The sirens tore through the air.
Not one.
Dozens.
A continuous, aggressive sound that blended with the noise of the city in broad daylight.
Engines roaring.
Sudden brakes.
Imperial soldiers running from one street to another, weapons in hand.
Armored vehicles cut through intersections without slowing down, forcing cars to stop abruptly.
Orders were shouted over the chaos.
The city hadn’t stopped.
But something had broken.
And now… it was looking for them.
Sky was the first to emerge from the sewer exit.
Daylight hit him straight in the face.
He narrowed his eyes slightly behind his sunglasses as the sound of the city on alert crashed over him like a wave.
Behind him, one by one, the others followed.
Shark turned toward the main street.
Two imperial trucks sped past just ahead.
Fasten held his breath.
Too close.
Too exposed.
“Move.”
Steven’s voice came through the earpiece, cold and precise.
The group moved immediately.
No hesitation.
They crossed the alley staying low, using every shadow, every blind spot between crates, bins, and fire escapes.
A beam of light reflected off a windshield brushed past them.
They froze for a heartbeat, a tense instant just long enough to listen to the world around them, then movement returned, flowing again as the iron stairs welcomed them, Sky launching himself upward first.
The metal vibrated under their weight, while the sirens continued to fill the air.
One by one, they pulled themselves up to the window.
Sky slipped inside.
The others followed right after.
They landed in the room.
Silence fell for a suspended instant, broken only by their breathing, as a quick glance behind confirmed there was no one… for now.
Steven was waiting for them at his station.
The monitor’s glow illuminated his motionless face.
His eyes moved rapidly across the data on the screen.
“You have a rather curious concept of discretion.”
He didn’t look away from the monitor.
“You left when no one in Hellington knew who you were.”
Then he slowly turned toward them.
“You came back with half the city looking for you.”
Sky wiped some dirt off his glasses, smiling as if they hadn’t just risked their lives.
“Okay, maybe we overdid it a little.
But you were amazing!
We would’ve never made it without you.”
Luna stepped forward and tilted her head slightly in greeting.
“Nice to meet you in person, Steven.
Looks like you’re part of our clan now, right?”
Steven looked at her for a moment.
Then returned his gaze to the monitor.
“If you want to put it that way.”
His fingers moved slowly over the keyboard.
“I don’t fight.”
“But from here… I can see almost all of Hellington.”
The monitors shifted: streets, intersections, imperial patrols moving like pieces on a chessboard.
Steven barely lifted his gaze.
“And that’s probably… far more useful.”
Fasten, still shaken from the chase, dropped onto a chair.
“Useful?
Indispensable!
I wouldn’t have gotten us out of that hell, not even at full speed.”
A faint smile touched Steven’s lips.
“Flattery won’t fix what happened.”
Shark scoffed, crossing his arms.
“It’s that idiot soldier’s fault.
He didn’t know his place.”
Steven typed something, then brought up a video on one of the monitors.
“His name is Jolly Back.
Look.”
The screen showed footage recorded by a passerby: Sky throwing Jolly into a building, Shark engulfing enemies in a spiral of fire.
The screams of the crowd and the chaos of the battle filled the room.
“An excellent way to found a clan,” Steven said, his tone unreadable—whether it was observation or sarcasm.
Sky watched the video with a huge grin.
“Damn… look at him fly.”
Shark laughed.
“They should thank us for the show.
I was almost bored.”
Steven raised his gaze toward them, expression unchanged under the cold glow of the monitors.
“The soldiers weren’t at your level.
That’s obvious.”
His fingers stopped on the keyboard, and for a moment only the low hum of the computers remained.
“And that’s exactly the problem.”
“So far, you’ve been lucky.
That won’t last.”
A brief pause.
“What happens when you’re no longer facing soldiers?
When you stand in front of someone at your level… or above.”
A thin moment slipped by.
“Rione.
Surez… Sharlok.”
This time, the name didn’t just get spoken.
It lingered in the air.
Heavy.
Steven didn’t raise his voice.
He didn’t need to.
“What are your chances, really?”
Sky gave him a light pat on the shoulder and chuckled.
For a moment, though, the smile stayed there… without truly moving.
He adjusted his sunglasses, like he always did when something bothered him.
“Honestly… not something I want to think about too much.”
He shrugged.
Then the smile returned, more solid.
“But if it happens… we’ll figure it out when it does.”
Shark grew serious, his gaze filled with disdain.
“Sharlok is just an arrogant bastard.
He thinks he can capture us and drag us back to that training camp like we’re recruits.
He has no idea who he’s dealing with.”
Luna looked at him with cold calm.
“You’re wrong.
We won’t be taken back to the camp.”
Her gaze darkened.
“I heard them talking about Nova Aquila.
A prison for Level Ups.”
The name was enough.
Steven went still.
“Yeah.”
Only then did he look at them.
“You’re deserters.
If they don’t kill you first… that’s where you end up.”
Silence stretched just enough for those words to settle.
Then, with the same cold calm—
“No one leaves Nova Aquila.”
Sky smiled, as if the answer had already been decided.
“If you can enter a place… you can leave it too.”
He stepped forward.
“And if they want to take us there… they’ll have to catch us first.”
Steven sighed.
“That place doesn’t exist to contain.”
He lowered his gaze.
“It exists to close things permanently.
And when something goes in… it stops being a problem.”
Fasten said the name, almost laughing.
“Nova Aquila?
Doesn’t sound that scary.”
Steven looked at him calmly.
“It’s suspended in the sky.
Much higher than you can imagine.”
He leaned back.
“Prisoners are chained with eolite.
No powers.
No way out.”
“Even if you managed to break free… there’s only the void below.”
His voice dropped.
“Some tried.
Not to escape… but because staying was worse.”
For a moment, no one spoke.
Fasten swallowed.
“…Okay.
I take it back.
That’s terrifying.”
“You’re safe here.
For now,” Steven said calmly.
“But staying too long in one place increases the chance of being found.”
Luna nodded.
“If we stay, we become a target.”
Her gaze shifted to Sky.
“If we move at night, north… we might find a clan still loyal to your family.”
Sky frowned.
“My family?
I don’t know anyone except my aunt and—”
“Terrible idea.”
Steven cut him off immediately.
The keyboard began to click again.
“A ‘loyal’ clan means taking a side.
And taking a side… means standing against the Empire.”
His eyes sharpened.
“And right now, the Empire is already looking for you.”
Fasten stepped forward, trying to ease the pressure.
“I’m fast.
I could leave Hellington and look for someone willing to help us.”
Shark shot him a glare.
“Ask for help?
What, so we can be handed over to someone else?
I agree with Steven.
Terrible idea.”
Luna didn’t raise her voice.
“That’s not the point.
It’s about survival.”
Shark scoffed.
“Survival… sounds more like running away.”
Luna didn’t look away.
“It’s not running.
It’s staying alive.”
Sky stepped forward, his usual light smile clashing with the tension.
“Running or surviving… doesn’t really matter.”
He adjusted his sunglasses.
“But staying still isn’t an option.”
A half-smile touched his lips.
“If the Empire sees us as a problem… then we might as well start acting like one.”
Steven raised his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
Sky looked up, and the smile slowly faded.
“From this moment on… there’s no going back.”
He looked at the others.
“Our clan has just been born.”
A new smile appeared.
Harder.
Sharper.
“And sooner or later… the world will have to notice.”
For a moment, no one moved.
And yet, something had already changed.
It wasn’t survival anymore.
It was direction.
And in the silence of that room, lit by the monitors, something far more dangerous took shape.
A future.
Hellington Hospital smelled of disinfectant and rushed money.
Inside the rooms, the muffled hum of machines blended with the murmurs of visitors.
Sharlok walked down the corridor without hurry, like a predator sensing the faintest trace of blood.
Jolly Back’s bed was an island of bandages and IV lines.
The young soldier lifted his head.
“Sir!
It’s an honor to receive your visit.”
“Drop the manners,” Sharlok said flatly.
“Names.
Movements.
Who saw them.
Now.”
Jolly swallowed.
“Sir… when we arrived in Hellington, I split the teams into groups of five.
I checked the hospitalized.
Among those not here, only two recruits are missing: Luna Lovecraft and Comaco Fasten.”
Silence.
“Then those two spoke with the fugitives.
Were they accomplices?”
“I don’t know, sir.
But I saw them together often.
I should’ve paid more attention.”
“And the third man?”
“We found nothing, sir.”
Sharlok clenched his fists.
“Listen carefully.
You did what you thought was right… but you were wrong.”
His voice dropped.
“Anyone who helps fugitives betrays the Empire.”
He leaned closer.
“If you fail again… you’ll regret this hospital.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And make sure no one here knows more than they should.”
He turned away.
Outside, he inhaled slowly.
Smoke followed.
This wasn’t a hunt anymore.
It was a war.
And it had already begun.
On top of one of Grey Wall’s buildings, a motionless figure watched the city.
The wind barely moved the dark coat.
Its gaze fixed on a single window.
Steven’s room.
Fingers tightened on the railing.
“…Found you.”
Next Episode — Jerico of the Eastern Quake