The St. Louis Galleria was supposed to be closed for the morning, but alarms blared through the empty mall as Leonte's team stormed through the east entrance. The polished floors reflected flashing red lights, and the echo of their boots bounced off storefronts.
Edward led the formation.
Mark and Jamal flanked him.
Kate, Jane, Greg, Williams, and Howard followed with weapons drawn.
"Units 104 and 201's successor were sighted near the food court," Edward said, voice sharp. "Stay tight."
They moved past the Apple Store, past the escalators, toward the wide-open food court.
And then—
A metallic crash.
Unit 104 burst from behind a toppled kiosk, sprinting across the food court with inhuman speed. Its white frame gleamed under the skylights.
"Contact!" Greg shouted.
The team scattered as the android lunged. Tables shattered. Chairs flew. The air filled with the crackle of electric rods and stun rounds.
Leonte struck first, jamming his rod into the android's side. Sparks erupted, but 104 barely slowed. It swung an arm, sending Leonte sliding across the floor.
Kate and Jane moved in next, striking in tandem. Their rods connected, sending a surge through the android's torso. It staggered, systems glitching.
"Keep pressure on it!" Edward barked.
But before they could regroup—
A thunderous impact shook the second level.
Everyone looked up.
The final android—taller, reinforced, faster—stood on the balcony near The Cheesecake Factory, its red eyes glowing like embers.
Williams cursed. "We've got two!"
The second android leapt from the balcony, landing in the center of the food court with a shockwave that knocked several officers off their feet.
The battle split in two.
The Food Court Fight
Jamal and Howard engaged Unit 104, driving it back toward the smoothie stands. Their synchronized strikes forced its systems into overload cycles.
"Now!" Jamal shouted.
Mark fired a high-voltage round. The android convulsed, its internal temperature spiking. A flash of light burst from its core as it shut down, collapsing in a heap.
The Cheesecake Factory Fight
Leonte, Kate, Greg, and Jane rushed the second android. It fought with brutal precision, knocking Greg into a railing and nearly sending him over the edge.
Kate, still partially blinded, fought by sound and instinct. She swung her rod, connecting with the android's arm. Leonte followed with a strike to its neck joint.
The android faltered.
Jane fired a stun round directly into its chest. The surge overloaded its systems. It collapsed, sparks flickering across its frame.
Silence fell.
The last two androids were down.
The team exhaled in relief.
Until the air shifted.
A cold stillness swept through the mall.
And then—
He appeared.
The masked man stood at the center of the food court, white robe flowing, golden tears glinting on his mask. His hazel eyes locked onto Kate.
Before anyone could react, he reached out and touched her shoulder.
Kate screamed.
Her body weakened instantly, her strength draining as if something vital was being pulled from her. She collapsed to her knees, trembling, her breath shallow.
"Kate!" Edward rushed to her side.
The team froze, horrified—not by gore, but by the sudden, terrifying change in her energy, her color, her presence. She looked as if life itself was slipping away.
The masked man lifted his head.
His voice echoed through the mall.
"The earth shall be cleansed… and mankind will be judged."
Williams reacted first.
He fired.
The bullet struck the masked man in the side.
He staggered—shocked, almost confused. A dark red liquid seeped through his robe.
He wasn't invincible.
He wasn't untouchable.
He could bleed.
"Move!" Edward shouted.
Medical teams rushed in, securing the masked man as he weakened. They stabilized him, wrapped the wound, and loaded him onto a stretcher.
Kate was lifted onto another.
Two ambulances waited outside.
The masked man was hauled into the first.
Kate into the second.
Edward turned to his team.
"We follow. Now."
Leonte nodded, jaw clenched.
Because whatever the masked man was—
whatever power he held—
they finally had him alive.
And the world was about to learn the truth.
The ambulance tore through the streets toward Mercy Hospital, sirens slicing the cold air. Inside, the masked man lay strapped to the gurney, heavily guarded—two officers on each side, weapons drawn, eyes locked on him even as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Behind them, another ambulance carried Kate.
She never made it.
Her vitals faded quietly on the ride over, her body weakening from whatever the masked man had done to her. By the time the doors opened at the ER bay, the medical team could only confirm what Edward already felt in his bones.
Kate was gone.
Edward didn't speak.
Didn't cry.
Didn't even blink.
He simply turned away from her covered body and followed the other stretcher—the one carrying the man who caused all of this.
---
The Isolation Ward
The masked man was wheeled into a secure isolation room—reinforced walls, bulletproof glass, and a ring of armed guards stationed around the perimeter. The medical team worked quickly, patching the wound in his side, stabilizing his vitals, and securing restraints around his wrists and ankles.
Edward, Jamal, Mark, Greg, Jane, Williams, and Howard stood behind the observation glass.
No one spoke.
The room felt colder than it should have.
A doctor stepped forward. "We need to remove the mask to check for cranial trauma."
Edward nodded. "Do it. Carefully."
Two medical staff approached the bed. One held the man's head steady. The other reached for the mask.
The white porcelain surface gleamed under the fluorescent lights, golden tears catching the glow.
The doctor hesitated.
Then lifted it.
The room fell silent.
Jamal's breath caught.
Mark staggered back.
Edward's eyes widened, disbelief freezing him in place.
Because the face beneath the mask was unmistakable.
A man with sharp features, sandy hair, and a faint scar across his jaw.
A man they had buried ten years ago.
A man who died during the Refinement breach of Site 12.
Francis Hale.
A former guard.
A loyal officer.
A man whose death had haunted the department for a decade.
Jamal whispered, "That's impossible… Francis died. We saw the body."
Mark shook his head slowly. "We saw a body. We never saw him."
Edward stepped closer to the glass, voice low and tight. "How the hell is he alive?"
Before anyone could answer—
Francis's eyes opened.
Hazel.
Bright.
Unnatural.
The heart monitor spiked.
The guards raised their weapons.
Francis turned his head toward the glass, staring directly at Edward, as if he'd been awake the entire time.
His voice was hoarse but steady.
"Death is not the end," he murmured. "Not for those chosen."
Edward stiffened. "Francis… what did you do to Kate?"
Francis blinked slowly, almost serenely.
"The unworthy fall. The pure rise. The earth must be cleansed before the new kingdom can begin."
Jamal slammed his fist against the glass. "You're quoting Revelation again. Why? What are you trying to become?"
Francis smiled faintly.
"I am not becoming anything."
He lifted his head slightly, eyes glowing brighter.
"I have already become."
The lights flickered.
The heart monitor spiked again.
And Francis whispered one final line—soft, chilling, and unmistakably deliberate:
"The first seal has been broken."
Edward's blood ran cold.
Because whatever Francis was now…
whatever force had brought him back…
This was only the beginning.
The moment Francis whispered, "The first seal has been broken," the hospital lights flickered.
Then the floor trembled.
At first it felt like a distant rumble—like a truck passing outside. But within seconds, the entire building shook violently. Ceiling tiles cracked. Monitors fell. Nurses screamed.
Edward shouted, "Evacuate! Move, move!"
Security rushed patients toward the stairwells. Doctors pushed gurneys. The alarms blared so loudly the walls vibrated.
Leonte, still recovering in his room, felt the bed jolt beneath him. Mark grabbed his arm. "We have to go—now!"
The shaking intensified.
Windows shattered. The floor split. The entire structure groaned like it was being crushed by an invisible force.
And then—
The building collapsed.
The world became dust, noise, and falling concrete.
Leonte shielded his head as Mark dragged him through a gap in the rubble. They stumbled into the open air just as the last of the hospital crumbled behind them.
Silence fell.
Dust drifted through the morning light.
And then a glow appeared above the ruins.
---
The Ascension
Francis rose from the rubble—floating, suspended in the air as if gravity no longer applied to him.
His body changed before their eyes.
White feathered wings burst outward from his back, stretching nearly twenty‑five feet across. They glowed faintly, each feather sharp and pristine.
His hair lengthened, turning jet‑black, flowing like a raven's plume in the wind.
His gloves dissolved into nothing, revealing long, pale, claw‑like nails—unnatural, elegant, and terrifying.
His robe tore open at the chest, revealing a symbol etched into his skin:
• A serpent coiled around a skull on the left side of his chest
• A single black line running from his throat down to his abdomen, like a mark carved by fate itself
Leonte stared upward "What… the hell are you?"
Francis descended slowly, wings folding behind him like a fallen seraph.
When his feet touched the ground, the air around him rippled.
He lifted one hand.
Just a simple gesture.
A wave of force exploded outward.
Everyone standing on the right side of him—officers, medics, guards—were struck by an invisible slash of power. They fell instantly, their bodies collapsing as if cut down by something unseen.
Leonte and Mark were thrown backward but remained unharmed, protected by some unseen barrier.
Mark gasped, horrified. "Why… why didn't he touch us?"
Francis turned his glowing hazel