"Leon! The building's coming down!"
A voice cut through the chaos as Leon sprinted through the burning Shadow Quarter. His freed system blazed with notifications - skill improvements, power enhancements, everything suppressed during imprisonment flooding back at once. The manna-dampening cuffs were gone. His connection to the undead realm burned bright.
Smoke choked the narrow alleys like poison gas. Buildings collapsed in thunderous crashes while screams echoed from every direction. The air tasted of ash and terror.
Leon's enhanced speed carried him over debris fields where families had lived just hours before. His mind focused on one target - his mother's apartment. Everything else was noise.
Three blocks from home, his warrior zombie materialized beside him without summoning. The evolved undead moved with fluid grace, spectral armor gleaming through the smoke. Its mantis blade hummed with contained violence.
"Stay close," Leon commanded. "We're going home."
