The moment Raiden and Selena turned toward Noor—
Tiflos slid his sword back into its sheath.
He lowered his stance into a predator's crouch, one hand gripping the hilt through the scabbard.
The air around him screamed.
Electric power surged violently toward his body—
from storefronts, towering screens, streetlights, vehicles, every electronic artery of the city.
The ground trembled.
Lights flickered—
then entire districts went dark.
The city's power grid began collapsing.
In the span of a heartbeat—
Tiflos vanished.
Raiden turned instinctively, reacting on pure combat instinct—
—but Tiflos had already passed him.
A soundless slash followed.
Something heavy fell.
A body.
Raiden's corpse slid apart grotesquely—cleaved diagonally from the side of his neck down to his waist, bisected with terrifying precision.
It collapsed beside Selena.
Her eyes widened in shock.
Only then did she realize—
Her left arm was gone.
Severed cleanly.
She hadn't felt it.
The residual electric current on the blade had numbed her nerves completely.
She tried to scream—but her legs failed her.
She collapsed backward, terror flooding her face.
Ahead of her stood Tiflos—
blood-soaked, torn apart by wounds, his gaze fixed on her with an inhuman calm.
From above, Phoenix released a roar of incandescent fury.
Fireballs rained down toward Noor.
Tiflos moved instantly—placing himself between the flames and her body.
Explosions tore into him.
Some fireballs were sliced apart.
Others struck home—burning through flesh, charring muscle.
Blood poured from him like a river.
Even from the ground, Selena fired blazing visual rounds—
each shot punching through Tiflos's body.
He did not stop.
Every hit weakened him.
Every wound stole strength.
Yet his resolve only grew heavier—denser—unbreakable.
"I won't let you…"
he whispered, collapsing to one knee.
"…touch her."
His blood spread in a dark circle across the asphalt.
Phoenix descended, reverting to his human form.
He raised his blazing hands toward Tiflos's head.
"Traitor!" he screamed.
"All those months of training! All that trust—
and you betrayed us all!"
Before he could strike—
A visual bullet tore through the air.
It slammed into Phoenix's arm with pinpoint accuracy.
Then another.
And another.
From the opposite alley, Liam emerged—followed by Elias and a unit of resistance fighters.
Their faces were hard.
Prepared.
Ready to die.
"Take them—and withdraw!" Elias shouted, firing toward Phoenix.
A short—but savage—battle erupted.
The resistance was outmatched, outgunned—
yet they fought with desperate ferocity.
Liam activated his ability, dissecting Phoenix's physical and mental state in real time, firing visual rounds into exposed windows of weakness.
Elias led the frontal assault, his radiant energy burning like living light.
"You won't touch them!" Elias roared.
"He's one of us now!"
Police sirens echoed in the distance.
Phoenix hesitated.
He looked at Tiflos—broken, kneeling in blood.
At Noor—bleeding, unconscious.
At the resistance—fighting to protect them.
Something shifted in his eyes.
"Withdraw," Phoenix ordered grimly.
He grabbed Selena with his remaining arm.
"This battle… isn't ours."
Selena stared at Tiflos, her eyes burning red with hatred and disbelief—
but she obeyed.
Before disappearing into the darkness, Phoenix looked back one last time.
"I hope you know what you're doing," he said quietly.
"And that you're ready to bear the consequences."
They vanished.
---
Elias immediately opened Noor's bag, administering first aid to both her and Tiflos.
Liam lifted Noor carefully.
Elias carried Tiflos.
Both were bleeding heavily.
Even with emergency treatment, their conditions were deteriorating fast.
Their blood mixed on the ground—
a tragic symbol of their shared fate.
"Why… why are you saving me?" Tiflos murmured as consciousness faded, his eyes never leaving Noor.
"I don't deserve this."
Elias met his gaze—sad, but understanding.
"Because we're not like them," he said quietly.
"And because we believe you're not either.
And because she gave everything to save you…
the least we can do is help her succeed."
---
Less than an hour later—
Tiflos opened his eyes.
Pain flooded every nerve.
He found himself inside an organized cavern, illuminated by soft blue lights.
Stone walls were layered with maps and tactical schematics.
The atmosphere was calm—yet tense.
Noor lay on a bed beside him, breathing weakly—but alive.
A doctor worked carefully on her wounds, exhaustion etched across his face.
"Where… are we?" Tiflos rasped.
Elias stepped closer.
"One of the resistance's hidden shelters," he said.
"You're safe… for now."
Then his expression hardened.
"You killed one of the Organization's most important members in public.
And crippled another.
Cain will never forgive this.
You've declared war on him—personally."
Tiflos looked at Noor.
Then at his hands—stained with her blood… and others'.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness," he said quietly.
"I'm asking for a chance… to fix my mistakes."
He squeezed Noor's hand gently.
"A chance to be the man she believed still existed—
and the man my brother can be proud of."
Outside, a real storm gathered.
Wind howled.
Rain began to fall.
Inside, another storm slowly calmed—
a storm of guilt, grief, and regret settling into something new.
A decision.
A beginning.
Tiflos held Noor's hand as sleep claimed him once more.
"I'll protect you," he whispered faintly.
"This time… the right way.
I won't be a weapon that destroys—
I'll be the shield that—pro…tect…"
He lost consciousness.
---
Elsewhere—
Inside the Organization.
Cain listened calmly as the wounded Phoenix delivered his report.
Cain smiled.
A terrifying smile.
His golden eyes burned with fury… and delight.
"Finally," he murmured.
"The game has become truly interesting."
He leaned back slowly.
"Tiflos thinks he can escape his destiny…
but he doesn't yet understand—
every step he's taken was already part of my design."