[KEN'S POV]
I knelt, blade plunged deep into the earth, my forehead resting against its hilt. My body trembled — no, collapsed — wrecked beyond reason. Every breath rattled in my chest like broken glass.
With effort, I flicked on my comms.
"Ken to Theo… you and the others okay?"
Theo's voice crackled back, weary but alive.
"Yeah, man. Calder, Mira, and I just finished off one of the mages."
A thin, dry laugh escaped me.
"That's good." My voice was hoarse, barely a whisper.
Theo hesitated. "What about you? Did you beat yours?"
I smiled bitterly. "You can come ask his corpse."
Even without seeing him, I knew Theo was grinning on the other end. But then I asked, "What about Nyra, Juno, Vaelis, and Helena? Are they done on their end?"
Theo's tone shifted. "I was just about to check on them…"
---
[THEO'S POV]
I lifted my sniper's scope, scanning the edge of the colony's shattered gate.
And that's when I saw it.
A figure — a mage — calmly walked forward, carrying two severed heads by the hair. Nyra and Juno. Blood dripped, pattering softly onto the ground as he moved, leaving a grotesque trail behind. Their lifeless eyes stared out, mouths frozen mid-scream.
My stomach twisted, bile rising to my throat. I jerked the scope, sweeping toward the left flank.
Vaelis and Helena…
Their bodies lay shattered, encased in frozen shards, limbs scattered like broken dolls across the dirt.
I clenched my trembling hand around the comms. I forced my voice steady, but the tremor wouldn't leave.
"Ken… Mira… Calder… they're gone. Nyra, Juno, Vaelis, Helena… they're all dead."
For a second, the channel went dead silent.
---
[MIRA'S POV]
I sat on the ground, knees pulled to my chest.
At Theo's words, something inside me cracked open. I covered my mouth with a shaking hand as the grief hit — sharp, cold, merciless. My chest ached, my breath hitched, but no tears fell. It was beyond tears. It was a hollow, devouring pain.
---
[CALDER'S POV]
I gripped my aching stomach, staggering.
"You bastards…"
With a snarl, I slammed my fist into the nearest tree, bark splintering under the blow. My teeth clenched hard enough to ache.
"Holy Empire bastards… I swear, I'm gonna kill every last one of you!"
---
[KEN'S POV]
I sat motionless, blade still buried in the dirt.
Their names echoed in my head — Nyra, Juno, Vaelis, Helena. I wasn't close to them, not really. We weren't friends. But still…
I didn't know what I was supposed to feel. Anger? Grief? Guilt?
Instead, all I felt was a cold, empty quiet.
"Calder, Mira… come to me. Right now. Theo, stay put."
Calder's voice snapped over the comm, raw with fury.
"Are you kidding me?! You want me to run from those bastards?!"
"No," I answered calmly. "I want you to do the logical thing. Tell me, Calder — do you think, in your condition, you and Mira can take on two mages?"
There was a long silence. Then Calder spat, voice laced with bitter respect.
"Unlike you, Lone Wolf, Nyra, Juno, Vaelis, Helena — they were actually our friends. We don't run from the people who killed our friends. That's something you'd never understand."
I let the silence stretch, cold and sharp.
Then I spoke, voice low, steady.
"Since you won't listen to logic… maybe you'll listen to reason."
I took a breath, forcing the words out.
"The mage I killed warned me — there's another one, stronger than any we've faced so far. Stronger than the one you killed. Stronger than the two who slaughtered Nyra and the others. And haven't you wondered what happened to Astrid and Darius? I'd bet anything they're either dead or captured."
For the first time, my voice cracked — not from weakness, but from bitter, crushing truth.
"We're not in a position to play heroes. And we are not heroes. We're Inquisitors. Don't get the two twisted."
---
[CALDER'S POV]
My fists clenched so tightly they shook. My pride screamed to fight, to keep going.
I opened my mouth to argue — "But—"
"Enough!" Mira's voice cut through like a whip.
"Calder! Ken's right. We don't stand a chance. Not against those two… and definitely not against the one Ken's warning us about. We need to regroup. Theo's safer where he is, up on the colony's tallest building. We head to Ken — now."
I bit down my protests, jaw tight. I glanced at Mira, saw the raw grief in her eyes, the tears she wouldn't let fall.
I sighed, stepping over and pulling her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"Fine," I muttered coldly into the comm. "We're coming. Where are you?"
Ken's voice came back, ragged but precise.
"Southern edge of the forest. You'll see battle scars the moment you enter. Follow them south."
"Got it," I replied through gritted teeth.
---
[JOHAN'S POV]
I emerged from the forest, stepping out into the broken ruins of the outer colony.
Two mages approached, heads bowed low.
"Lord Johan."
I didn't look at them.
"Have you killed all the Inquisitors?"
One mage spoke, voice shaky.
"We killed four, my lord. But… Faust was killed by the remaining two, and… we've lost Bartra's magical signature. We believe one of them defeated him."
I closed my eyes. I felt Bartra's energy vanish.
A former Paladin, killed… by children.
I opened my eyes slowly, my stare cold, empty.
"Is that all?"
The mages stiffened. "Yes, my lord… that's all."
I fell silent, as if contemplating.
Then, softly —
"Where are the survivors?"
The mage swallowed hard.
"We… believe they're hiding in the forest, my lord."
A thin, cruel smile touched my lips.
"Find them, Don't attack them, just Wait for me to arrive."
The mages vanished, slipping soundlessly into the trees.
I exhaled slowly, fingers tightening on the girl's hair as she hung limp in my grasp.
With a flick of my hand, chains of searing light wrapped around her body, binding her in place. I knelt close, voice a quiet murmur by her ear.
"Your friends are quite impressive… to have killed Bartra and Faust. Especially the one who killed Bartra…"
My dead eyes narrowed, a gleam of interest flickering in the void.
"I look forward to meeting them."