The city never truly slept.
But tonight, it felt like it was holding its breath.
Aiden stood on the rooftop of a low commercial building, staring down at the first distortion marker glowing faintly on his system map. The anchor point was embedded somewhere inside an old parking structure across the street.
Faint.
Carefully hidden.
But now that he knew what to look for, the distortion pulse was obvious.
Elira stood beside him, tightening her grip on her sword.
"You're sure this is the right one?" she asked.
Aiden nodded. "Closest to us. If we start here, we force them to react."
Ignis stood slightly behind them, her golden eyes scanning the surrounding buildings. "And they will react."
The frost wyrmling shifted on Aiden's shoulder, its small claws gripping fabric. A faint mist trailed behind it as it breathed.
It could feel the anchors too.
It didn't like them.
They crossed the street quietly and entered the parking structure through a side entrance.
The air inside was stale, thick with the smell of oil and dust. Most of the lights were broken, leaving only faint illumination from a few flickering bulbs overhead.
The distortion pulse grew stronger as they descended.
Second level.
Third.
By the time they reached the fourth underground floor, the air felt compressed.
Like gravity itself had tightened.
Elira stopped walking.
"It's below us," she said quietly.
Aiden nodded.
"There."
At the center of the floor, faint lines glowed across the concrete—barely visible unless you were looking directly at them.
A distortion circle.
Much smaller than the subway core.
But structured.
Precise.
Ignis stepped closer, studying the pattern.
"It's not designed to spawn creatures," she said. "It's a stabilizer."
"For the grid," Aiden replied.
Elira frowned. "Then destroying it won't cause a collapse?"
"Not unless we do it wrong," Aiden said.
He crouched near the circle.
The pattern wasn't chaotic.
It was engineered.
Four energy nodes feeding into a central locking point.
"If we sever the nodes first, it'll destabilize safely."
Elira smirked faintly. "I'm starting to enjoy this."
"Enjoy it after," Aiden said.
They moved quickly.
Aiden positioned himself near the central lock.
Elira took the left node.
Ignis hovered near the right.
The frost wyrmling leapt lightly from Aiden's shoulder and landed near the final node, staring at it with unusual focus.
"Stay back," Aiden said instinctively.
But the wyrmling didn't retreat.
Instead, it lowered its head slightly.
A faint pulse of frost energy spread outward.
The distortion lines flickered in response.
Ignis's eyes widened slightly.
"It's interfering with the frequency."
Elira blinked. "Is that good?"
"Yes," Ignis said softly. "Very good."
Aiden didn't hesitate.
"Now."
Elira's blade flashed first.
The left node shattered in a burst of icy fragments.
Ignis followed, releasing a precise pulse of draconic energy that severed the right node cleanly.
The frost wyrmling exhaled sharply.
A small burst of freezing mist coated the final node.
The distortion lines flickered violently.
Aiden drove his blade into the central lock.
The circle trembled.
Cracks spread outward like spiderwebs across the concrete.
Then—
It collapsed inward.
Not explosively.
But like a dying signal cutting off.
Silence returned.
The system activated immediately.
[Anchor Point Destroyed: 1/4]
Grid Stability Reduced: 22%
Elira let out a slow breath.
"That was easier than I expected."
Aiden shook his head.
"They let us."
Ignis nodded slightly.
"Yes."
The air shifted.
A faint distortion ripple passed through the structure.
Not violent.
But deliberate.
Aiden's system map updated.
The remaining three anchors pulsed brighter.
"They know," Elira said.
"Of course they know," Ignis replied.
Aiden stood.
"And now they'll adjust."
They exited the parking structure quickly.
By the time they reached the rooftop again, the city felt different.
The remaining anchor points glowed stronger on Aiden's map.
Like warning lights.
Elira crossed her arms.
"Which one next?"
Aiden studied the layout.
The anchors formed a partial ring.
If they destroyed the next one counterclockwise—
"They'll try to intercept," Ignis said softly.
"Yes," Aiden replied.
"And that's what we want."
Elira smiled faintly.
"So this time we don't just break it."
"No," Aiden said calmly.
"This time we wait."
Across the city, inside the hidden control chamber—
A masked figure watched one of the screens flicker out.
"First anchor destroyed," a subordinate reported.
The masked figure nodded.
"Response team?"
"Mobilized."
"And Subject?"
"He's moving toward the northern anchor."
The masked figure leaned forward slightly.
"Good."
The northern anchor was embedded in an old transit hub.
Aiden reached it just after midnight.
The building was empty.
Too empty.
Elira glanced around.
"This feels like a trap."
"It is," Aiden replied.
Ignis's eyes narrowed.
"They're here."
Three figures stepped out from behind concrete pillars.
Black armor.
But heavier than before.
Each one carried a distortion amplifier attached to their wrist.
The leader spoke first.
"You've disrupted the grid."
Aiden didn't draw his blade yet.
"Then stop building it."
The leader tilted his head slightly.
"You misunderstand."
He activated the amplifier.
The anchor circle beneath the floor flared brightly.
"We need you."
The distortion field ignited instantly.
The entire transit hub warped.
Walls bending.
Air compressing.
The anchor wasn't just stabilizing energy anymore.
It was projecting it.
Elira swore under her breath.
"They're amplifying the field!"
Ignis stepped forward.
"They're trying to measure his output inside controlled distortion."
Aiden's eyes sharpened.
"They want to see how much I can break."
The first attacker lunged.
This time—
They weren't testing casually.
The distortion around them strengthened their movements.
Aiden blocked the strike.
The impact cracked the floor beneath him.
Elira joined instantly, her frost aura colliding with the distortion field in a burst of cold vapor.
The second attacker targeted the frost wyrmling.
Aiden reacted instantly.
His aura flared harder than before.
He intercepted the strike and forced the attacker backward with a surge of force.
The transit hub groaned as the anchor circle pulsed violently.
The leader watched calmly.
"Output increasing," he murmured.
Ignis's draconic aura flared.
For a split second, her silhouette expanded again behind her.
The distortion field wavered.
The attackers hesitated.
That was enough.
Aiden drove forward.
His blade cut through the distortion-enhanced armor.
The first attacker fell.
The anchor circle flickered.
Grid stability dropped further.
The leader stepped back.
"Enough," he said.
The remaining attacker disengaged immediately.
The distortion field collapsed inward.
And just like before—
They vanished.
Silence filled the transit hub.
Broken concrete.
Faint distortion smoke.
And a partially destabilized anchor.
Aiden walked to the center and drove his blade through it.
The circle shattered.
[Anchor Point Destroyed: 2/4]
Grid Stability Reduced: 49%
Elira exhaled sharply.
"They're not trying to win."
"No," Aiden said quietly.
"They're calibrating."
Ignis looked at him.
"They're preparing for something that requires your power level measured."
Aiden nodded.
"And once they're done measuring…"
He didn't finish.
He didn't need to.
The frost wyrmling let out a low growl.
For the first time—
It didn't sound weak.
It sounded territorial.
Across the city, in the hidden chamber—
The masked figure watched the second anchor fade.
"Subject response within projected parameters," a subordinate reported.
The masked figure stood slowly.
"Prepare phase two."
"And the remaining anchors?"
"Let him destroy them," the masked figure said calmly.
"He believes he is dismantling the board."
A pause.
"But he is completing it."
Back in the transit hub, Aiden looked at the system map.
Two anchors remained.
The circle was almost complete.
He didn't like the pattern.
But he didn't hesitate.
"We finish this," he said.
Ignis smiled faintly.
"Yes."
Elira tightened her grip on her sword.
"Then let's break their board."