Far above the city…
Inside the heart of the January System.
A massive circular chamber lit up with red light.
Thousands of records moved across floating panels of glowing script.
Warnings repeated over and over.
Unauthorized System Activity Detected
Ancient System Reactivation Confirmed
Anomaly Growth: Critical
At the center of the chamber stood a tall figure in white armor.
Unlike the cleansers, this one carried a weapon.
A long spear made of dark crystal.
A voice spoke from the system core.
"Hunter Protocol Activated."
The armored figure opened its eyes.
Cold.
Empty.
Perfect.
"Designation?" the figure asked.
The system responded.
Target: Aren Vale
Classification: System Fracture
The Hunter lifted its spear.
"And my directive?"
The answer echoed through the chamber.
Erase the anomaly.
Meanwhile…
Deep beneath the city.
Aren and Cael walked back through the hidden tunnel.
The air felt heavier now.
Not from the chamber.
From something approaching.
Aren stopped.
Cael noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
Aren looked upward.
Far above the stone ceiling.
"I think," Aren said slowly,
"January just sent something after me."
At that exact moment—
The entire city shook.
Stone cracked.
The sky above the arena split open.
A figure descended through the fracture in the sky, spear glowing with pale blue light.
The Hunter had arrived.
And unlike the cleansers…
It was built to kill anomalies like Aren.