"What?" Kantara's voice cracked as if his body couldn't keep up with the weight of the words spoken.
Atenyos stood still, the night pressing down on his shoulders, his thoughts a whirlwind of confusion and disbelief. "Atenyos is not Pritusus's son," Kantara muttered again, slower this time, like he was convincing himself. "He didn't have a family…"
Atus's blue eyes shimmered under the moonlight, glowing like polished crystal, almost mocking the tremor in Kantara's voice. "Heh," he scoffed, "That's what you thought. That's what he wanted you to think."
"How the fuck do…you…know…my father?" Atenyos snarled, stepping forward, fists clenched at his sides, rage beginning to boil. "He was just another ring bearer. An average one. Died in a dungeon break like thousands of others. You dare speak of him in front of me, you bastard?!"
His voice echoed against the alley walls, filled with disbelief and fury, but beneath the anger was a single piercing thought: Does Kantara know something too?
Kantara looked at him, eyes wide with disbelief. "Atenyos… Pritusus never had a child. If he had—I would've known. He was like a father to me. He trusted me with everything—his battles, his secrets… He would have told me."
Atus laughed. A full, chest-cracking, deranged laugh that chilled even the stone under their feet. He wrapped his hand around his face like a madman holding back tears of ecstasy. "Like a son?" he said between laughter. "Weren't we all like sons to him? The prodigies he guided, the fallen he buried—yet he died alone. And you weren't there. You weren't there, Kantara!"
The accusation cut through the night sharper than any blade. Kantara's fists trembled, not with fear, but with the fury of truth unspoken.
On the rooftop above, Mendr and Ipsum remained frozen, tension wrapping around their limbs like chains. But Mendr's face changed—her usual firm expression gave way to something more pained, almost as if this wasn't just an ideological war for her… it was personal.
"We're here," Cassian said, his voice low but urgent as he landed beside the others with the rest of the team. They all dropped into the alley, forming a semicircle, powers humming beneath their skins, each step measured, ready.
KAPOOM.
The sound reverberated through the alleyway as another figure descended, dust billowing from the cracked ground. As it cleared, Veticus stepped forward, his boots crushing gravel with each calculated step. His pale skin was marked with scars that shimmered like cracked glass, his black shimmering with green floating in the wind as if reacting to a storm only he could feel.
"I guess the gang's all here, huh?" he said, smiling. "Well, let's cut to the chase."
Atus raised his hand, revealing a sphere that pulsed erratically with a blend of white and shadowy black light. "Thirteen," he began. "Thirteen bombs scattered across the capital. All powered by unstable light fragments. All waiting to be triggered."
He held the bomb in his palm, letting it hum like a taunt.
"This one here? It's the catalyst. Once it goes off, the others follow. Boom. One city. Gone. No survivors."
Silence.
"You give us Atenyos, we leave. Simple. We don't harm him—orders say he's needed alive. So come on, don't be heroes. Just hand him over."
The tension exploded. Ipsum stepped forward, arms extended protectively in front of Atenyos. His body radiated raw heat, the air around him shimmering with fire, his eyes molten with rage.
"No deal," Ipsum said through gritted teeth.
Kantara's presence intensified—the shadows around him bending, twisting. The ground cracked beneath his boots as he activated more of his aura, not speaking, but his will clear.
Then, without warning, Mendr moved.
She stepped down from the rooftop and approached the enemy line. Her face was unreadable, her steps calm. Atus and Veticus didn't even flinch.
"Oh… haven't we told you?" Veticus smirked. "Little Mendy's with us too."
"Mend—" Kantara started, but she didn't let him finish.
CRACK-BOOM!
With a devastating strike, Mendr smashed Atus into the wall, stone and dust erupting around him. The structure buckled under the force. She snatched the bomb from his hands and casually threw it back to Atenyos.
"Yeah… no," she said, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "I'm with Atenyos now. You can fuck off."
The team collectively blinked, the shock so deep it took them a moment to react. Mendr turned, walking back toward them without a second glance at the chaos behind her.
Atus groaned, pushing the rubble off of him as he stood up. His face twisted, no longer amused. "You stupid girl," he spat. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"
Mendr didn't respond, her back turned, standing beside Atenyos again.
"You know what happens now. To your mother. You remember what they said—what would happen if you turned your back on us."
Her fists clenched, but she didn't flinch.
"She made her choice," Kantara said, stepping forward. "And she made the right one."
Veticus's smile faded. "Abort," he said flatly.
He raised his hand and slammed it into the ground. A wave of decay erupted, black veins of corruption spreading through the earth, disintegrating the alley and the street beneath them before anyone could react. The Regressors vanished into the collapsing terrain, slipping into a tunnel of their own making.
"Damnit!" Kantara roared, his eyes flickering bright purple with fury.
The ground stopped decaying, but the damage was done. The street was hollowed out, ruined.
"They're gone," Ipsum hissed. "Bastards."
"No. Not all is lost," Kantara said quickly. "We split. Half of you—track them. Use your rings to trace any trail of their power. The other half with me—find those bombs. Light fragments emit residual energy. If you focus your ring properly, you'll sense them."
They moved instantly.
Cassian, Lucian, and Revior headed south to follow the decay trail. Kantara, Ipsum, Mendr, and Elevora dashed toward the nearest points of the city grid, splitting again to cover more ground. Atenyos stayed behind for a moment, catching his breath, eyes locked on the shattered alleyway.
Pritusus.. father … who the hell were you?
The city pulsed with danger. Street by street, district by district, they hunted.
The bombs were tucked inside statues, under foundations, behind reinforced walls. Each one radiated a whisper of light fragment energy. They were sophisticated, terrifying in design.
One after another, the team dismantled them.
By the time the last bomb was defused, the first rays of dawn painted the skyline. They regrouped atop a central rooftop overlooking the capital. The city was asleep, unaware of how close it had come to annihilation.
Kantara stood still, his cloak fluttering in the early wind. His voice came out low, steady. "We got lucky."
No one spoke for a long moment.
Then Atenyos stepped forward, holding the dimmed catalyst bomb. "This thing… it could've ended us all."
Cassian folded his arms. "But it didn't. Thanks to Mendr."
The team looked at her. She didn't smile—just nodded once.
Kantara's eyes lingered on her. "There's a lot we need to talk about."
Atenyos looked out at the city. The tension was far from gone, but for now, they had survived.
And just below the surface, more truths waited to be unearthed.