Chapter 26: The Hounds of the Void
The howl that echoed through the ventilation shafts of the Lower Sector wasn't the sound of an animal. It was a harmonic distortion—the sound of the air being torn apart by "Phase-Shift" engines. The Void-Hounds had arrived.
In the Upper Sector, they were myths used to keep rebellious nobles in line. In the Lower Sector, they were death incarnate. There were five of them, draped in "Wraith-Silicon" cloaks that made them invisible to both the naked eye and standard thermal sensors. They didn't walk; they flickered, moving between the shadows of the rusted skyscrapers like predatory glitches in the matrix.
Carson stood alone in the center of the 4th Street Bridge, the very spot where he had first met Hobs. The rain was falling again, but it didn't touch him. The 31st strand was rotating slowly in his heart, creating a "Void-Anchor" that stabilized the reality around him.
"I know you're there," Carson said, his voice carrying through the rain with unnatural clarity. "You've been tracking the resonance of the First Blade. But you're early. I haven't finished my tea."
Five shadows coalesced at the edges of the bridge. The Hounds didn't use blades. They carried "Neuro-Lances"—thin rods of pulsing violet light that could shut down a cultivator's nervous system with a single graze.
"Carson McCain," the lead Hound spoke, his voice sounding like two stones grinding together. "By order of the Eternal Sun, your core is forfeit. The girl has already been processed. If you surrender the hilt, we will grant you the 'Dull-Death'. If you resist, we will burn your soul for a thousand years in the Sun-Forge."
Carson's eyes sharpened. "Processed? You mean Maya?"
"She was a biological match for the lure-protocol," the Hound hissed. "She is currently being used as a signal-booster to lock onto your coordinates. She is... experiencing the Hegemony's justice."
A cold, white flame flickered in Carson's pupils. He didn't care for Maya's love anymore, but the idea of the Hegemony using a human soul—no matter how flawed—as a mere "signal-booster" triggered a primal fury in his 31st strand.
"You speak of justice," Carson said, slowly reaching for the hilt of the First Blade. "But you are standing in a graveyard of people your Empire forgot. Tonight, the graveyard is going to speak back."