Kenji leaned on the strong wall of the vault's medical bay. His chest was still heaving from the tough escape.
The antiseptic tang in the air mixed oddly with the metallic scent of lingering blight.
His System pulsed, a constant, irritating throb:
[Corruption Influence: DANGEROUSLY HIGH!].
Every muscle screamed, a dull, pervasive ache that settled deep in his bones.
He could still feel the echoes of Noxius's rage, a cold, vast presence that had tried to crush him.
He was exhausted, but more than that, he was wired. His senses buzzed from the huge amount of power he had to unleash.
Hana strode into the medical bay, her face grim, but with a flicker of raw relief in her eyes as she saw them.
Her uniform was torn, smudged with grime, but her posture was as rigid as ever.
"Report! What was that energy spike down there?! The Root is gone, but the city's going haywire above ground. And who is this?"
Her sharp gaze fell on Kael, who stood silently by the door, an unreadable enigma in their dark armor.
"Start from the beginning. Every detail. We need answers, now."
Kenji pushed himself off the wall, wincing as a fresh wave of pain shot through his shoulder.
"It was a Root Network. Buried deep. Noxius was using it to feed on the planet. To become the planet."
His voice was raspy, direct.
"We overloaded it. It's crippled, for now."
He gestured to Kael.
"This is Kael. He helped us. A lot."
His eyes locked with Hana's. It was a quiet challenge for her to doubt Kael's worth, even with his mysterious look.
Kaito, looking more dishevelled than ever, raked a hand through his messy hair.
He was already hunched over a spare comms console, frantically typing.
"His energy signature is... clean. Unlike anything I've seen. Pure concentrated output. No blight residue. He cuts through corrupted matter like it's butter. And he moves like… a ghost in the system. Definitely not from around here."
Kaito shared data quickly, his words flowing like a stream. He seemed almost cheerful, even with the seriousness of their situation.
"Seriously, Alani, this guy's a walking tactical cheat code. He just nullified a couple of those new Siege-Blights down there with a single strike. I've never seen anything like it."
Kael stepped forward, their helmeted head tilting slightly as they observed Hana.
Their voice was calm, almost emotionless, but projected an undeniable authority.
"My kind have fought the blight for millennia across countless sectors. It spreads. It consumes. This world, your 'Root', was merely a localized manifestation. My abilities are designed for its eradication. My origins are... irrelevant for now. What matters is the blight. It must be purged."
Elara, her Lumina light dim, but her voice steady, stepped beside Kenji.
"He fights the blight. Just like us. Whatever his origins, his purpose aligns. That is what matters, Hana."
Her voice was soft against Hana's intensity. It brought calm to the tense atmosphere.
Hana's eyes narrowed, taking in Kael, then Kenji's exhausted, blighted form.
"A long-standing fight, you say? Across sectors? And you just happen to arrive here, now?"
Her voice was skeptical, but there was a hint of desperate curiosity there.
"Fine. For now, you're an asset. But don't think for a second I'm not watching you, 'Kael."
She turned back to Kenji, her tone hardening.
"That energy spike, Kenji. It was off the charts. You used too much. You're pushing yourself to the brink. What if you lost control down there? What then?"
Kenji met her gaze, unflinching.
"I didn't lose control. And I had to. It was the only way."
He walked over to Kaito's console, pointing at the flickering map.
"What's he doing now, Kaito? What's the fallout from hitting that Root?"
Kaito's fingers flew across the keyboard, his face paling as new data flooded his screens.
"Oh, you've really ticked him off now, Kenji! My long-range sensors are going wild! He's retracting his outer tendrils! Consolidating! But also… focusing. Massive energy signatures are converging on our location! He knows! He's prioritizing us!"
Kaito looked up, his eyes wide.
"It's like he just decided we're no longer just a nuisance. We're a priority target."
Hana slammed her fist on a nearby table.
"Then we strengthen our defenses! We prepare for his full assault! We just barely survived his last push! We fortify this vault!"
Her voice was firm, advocating caution, her instincts screaming for defensive action.
Kenji shook his head slowly, his gaze fixed on the map, a grim fire in his eyes. He could almost sense Noxius's cold, vast intelligence. Its focused fury was now aimed at them.
"No. That's what he wants. He's reacting. He's vulnerable. We hit him while he's reorganizing. We find his main body. His true core. We end this."
He looked at Hana, his voice a low, fierce growl.
"We go for the head."
Kael, standing silently, stepped forward, their voice calm and logical.
"Aggression is efficiency. Defensive measures yield temporary results. Direct assault on core infrastructure is optimal. I will assist."
Kaito, despite himself, let out a low whistle, zooming in on a newly identified energy signature on his map.
"Well, if we're going for the head... there's a new, unprecedented energy signature. Deep in the old Central Spire district. It's… humming. Like a gathering point. A massive convergence of blight energy. It's not just a Nexus, Kenji. This feels like… the central nervous system. The very heart of his presence in this world. If we hit that..."
Kenji's eyes locked onto the new target, a cold, calculated fury replacing his exhaustion.
He gripped Shadowfang, its dark blade seeming to hum in anticipation.
"Then that's where we go. That's where we finish this." He turned to Hana, his gaze unwavering. "No more waiting. No more hiding. We end him. Now."