Chaos spread through the White Plaza.
People pushed against one another while fear echoed from every direction beneath the gray frozen sky.
Some civilians fled deeper into the settlement.
Others remained frozen in place, unable to stop staring at the melting snow surrounding Shuan’s body.
The air itself felt wrong now.
Too warm near the platform.
Too unstable.
Steam drifted upward in pale waves while the blood-covered ice beneath Shuan continued collapsing into water.
The soldiers surrounding him no longer looked disciplined.
They looked afraid.
Real fear.
Several kept their rifles aimed toward him but hesitated to move closer.
Others exchanged uncertain glances beneath frost-covered helmets.
Nobody wanted to approach the thing that refused to die.
Then— Lemar raised her hand sharply.
The movement cut through the panic instantly.
“Take him alive.” Her voice was calm.
Cold.
Absolute.
The nearest soldiers froze.
One of them looked toward Shuan uncertainly.
“But—” “Now.” This time her tone carried enough force to erase hesitation completely.
The soldiers immediately moved.
But not confidently.
Not like before.
Their steps toward the platform were slower now, careful and visibly tense.
Like hunters approaching a wounded beast they feared might still kill them.
Shuan remained collapsed against the melting ice, breathing unevenly while steam poured from his wounds.
His body still trembled violently from the pain spreading beneath his skin.
He barely understood what was happening around him anymore.
Everything felt distant.
Blurred.
Voices overlapped strangely inside his head.
The soldiers approached from multiple directions.
One cautiously grabbed the chain around Shuan’s neck.
The moment his glove touched the heated metal— he flinched violently.
“It’s hot!” Another soldier cursed under his breath.
The metal restraint itself had become warm enough to burn through the cold-resistant gloves covering their hands.
Fear passed visibly between them again.
But they continued anyway.
Because Lemar was watching.
A large metal container was dragged quickly toward the platform by several guards.
The moment it opened, thick black chains became visible inside.
Not ordinary restraints.
These were heavier.
Wider.
Covered in strange metallic symbols carved deeply into their surfaces.
The dark metal reflected faint light from the snow around them.
One soldier swallowed nervously.
“The suppression restraints…” Another answered quietly, “We actually have to use these?” Lemar’s expression never changed.
“Immediately.” Shuan weakly lifted his head at the sound of approaching footsteps.
His vision blurred badly now.
Shapes moved around him without clear form.
The heat inside his body continued rising uncontrollably.
His muscles tightened painfully as if something beneath his skin kept trying to wake up fully.
Then the chains touched him.
Cold.
Painfully cold.
The black restraints wrapped around his arms first, locking tightly against his wrists with loud metallic snaps.
Then his legs.
Then across his chest and shoulders.
Every new chain tightened harder than the last.
The symbols carved into the metal faintly glowed for only an instant after touching his skin.
Shuan cried out weakly.
The restraints hurt.
Not physically alone— something deeper.
As if the chains themselves were pressing against whatever power was burning inside him.
The soldiers worked quickly now, fear making their movements rougher than necessary.
More restraints locked into place around his body until he could barely move at all.
Even his neck was bound completely with reinforced black metal layered over the original restraint.
Shuan struggled weakly.
Not to attack.
Not to escape.
Only because panic had fully consumed him now.
“I… don’t understand…” His broken voice trembled beneath uneven breathing.
No one answered.
A thick black cloth was suddenly pulled over his eyes.
Darkness swallowed him instantly.
Shuan flinched hard against the restraints.
His breathing became faster.
The loss of sight made everything worse.
Now there was only pain.
Heat.
Chains.
And distant voices speaking around him like strangers standing at the edge of a nightmare.
Even blindfolded— steam still rose visibly from his restrained body.
The snow beneath him continued melting quietly.
And every soldier near the platform could feel it now.
The terrifying warmth of the thing they had captured.