire into a nearby alley and gently placed Noor behind a large metal dumpster.
"Wait here," he whispered, forcing calm into his voice.
"I'll come back—no matter the cost."
Then he turned and stepped back toward the three.
But this time, he wasn't fighting as a cold, emotionless weapon.
He was fighting as a man driven insane by desperation—
a man trying to save the woman who had sacrificed herself to bring him back from the abyss.
He raised a hand to his face.
"You want to die today," he said quietly.
His expression was terrifying, soaked in blood and madness.
"…Don't you?"
The massive screens around them began to glitch violently.
Tiflos felt a torrent of waves converging toward him, drawn into his body. Then—
A chaotic mixture of sonic and electrical waves erupted outward, obliterating storefronts, cars, and nearby electronic devices. Windows shattered. Metal twisted.
The crowd scattered in blind panic.
Some tried to call the police—
but Tiflos's waves completely jammed all communication signals.
He launched forward like a wounded bird defending its nest from wolves.
Phoenix attacked first.
"He betrayed all of us! He betrayed Cain!"
He hurled a massive fireball toward Tiflos.
Tiflos dodged with a sharp movement, then released a focused sonic wave from his sword straight at Phoenix.
The collision was brutal—
fire against sound.
The sonic force shattered Phoenix's flaming barrier and hurled him violently into a wall.
"You're no longer the future commander I respected!" Phoenix roared as he rose again—his body igniting, transforming into the legendary Phoenix.
Fiery wings spread from his back, his blazing tail magnificent to behold—
and the heat became unbearable.
Raiden intervened.
"That's enough!" he shouted.
"Surrender, Tiflos!"
A powerful lightning bolt tore through the air.
Tiflos raised an electrical shield, blocking it—but the sheer force drove him backward.
"I can't surrender!" Tiflos yelled.
"She has to live!"
Selena remained the calmest—but her attacks were the deadliest.
Her tears crystallized into razor-sharp symbols that shot toward Tiflos at terrifying speed.
"Why betray us?!" she screamed.
"Isn't everyone in the Organization a family?!"
More lethal crystalline tears followed.
Tiflos dodged most of them—but Selena fired a visual pistol. The shot pierced his shoulder, thick blood bursting out.
"You don't understand!" Tiflos shouted through pain.
"I was trying to protect her! To protect everyone I love!"
They didn't listen.
All they saw was a traitor.
Phoenix, fully transformed, dove from above—fiery talons reaching for Tiflos.
Raiden unleashed an electrical net from the ground.
Selena trapped him with a rising wall of water.
When they realized Tiflos was still resisting, they changed tactics.
"He's wounded!" Phoenix shouted from above.
"Target the girl!"
Tiflos's eyes snapped wide open.
Pure, unrestrained rage exploded within him.
He turned toward where Noor was hidden—and saw Selena and Raiden moving toward her, while Phoenix covered them from above.
A single thought filled Tiflos's mind:
Kill them.
They won't stop unless they're dead.
His grip tightened on his sword.
He prepared to charge—
ignoring Phoenix's attacks as they tore into his body.
Because at that moment,
the battle was no longer about loyalty…
no longer about betrayal…
It was a battle of despair.
And Tiflos was ready to become a monster again—
if that was the only way to save her.