Night sat heavy over the city, dimming the neon lights until they looked like dying embers. People moved through the streets in clusters, talking in quick whispers, everyone still shaken by what they had witnessed the previous day — the impossible fight between Ragna and the unknown masked figure.
That masked figure was Kayden.
But nobody knew. And Kayden wanted it to stay that way.
The world was talking. Panicking. Guessing. Rumors were multiplying like wildfire.
Some called the masked guy a demon. Some called him a savior. Some said he was the return of an ancient power. Some said he was the one who would rewrite the system.
But every voice agreed on one thing:
Whoever he was… he wasn't normal.
And that frightened everyone.
---
Across Blackridge City, screens replayed the shaky recordings caught by terrified civilians.
The collapsed trucks. The scorched pavement. The figure in a ripped hoodie and makeshift mask standing alone inside the swirl of dust.
On the news, experts debated endlessly.
"He stopped a rampaging enhanced criminal."
"No, he caused the carnage!"
"That energy around his arm — what technology is that?"
"It wasn't technology. It was something else."
People gathered around storefronts to watch the replays, pointing at the moment Kayden's sigil flared like a storm trapped under his skin.
That was the moment the city gasped.
That was the moment the world realized:
A new power had appeared.
And the government wanted him. The criminals feared him. And the citizens… didn't know whether to cheer or run.
---
Kayden stayed hidden inside the abandoned subway tunnel he had been using as a temporary shelter. Every bone in his body still hurt — especially after the sigil awakened that strange, overwhelming force inside him.
He didn't even fully remember the moment he beat Ragna.
It felt like another presence stepped forward. Like the sigil moved on its own. Like someone — or something — had taken the wheel.
Kayden sat against the cold concrete wall, mask beside him, sweat dripping off his face.
"Damn it…" he muttered. "What did I turn into back there?"
He stared at his hand, the sigil faintly glowing under the skin like an ember waiting for air.
And he heard the voice again — the same one that haunted him since he arrived on Earth as a baby.
"You don't belong here."
Kayden clenched his fist.
"Then where do I belong?"
No answer. Only the soft hum of the sigil pulsing like a heartbeat.
Kayden couldn't stay hidden forever. Someone would track him eventually. The architect knew his power too well. And Kayden knew the architect wasn't the type to sit idle.
He needed answers — but he needed to survive first.
And survive quietly.
---
In the richer districts, politicians held emergency meetings. They feared Kayden's power more than Ragna's destruction. The unknown always terrified them more than the obvious threat.
In the underground world, gangs analyzed every frame of the fight, terrified at the idea of an unpredictable powerhouse roaming free.
But the biggest reaction came online.
#TheMaskedOne
#UrbanPhantom
#PowerBorn
The internet had crowned Kayden a living legend — a myth walking in daylight.
Some people worshiped him. Some feared him. Some demanded he be hunted down immediately.
But none of them knew the truth:
Kayden didn't want any of this.
He only wanted to breathe freely, understand the sigil, and survive long enough to learn why he existed.
But fate wasn't giving him that choice.
---
While the world obsessed over Kayden, the architect was focused on something else.
Deep inside his hidden facility, endless blue lights illuminated a long, cold laboratory. Metal arms, screens, floating models of energy signatures — everything hummed with precision.
Ragna lay in a cylindrical chamber, suspended by multiple tubes linked into his arms, legs, and spine. Energy flowed like glowing rivers into his body, repairing, reinforcing, evolving.
His eyes twitched under the visor strapped over his face.
Behind a glass wall, the architect watched him with cold fascination.
Power readings climbed.
Strength curve increasing.
Neural bindings stabilizing.
The architect spoke softly, almost admiringly:
"He survived direct sigil resonance… interesting. Very interesting."
Beside him, three newly enhanced figures stood — Jex and the Vex members who stayed. Their bodies still trembled from the experimental infusion they had undergone earlier.
Jex tried to speak confidently but couldn't hide the hint of fear in his voice.
"Is… is he gonna be okay? Ragna looks like he's being cooked in there."
The architect didn't even turn to look at him.
"He will emerge more powerful than any of you can imagine. Unless the masked one kills him first."
Jex swallowed hard.
"Who… who was that masked guy?"
The architect finally glanced at him, expression unreadable.
"A mistake. One I intend to… correct."
---
Two Vex members who followed Jex were ecstatic, energized by the gifts they had been given.
"Man, once we get out there, we'll rule the streets."
"With this strength? Nobody can stop us."
But two others stood silently in the corner, trembling slightly.
One whispered, "We shouldn't have come here…"
The other replied, "This place… this man… we're not Vex anymore. We're prisoners."
The cracks inside the crew were widening.
Some wanted power.
Some wanted escape.
Some wanted survival.
And none of them agreed which path was right.
The architect didn't care about any of that.
He only cared about the calculations forming across his monitors.
"They're reacting to the masked one," he thought. "Perfect."
Everything was playing out the way he needed:
Chaos in the city.
Fear among the people.
Confusion in the gangs.
Unstable loyalty within the Vex.
And Kayden?
Kayden was unknowingly pushing the world exactly where the architect needed it to go.
---
Suddenly, the energy tube connected to Ragna's arm pulsed violently, lighting up the entire chamber. Alarms blared for half a second before the architect silenced them manually.
Jex stepped back.
"Whoa — what the hell was that!?"
The architect studied the readings.
"Ragna is adapting faster than expected… very good."
But then his expression darkened.
"However… the masked one's power signature is still in his cells. It reacted."
Jex frowned, confused and nervous.
"Meaning?"
The architect turned away.
"It means your leader is obsessed now."
Ragna twitched again inside the chamber, his jaw clenching as if reliving the fight. As if remembering the humiliation. As if replaying the moment he was nearly destroyed.
Beneath the visor, a faint glow lit his eyes.
Even unconscious, he was searching for Kayden.
The architect folded his arms.
"When he wakes… he will demand blood."
---
Back in the city, police scanners buzzed nonstop. Military vehicles rolled through the streets. Drones searched every alley.
Every agency received the same order:
Find the masked boy. Capture alive. Do not engage directly.
Kayden watched all this from a rooftop far from the excitement, mask pulled low, hoodie covering his hair.
He didn't want fame.
He didn't want war.
He wanted to survive.
But he could feel the world shifting against him.
The sigil hummed like a warning.
"Great," Kayden muttered. "Now everyone thinks I'm some kind of monster."
But what he didn't know was—
At the architect's facility, Ragna's chamber hissed.
Jex flinched.
The architect stared forward with absolute focus.
"Oh," he murmured. "He's waking sooner than expected."
The glass began to crack softly under Ragna's strengthening grip.
His breathing deepened.
His fingers twitched.
His body pulsed with raw new power.
The architect's lips curved slightly.
"The hunt… begins."
---
Far across the city, Kayden suddenly felt a sharp pulse shoot through his sigil, like someone yanked a thread connected to his soul.
He stumbled, catching himself on the edge of the rooftop.
"What—? What was that?"
His heartbeat synced with the pulse.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump—
As if another power… another presence… was calling to him.
Far away, deep inside the chamber, Ragna's eyes snapped open — glowing with fierce purpose.
He whispered one name in a low, trembling growling,
''Kayden''
And the architect smiled behind the glass.
"Let the next stage begin."