The soldiers came in waves, their airships slicing through the misty skies like silent predators. Shadows darkened the streets of Rivermirror as armed men dropped from the skies, their boots hitting the ground with unrelenting purpose. Their mission was clear: retrieve the symbiote and relay core, and capture Argent and Hound—dead or alive. Failure was not an option. Mercy wasn’t part of the briefing.

The streets emptied as though the city itself had stopped breathing. The Seers had vanished without a trace, their usual defiance replaced by a chilling silence. Blanc’s hotel, the first location to be raided, stood eerily abandoned. The soldiers found nothing. No evidence of life. Not a single personal belonging. It was as if the building itself had never been inhabited.

The quiet streets of Rivermirror told a story of fear and survival. Nine years had passed since the war, but the scars remained. Now, with River’s soldiers parading through the city like it was their conquest, the memories came rushing back. Mothers pulled their children into the darkest corners of their homes. Businesses locked their doors. Schools closed their gates. The city fell into a deafening silence.

The unlucky few who lingered outside were met with violence. Interrogations escalated into beatings. Beatings escalated into executions. Blood soaked the cobblestones, the screams of the unfortunate fading into the oppressive quiet. A single strand of hair falling to the ground would have echoed in the emptiness.

For River, this was a calculated act. A demonstration of strength. Justice for their fallen commander. A reassurance to their citizens that order would be restored. But for Rivermirror, this was war. A battle for independence, for survival. Rivermirror was done living on scraps. They craved freedom and would achieve it by any means necessary.

“Blanc used to live here,” growled a soldier, pinning a trembling man to a damp brick wall in a shadowed alley. Rain trickled down the soldier’s helmet, pooling on the ground beneath his boots. He shoved a crumpled photograph of Argent and Hound into the man’s line of sight.

“They worked under him. Where are they now?”

The man stammered, his words stumbling over each other in panic. “I just sell vegetables, officer! I don’t know anything! I stay away from people like them!” His body shook as a dark stain spread across his trousers.

The soldier’s patience snapped. With a swift motion, he raised his shotgun, the barrel cold against the man’s forehead.

“Please, no! I swear I don’t—”

A deafening blast echoed through the alley. Blood splattered across the wall as the man crumpled to the ground, lifeless.

“Coward,” the soldier muttered, reloading his weapon.

The soldiers kicked down doors, dragging frightened residents into the streets. Screams echoed through the air as homes were ransacked, families torn apart. The streets became a war zone.

Evee, traveling alone and under the radar, slipped into River undetected. Among the many prestigious academies in the city, one stood out above the rest: Ebonspire Academy, renowned for producing the sharpest minds and future leaders.

Its exorbitant tuition made it a haven for the elite, primarily attended by nobles who could afford its exclusivity. However, its reputation drew students from across the globe, including neighboring cities and distant nations, making it a melting pot of ambition and privilege.

With its impenetrable security and esteemed reputation, Ebonspire was considered impossible to infiltrate. Undeterred, Evee made her way to a nearby bar to blend in and prepare her next move.

The best place to hide is often in plain sight, and Blanc knew this all too well. He chose to stay in a house owned by a seer living undercover in River, her identity concealed by a tattoo in invisible ink, just like Hound’s.

For four years, she had operated quietly, feeding Blanc invaluable political intel thanks to her influential position as a politician. But while she excelled in subterfuge, she was no fighter, and the weight of her current predicament made her heart pound with unease.

“Anna, you’re stressing me out with all that pacing,” Blanc said softly, breaking the tense silence. “Why don’t you sit down?”

Anna, gnawing on her nails, only paced faster. “There are other seers in River, Blanc! Why am I the one stuck with this? I’m fine providing intel, but now I’m hiding one of the most wanted criminals in my home. My sweet home! How long are you planning to stay here?”

Blanc chuckled at her rising panic. “Kicking your boss out of your sweet home, are we?” he teased, thoroughly amused.

“Why me?” Anna dropped to her knees dramatically, throwing her hands in the air in exaggerated despair.

“Because you’re the chosen one,” Blanc replied, his tone playfully mocking.

“I don’t wanna be the chosen one!” she cried, glaring at him with watery eyes, her over-the-top reaction drawing another chuckle from Blanc as he leaned back in his chair.

Gazier, the commander of Rivermirror’s most fearsome fighting force, unleashed his men with a single brutal order: eradicate the River soldiers. It was less about strategy and more about unleashing their pent-up rage and frustration. In Rivermirror, where internal disputes were common, there was one universal truth—they all hated the River soldiers.

The massacre began without hesitation. Gazier’s forces tore through the invading troops with merciless efficiency, exploiting the soldiers' inexperience and complacency after years of peace. The men under Gazier’s command were seasoned killers who had known death as intimately as a first name, their savagery unmatched.

Their mission wasn’t about heroism or protecting the people of Rivermirror. No, this was about feeding their insatiable thirst for violence. For Gazier’s men, the order to go rampant was the fulfillment of a dark and twisted dream.

The aftermath was a grotesque tapestry of blood and carnage. Streets, alleys, and homes were littered with the remains of fallen soldiers. Bodies lay torn apart, their lower halves separated yet futilely dragging their broken forms through the dust, leaving trails of entrails behind.

The chaos inspired others—ordinary residents who had never held a weapon—to join the slaughter, driven by pure, unfiltered rage at the invaders.

But amid the destruction, the true depths of human depravity revealed themselves. Two of Arlin’s daughters, young recruits in the military, were captured, violated, and ultimately bound for a fate worse than death, to be sold into the shadows of the sex trade once the fires of battle had burned out.

Evee, wearing revealing attire, was approached at the bar by a student.

“I noticed you from across the room and had to come over,” he said, “What’s your name, gorgeous?”

Noticing the emblem on his school uniform, Evee quickly responded, “Why don’t we skip the small talk and fast-forward to the part where I’m in your bed?” she teased, her boldness seeming out of place, yet the man, captivated by her allure, didn’t question it.

Before long, they found themselves in his dorm—inside the heavily guarded and monitored academy. He wasted no time pushing her onto the bed, his approach aggressive yet controlled.

 Her cheeks flushed as he removed his clothes, revealing his impressive size. He climbed on top of her, moving with smooth, deliberate motions. Her tiny shirt came off first as their lips met in a passionate embrace, while he gently stimulated her.

In a flurry, she stripped off her miniskirt along with her underwear. As he reached for a condom on his desk, she halted him, locking him in place with her thighs and flipping him over to take the dominant position.

“I’m on birth control, no need to worry,” she whispered in his ear as she took him in fully, initially trembling from the pleasure.

He was so immersed in the moment, shock evident on his face, that he could hardly speak. She moved rhythmically against him, her eyes occasionally rolling back in ecstasy.

“Wait, I’m about to—” he finally managed, squirming.

“Inside me,” she urged.

“But it’s too soon. It’s only been a few minutes,” he protested.

“The best few minutes of my life,” she moaned, her grinding relentless. “Please, inside of me.”

He complied with her request, his eyes shut and mouth agape as he reached his climax, feeling her walls and the slickness that surrounded them. He kept his eyes closed, trying to regain his composure.

But then he felt an overwhelming heat—not from her, but something much hotter, almost searing. He opened his eyes, only to be met with red shockwaves radiating from her heart, her eyes glowing with intense heat. Her skin began to crack like stones under pressure. The shockwaves intensified, growing stronger until she could no longer contain them.

“Thank you, you’ve greatly assisted our cause,” she said, her voice sounding like the roar of flames. “Your life began from a woman’s body, and it ends in one, you lucky bastard.”

He barely had time to react before she exploded, engulfing his room, then his entire dorm, followed by all the neighboring ones. Before long, the explosion leveled the entire academy, shattering every protective measure in place…