What Alaric saw through the raven's eyes wasn't just unusual it was wrong.
From above, the outpost looked like a controlled operation.
But deeper within, past the outer structures and guarded paths, there was something contained.
Something sealed off.
The raven dipped lower, gliding silently toward the inner section as Alaric guided its movement with careful intent.
The closer it got, the clearer it became.
This wasn't just a forward outpost.
This was a production point.
A place where the liquid the same unnatural substance running through Project X was being processed and stored before being sent elsewhere.
And beyond it… deeper still… connections. Routes.
Infrastructure that tied this place to something larger.
A main network.
If this wasn't stopped here, it wouldn't end here.
Alaric's expression didn't change but his grip on his cane tightened slightly.
Then the inner doors opened.
From within, elite soldiers stepped out in formation.
They moved with discipline, their armor marked, their presence heavier than the standard units.
These weren't ordinary fighters.
They were trained refined and some of them carried the same faint glow beneath their skin, early-stage enhancements already taking hold.
Above, Elyndra saw them emerging.
Her focus sharpened instantly.
Her grimoire shifted beside her, pages flipping rapidly before settling on multiple selections.
With a controlled motion, portals opened behind her, forming a wide arc.
Spears and fire arrows launched in rapid succession, tearing toward the advancing formation.
She layered another spell over herself, enhancing her movement and casting speed.
Her attacks doubled.
The air filled with streaks of fire and sharpened energy.
Some of the elite soldiers fell immediately, struck from the head, before they could react.
Others raised their shields in time, bracing against the barrage.
Then, without breaking formation, they shifted.
Locked onto a tight shield wall formed interlocked, precise.
A testudo.
Elyndra's attacks struck against it, sparks and flames scattering across reinforced defense.
Her eyes narrowed.
"What the hell…" she muttered under her breath. "They move like they actually know what they're doing…"
Her hand moved again, flipping to another page.
She didn't hesitate.
"Supreme Fireball!"
The spell ignited instantly.
A massive sphere of condensed flame surged forward, far beyond a standard conjuration.
The energy within it burned violently, distorting the air as it crashed into the formation.
Explosion tore through their defenses, breaking the testudo apart and sending soldiers flying in all directions.
For a moment the line collapsed, but it wasn't over.
From the chaos, counterattacks came.
Bolts fired.
Arrows cut through the air from multiple angles.
Elyndra was still casting still pushing forward when one struck.
A crossbow bolt drove into her arm.
Her body flinched from the impact, just enough for her focus to slip for a fraction of a second.
She turned too late as another arrow came straight for her face.
Her eyes widened and a barrier snapped into place.
The projectile shattered against the temporary force field, fragments scattering outward as the shield flickered under the strain.
Elyndra steadied herself, breathing uneven now.
"There's… too many…"
Her arm trembled slightly as blood ran down from the wound.
She shifted her book again, forcing a healing spell into place.
The magic sealed the worst of it not perfect, not complete, but enough to keep her going.
She had already burned too much energy from the two spells..
Meanwhile.
Grimwatch had finished evacuating the last of the prisoners and slaves along the outer edge.
Without slowing, he turned back toward the battlefield, stepping straight into the remaining forces.
His blade moved without hesitation.
Carving a bloody path through the legions of Pandemonium.
Each strike clean.
Each movement deliberate.
Soldiers fell around him as he cut through their ranks, creating space, pushing back, holding the line where it mattered most.
But the deeper section of the outpost remained untouched.
Guarded.
Three figures stood at its entrance.
Project X units.
Waiting.
Blocking the way forward.
And behind them whatever the outpost was truly hiding remained sealed.
Somewhere outside the outpost.
Shay stood there casually, a deck of cards resting between his fingers, as if none of the chaos around the outpost mattered.
Behind him, the children huddled together, clutching onto each other for comfort, their fear quiet but heavy in the air.
In front of him, the soldiers closed in.
Shay tilted his head slightly, glancing at them through the mask.
"Well, gentlemen," he said lightly, raising the deck just enough for them to see, "I've got a few cards here with your names on them."
He flicked his wrist.
The cards fanned out smoothly, the edges clicking softly sharp, precise, almost like the rhythm of something alive.
The soldiers instinctively leaned forward, their armor shifting as they tried to make sense of what he was showing.
Each card held a face.
Not random..theirs.
Rough sketches, but unmistakable.
Recognition settled in then hesitation.
"Go on," Shay continued, his tone smooth, almost inviting. "Pick a card, any card."
His fingers stilled.
"But be careful," he added quietly, the playfulness dipping just slightly. "Once you touch it… the trick starts."
One of them moved first.
The lead soldier stepped forward and grabbed a card from the center.
The moment his fingers closed around it, the edge changed.
The paper sharpened instantly, turning into something far more dangerous.
Shay's wrist snapped to the side, and the card spun violently, slicing across the soldier's gauntlet.
The impact forced him to drop his weapon, metal clattering against the ground.
He didn't get it back.
Shay was already moving.
The deck scattered from his hands in a controlled burst, cards flying outward in rapid succession like a storm of sharpened fragments.
Each one cut through the air with unnatural precision, forcing the soldiers to react.
They drew their weapons, swinging, blocking but nothing connected.
The cards didn't follow straight paths.
They curve and redirected.
Struck from angles that shouldn't exist.
Shay slipped between them effortlessly, his movements fluid, almost playful.
A flick of his fingers sent a single card driving forward, embedding itself into a soldier's chest strap with enough force to knock him backward.
Another lunged.
Shay pivoted, flipping over the incoming blade, his body twisting mid-air as a spread of cards burst outward in front of him.
They struck two soldiers at once, detonating on impact with sharp bursts of kinetic force that snapped their heads back and shattered parts of their armor.
One soldier managed to close the distance, cornering him with a downward strike.
Shay didn't move away.
He raised a single card between two fingers, the index finger and middle finger.
The blade came down and stopped.
The edge met the card, but didn't break through.
The magic within it held firm, absorbing the force.
Shay's hand twisted slightly, and the card sliced forward, cutting clean through the weapon's guard as if it wasn't there.
The soldier froze.
Shay stepped past him.
The motion didn't stop.
He spun once, low and controlled, releasing four final cards into the ground around the remaining soldiers.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then...they detonated.
A burst of sparks and compressed force erupted outward, knocking the men off balance, sending them crashing down, disarmed and struggling to recover.
When the smoke cleared.
Shay stood still at the center of it.
Unharmed and untouched.
The soldiers remained on their knees around him, coughing, trying to steady themselves, their formation completely broken.
Shay stepped forward slowly, reaching into the lead soldier's pocket with casual ease. From it, he pulled a single card that hadn't been there before.
He flipped it once.
A Joker.
Distorted with mocking face.
He placed it gently against the soldier's chest before straightening up.
"The house…" Shay said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"…always wins."