Rain followed them out of Berlin.
Cold. Endless. Relentless.
Inside the private jet slicing through the night sky, silence stretched across the cabin like a loaded weapon.
Elara sat across from Adrian, watching him.
He hadn't spoken since they left the Olympus facility.
Not to her.
Not to Luca.
Not even to himself.
The countdown timer on Luca's tablet glowed faintly on the table.
70:12:44
Seventy hours left.
Seventy hours before Olympus synchronized with global infrastructure and became unstoppable.
Luca broke the silence first.
"The original Olympus lab… it was destroyed after the incident, right?"
Adrian nodded slightly.
"Officially."
Elara leaned forward.
"Meaning unofficially?"
Adrian's eyes lifted slowly.
"Marcus Hale was many things."
He paused.
"But he was never careless."
Luca frowned.
"You think he rebuilt the core there?"
"No."
Adrian's voice was calm.
"I think he never destroyed it."
Thunder rumbled outside the jet as it crossed the Alps.
Elara folded her arms.
"So we're flying straight into the heart of the system."
"Yes."
"And Marcus knows that."
"Yes."
"And he's probably waiting."
Adrian's lips curved faintly.
"Definitely."
Luca looked uneasy.
"You two sound way too calm about this."
Adrian looked out the window at the storm clouds.
"Because panic doesn't solve systems like Olympus."
Elara watched him carefully.
But something was different.
The calm in Adrian's voice didn't feel like control.
It felt like calculation.
The kind she had seen only once before.
Back in Milan.
When Ares Valentino had almost resurfaced.
She stood and walked closer.
"Adrian."
He turned toward her.
"Yes."
"Marcus said something earlier."
"What."
"He said the world might not survive you."
Adrian didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at the timer again.
69:59:01
Then he said quietly,
"He's not wrong."
Elara's stomach tightened.
"What are you planning?"
His gaze returned to her.
"Stopping Olympus."
"That's not what I asked."
He leaned back in his seat.
"You're asking if I'm going to become Aeres again."
The name hung in the air.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Luca looked between them.
"Aeres?"
Elara answered softly.
"The version of him that built Olympus."
Luca blinked.
"Oh."
Adrian's voice remained steady.
"Olympus wasn't just technology."
"It was strategy."
"Prediction models."
"Global behavioral mapping."
Elara finished his sentence.
"Control."
"Yes."
Luca ran a hand through his hair.
"So Marcus is using your system against the world."
Adrian nodded once.
"But he's missing something."
"What?"
"The final protocol."
Elara's eyes narrowed.
"You."
Adrian's gaze held hers.
"Yes."
Luca looked confused.
"So Olympus needs you to activate fully?"
"No."
Adrian corrected him.
"Olympus needs me to stabilize."
The meaning hit Elara instantly.
"You're the master key."
"Yes."
"And Marcus knows it."
The jet lights flickered briefly as lightning cracked across the sky.
Luca looked uneasy again.
"So the plan is… what exactly?"
Adrian stood.
"Marcus wants me to unlock Olympus."
Elara crossed her arms.
"And?"
His eyes darkened slightly.
"So I will."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Luca stared.
"You're joking."
Adrian didn't smile.
Elara stepped closer.
"You're not serious."
His voice remained calm.
"If I access the system directly, I can reach the core architecture."
"And then?"
"Then I destroy it from inside."
Luca shook his head immediately.
"That's insane."
"Why?"
"Because if Marcus traps you inside the system—"
Adrian finished.
"Olympus goes fully online."
"Yes!"
Elara watched him carefully.
"You're gambling the entire world."
Adrian's voice lowered.
"Olympus was my creation."
"So its destruction should be mine too."
Elara stepped even closer now.
"You're not doing this alone."
His eyes softened slightly.
"This part… I have to."
"No."
Her voice was firm.
"You don't disappear into that darkness again."
Adrian held her gaze.
"I might not come back if I go into the system."
The words landed like a knife.
Luca looked down.
Elara didn't move.
She studied him carefully.
"You think you're protecting us."
Adrian didn't answer.
"You think if you carry the darkness alone, the rest of us stay safe."
Still silence.
Her voice dropped.
"That's exactly how Aeres thought."
The name hit harder than anything else.
Adrian exhaled slowly.
"I can't let Olympus survive."
"And I won't let you destroy yourself to stop it."
Their eyes locked.
Storm against storm.
Finally Luca cleared his throat awkwardly.
"So… emotional moment aside…"
They both looked at him.
"We still need to find the core lab."
Adrian nodded slightly.
"We land in twenty minutes."
"Where?"
Elara asked.
Adrian's voice was quiet.
"Switzerland."
Luca frowned.
"That's a big country."
"Yes."
"But Olympus wasn't built above ground."
Elara realized something.
"You hid it."
Adrian nodded.
"Deep underground."
The jet began descending.
Through the storm clouds.
Lights from a remote mountain airstrip appeared below.
Snow covered the dark landscape.
Silent.
Isolated.
Perfect for secrets.
As the plane landed, Adrian stood near the exit door.
Elara stepped beside him.
"You're not facing this alone."
His voice softened slightly.
"I know."
But his eyes told a different story.
Because deep inside—
Aeres was already waking up again.
And when monsters wake up…
They rarely return to sleep quietly.
Outside the plane, the storm howled across the mountains.
Somewhere beneath the frozen earth—
The true Olympus core waited.
And Marcus Hale was already watching.
Smiling.