The alleys narrowed as the group darted deeper into the underbelly of District Three.
Trash bins rattled, puddles splashed, and the sirens behind them faded into static.
Central Forces were spreading outward, but Blinkstep's speed kept them ahead—barely.
Titanborn skidded around a corner, smashing aside a metal grate blocking the path.
"Move!" he barked.
Mindwright panted, voice tight.
"They're forming a perimeter behind us. If they box us in—"
Blinkstep cut him off with a sharp laugh.
"No boxing! No corners! We're like—uh—wet cats! Super fast!"
Titanborn glared.
"Shut up before I throw you."
Arc said nothing.
He clutched the knife Elias had thrown.
His puppet clung to his sleeve, wood creaking with each step.
Rain dripped from Arc's jaw, mixing with the cold sweat across his neck.
He couldn't stop feeling it.
A presence.
Invisible.
Precise.
Measuring him.
Blinkstep slowed suddenly.
"Stop."
Titanborn nearly ran into him.
"What now?"
Blinkstep pointed ahead.
The alley turned into a dead-end courtyard.
Tall walls.
Gates locked.
No exits.
Mindwright inhaled through his teeth.
"…He led us into a trap."
Arc didn't move.
"Not a trap," he said softly.
"A test."
Titanborn spun. "A test of WHAT?! Our patience?! Our fear?!"
Arc lowered his head.
"No… a test of how we act cornered."
The rain quieted for a breath.
Then Arc's puppet whispered:
"He hunts the desperate first."
Blinkstep swallowed.
"I hate that you say stuff like that with a straight face."
Mindwright scanned every wall, every rooftop, every shadow—but the rain blurred everything.
Titanborn cracked his knuckles.
"Fine. Let him come. I'll break the little psycho in half."
A soft tap answered him.
All four froze.
Another tap.
Gentle.
Rhythmic.
Footsteps.
Coming from above.
Arc slowly turned his head upward.
A figure stood at the top of the courtyard wall—silhouetted by flashing siren lights in the distance.
Thin.
Drenched in rain.
Knife in one hand.
Head tilted slightly, like a bird studying prey.
Elias.
Blinkstep whispered, voice shaking:
"He followed us… the whole time."
Mindwright's breathing quickened.
"He could've killed us at three separate points."
Titanborn's fists tightened.
His breathing grew heavy.
Arc didn't blink.
He raised his puppet by the strings.
The wood creaked.
The smile cracked wider.
Elias didn't move.
He simply stared down at Arc with eyes devoid of fear… or anger… or anything.
Just purpose.
Titanborn stepped forward.
"HEY! You! What the hell do you want?!"
Elias didn't answer.
He crouched.
The movement was slow.
Deliberate.
Predatory.
Mindwright whispered, "He's calculating again. Pattern recognition. Studying us."
Blinkstep's voice cracked. "Should I—like—run? Or fight? Or play dead?!"
Arc stepped forward.
"No."
Titanborn grabbed his arm.
"Are you insane?!"
Arc shook him off quietly.
"He came for me."
The rain thickened.
Distant thunder cracked the night open.
Elias rose from his crouch.
Finally—finally—he spoke.
Not loud.
Not dramatic.
Just a quiet voice cutting through the courtyard:
"You shouldn't let them slow you down."
Arc's blood froze.
Titanborn stuttered. "Slow—what?!"
Mindwright swallowed. "Is he… talking about us?"
Elias's grip tightened on his knife.
He wasn't threatening.
He wasn't warning.
He was observing.
And judging.
Arc somehow understood.
"You're watching… how I escape," Arc whispered.
Elias blinked once.
Not confirmation.
Not denial.
Just acknowledgment.
Arc's puppet shivered.
"He likes you," it whispered.
"He wants you sharp. Wants you better. Wants you… ready."
Titanborn snapped.
"That's IT!"
He stepped forward, aura flaring.
Elias vanished.
Not teleported.
Not blinked.
Not jumped.
He simply disappeared.
Blinkstep screamed, "WHERE—?!"
A cold voice came from behind them.
"You're too loud."
All four spun.
Elias stood two feet behind Arc.
Titanborn nearly tripped.
Blinkstep's hands shook.
Mindwright's glasses fogged instantly.
Arc didn't breathe.
Elias stared at him with empty, assessing eyes.
Without raising his knife, without stepping forward, he said one sentence that chilled every Art user in the courtyard:
"You're not strong enough yet."
Arc exhaled sharply.
Titanborn roared, "YOU LITTLE—!!"
He swung.
A punch strong enough to crater a wall.
But his fist hit only rain.
Elias had moved before Titanborn's muscles even contracted.
Mindwright staggered back.
"I—I didn't even SEE the transition!"
Blinkstep grabbed Arc's arm.
"WHY IS HE ONLY TALKING TO YOU?!"
Arc whispered:
"Because I'm the one he wants."
Titanborn spun wildly.
"FOR WHAT?!"
The puppet answered:
"To survive him."
Silence.
Elias stood again on the opposite wall, staring at Arc with a calm that felt like a blade pressed to the throat of fate.
Then—
Distant sirens.
Military shouting.
A drone's searchlight sweeping near.
Elias turned his head slightly.
He wasn't fleeing.
Not hiding.
Just leaving.
He studied Arc one last time.
A hunter evaluating whether his prey was worth future effort.
Then he stepped backward into the rain—
And was gone.