The transition from the silence of the 10th Division base to the suffocating heat of Sector Two was instantaneous. As the armored transports roared across the border, the three-way split began. To the North, the 2nd Division's sirens faded as they moved to establish a containment perimeter. To the West, Elias and the 10th disappeared into the industrial shadows.
But the South belonged to the 1st Division.
Valerius Flare stood at the hatch of his transport, his golden eyes scanning the scorched asphalt. "Thermal signatures ahead," he commanded."
" Move quickly, I can see alot of heat signature "
Aegis Prime moved like a tidal wave of gold,
As they moved to check out what was going on
three heavy-duty trucks and a squad of men in dark tactical gear, they were smugglers smuggling glowing crates valerius asked them to surrender, but Instead, they threw open the back of the lead tank. A massive, chitinous beast—an A-Rank biological Guardian—leaped out, its roar shattering the glass of surrounding buildings.
"Son of bitch ," Valerius spat.
The fight was swift. Valerius moved like a sunspot. He didn't even draw his blade; he simply raised a hand, and a Volcanic Pillar erupted beneath the Guardian, incinerating it in a heartbeat. His squad neutralized the mercenaries in seconds, pinning them against the burning wreckage.
Valerius stepped over a charred rifle. "Is this the 'grand threat' the 10th was so worried about? A few desperate smugglers and a pet?"
A low, rhythmic clapping echoed from the dark mouth of a nearby alleyway. "A very impressive display of fire," a voice rasped. It was a cold, vibrating sound that seemed to pull the heat out of the air.
A figure emerged. He wore a heavy, dark tactical coat and a mask carved from the white bone of a monster—a grinning skull. Valerius narrowed his eyes. "The masked man.
What is a man like you doing all the way in Sector Two? This isn't your playground."
The figure stopped ten paces away. He ignited a small, dancing spark of Black Flame on his finger. "I go where the work is. And today, the work involves putting out a very bright light. You can call me Skull."
"Skull?" Valerius laughed. "I've burned better men than you. Die."
The clash was bitter. Valerius unleashed a solar fire Spear, but Skull didn't dodge. He swiped his hand through the air, and his hand simply ate the spear. Before Valerius could process the shock, Skull was in his shadow.
The beatdown was surgical. Skull caught Valerius's wrist and snapped it with a casual twist. He drove a knee into Valerius's chest, shattering the elite golden plate and ribs .
The "Golden Boy" was hoisted into the air by his throat, his Solar energy flickering out like a dying candle.
" So this is the prodigy of the flare family, what a joke," skull whispered.
With a brutal shove, Skull sent the beaten captain crashing into a pile of rubble. He reached down, tore the golden vest from Valerius's body and best up the rest of the agris prime,then he walked toward a hidden maintenance hatch.
Two miles North, the 2nd Division was screaming into their comms. "We're cut off!" Cyro roared, slamming his palms into the earth to create a wall of ice.
They had been intercepted on their way to reinforce the 1st division ,
Over a hundred normal aliens had erupted from the sewers and rooftops. It was a sea of meat and claws. "They're stalling us!" Nyra shouted. "They knew we'd try to help Valerius! It's a containment trap!"
The 2nd Division was winning every fight, but they were losing the clock. The 1st had gone silent.
While the surface world burned, the 10th Division followed the trail. They watched a group of men in black coats slipping into a rusted industrial elevator hidden behind a collapsed subway station.
The descent felt like it lasted forever. When the doors finally slid open, the air didn't smell like smoke—it smelled like different, like a whole new world.
They weren't in a lab,They were in the Underground.
The 10th Division stepped out onto a neon-lit balcony overlooking a subterranean city .
Below them, a massive hall stretched for miles.
Elias stood at the railing, his silver eyes reflecting the flashing purple and green lights. A slow, dangerous smile spread across his face. "Wow," he whispered, his heart hammering against his ribs. "I've never been this excited. This place... it's overflowing with energy."
Nyx stepped up beside him, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade. She let out a low whistle, her eyes scanning the gambling dens and the crowds below. "Yo... it's like a whole new world down here. Look at all these people ,I can't believe this has been hidden this entire time".
"Yo, there isn't any signal," Mikasa interrupted, tapping her comms unit and frowning at the static on her screen. "We're completely dark down here."
Cipher didn't even look up from his portable terminal, his fingers flying across the keys. "Don't worry about the signal, Mikasa. I'm already mapping the internal grid. We'll find a way out, or I'll make one."
Vela leaned back against the elevator door, looking utterly unimpressed by the neon lights or the massive crowd. She let out a long, dramatic sigh. "I don't care about the signal or the vibe," she muttered, scanning the nearby VIP booths. "I just hope they have chips. I'm starving, and if I don't get a snack , I'm going to lose it."
Suddenly, Jax's eyes locked onto the center of the hall, where a massive glass cage held two aliens being forced to fight for a screaming crowd. His lightning began to arc violently across his shoulders.
"Bye! I'm going to go investigate that!" Jax shouted, not waiting for an order. He vaulted over the balcony railing, dropping fifty feet toward the fighting pits like a bolt of blue energy.
"Jax! Get back here, you idiot!" Kaelen yelled,He looked at Elias, then at the disappearing Jax, and groaned. "I'm going after him before he gets us all killed!" Kaelen leaped after him, trailing jax through the dark air.
Elias watched them go, then turned his gaze toward the far end of the hall. A group of the men in black coats—the ones they had followed—were sprinting toward a high-security vault.
"Let the kids play," Elias said, his silver eyes locking onto the targets. "The rest of us... we find those smugglers. I want to know what's in those crates."
Nyx cracked her neck, a predatory grin on her face. "Finally. Let's show these bitches how the 10th handles business."