An electronic pop vibrated through the room and caught Hei Yung’s attention in an instant.

The blue wave of Gia’s response system was moving violently when both Leon and Hei Yung shifted their gazes to it.

"What is happening?" Leon asked in a confused voice. His expression died when he turned and saw sparks of lightning slowly emitting from Hei Yung’s eyes while a bone-cracking sound echoed from him.

"Something has happened in Tartarus," Hei Yung said in a cold voice, then moved a step closer to the glass wall.

"Leon," Gia’s voice rose. "The spatial sensors planted at the Heart of Tartarus have just been destroyed."

"How?" Leon asked in a shocked voice, then joined Hei Yung by the glass wall, while images of Tartarus rapidly flashed on it.

Heart of Tartarus? Hei Yung said in his head, then squeezed at the images that looked like a tunnel with a tiny path between it. "Leon, is it the same place you told me the Varkahaza was?"

Leon threw a still expression at Hei Yung while faint golden sparks exited his eyes, yet he didn’t answer.

Hei Yung placed a hand on Leon’s shoulder then looked beyond the gold spikes. "Leon, if that’s the place, then you won’t be going anymore."

A faint laugh escaped from Leon as he shook his head. "That’s not even close to where the Varkahaza is."

When an image of the Varkahaza popped up on the screen, Leon quickly slammed his elbow on the refresh button, which changed it to an alien land that he had no idea of.

He pointed at the image filled with caves and mountains, then turned to Hei Yung. "Here is where the Varkahaza was."

Hei Yung’s gaze lingered on Leon for a moment before shifting to the screen. His eyes kept on shifting from the image whenever Leon’s expression slightly faltered.

When Leon tried to send the image of the Varkahaza at the Heart of Tartarus off the screen again, Hei Yung caught him and frowned.

"Why do you want to hide it?" he asked in a voice that went deep into Leon’s gut. "Why did you lie about it not being at the Heart of Tartarus, the very place which has caused this tension in Gia?"

Leon looked aside, then back to Hei Yung without saying a single word.

"The redeployment will be canceled the moment I step out of here," Hei Yung said, then walked away from the wall and began moving for the exit.

Think, think, think, Leon screamed at himself, then lifted his gaze upward. "It doesn’t change anything."

Hei Yung paused his last step, then turned. "What did you say?"

Leon’s shoulders lowered as he moved slow steps forward. "Whatever is rising from the Heart of Tartarus won’t change me from entering."

As if responding to Leon’s words, Gia’s voice rose. "Estimated surface impact is 5 days, 23 hours, and 59 seconds."

Hei Yung hissed once, then shook his head. "Without the clearance, you’re not going to Tartarus under my watch."

Leon looked at him for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the war suit casting its glows on the wall as the early afternoon sun’s rays shone on it.

"With or without the clearance," he said as he slowly shifted his gaze to Hei Yung. "No one can stop me from going back to Tartarus."

Hei Yung’s eyes widened with shock and sharpened with power. He turned from the door, then folded his arms to his chest. "So, do you want to challenge me?"

"I’m not asking to challenge you," Leon said and lowered his gaze. "But if the only way to get to Tartarus is to challenge all of Agatha’s best, then I would die trying."

Why is he so eager to go to a place that took his colleagues’ lives? Hei Yung said in his head, then moved a step closer to the triangular glass table.

He glanced at the golden lights slowly appearing on Leon’s skin, then hissed before placing his hand at the edge of the table. "What is your purpose then?" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Leon shifted his gaze to the glass wall, and to the estimated time, before shifting back to Hei Yung. "To honor their lives with Aurelian’s blood."

Hei Yung moved a step back, then shifted his gaze to the silver-black war suit hanging beside the bed. "Get your suit ready. The world is about to watch its new god, or watch us all burn to ash."

He walked toward the door without even glancing at Leon’s pale face and slammed the door behind him.

Leon exhaled sharply, then lowered his head slowly.

What have I called upon myself? he said in his head while gazing at his palms.

When he raised his gaze to the glass wall, brown leaves bounced off it on the outside and began drifting downward like a fallen soldier now accepting defeat.

...

As the mid-afternoon sun stretched across Thule, countless bird cries filled the air.

A small black bird flew from the skies of Bastion City and landed softly on the branches of the fig tree growing wonderfully in the Storm Mansion.

Just as its chime sliced through the air, a long shadow stretched on the ground beneath the tree.

"This sound is new," Zoe said in a soft voice, then slowly lifted her gaze. She smiled when she saw a black-capped Chickadee slowly opening and closing its wings. "Aww."

As soon as the bird closed its wings for the third time and hopped in the air, a hawk dove down and struck it.

"HEY!" Zoe screamed and sliced her right arm through the air as the hawk looked at her once before jolting into the sky. "Don’t ever come down here again!"

Every warmth in Zoe’s eyes died when she shifted her gaze to the Chickadee lying on the ground, dead.

She crouched down, picked the dead bird up, and began brushing her finger on the bird’s head, as if her touch could bring it back from the dead. "I’m sorry."

A water-dripping sound echoed and mixed with Zoe’s breathing while she angrily moved to the fountain and lifted her gaze to the fleeing hawk.

Why would you kill your own kind? she asked in her head, then closed her eyes.

The moment she cracked her eyes open, the dead Chickadee shook itself and slowly began to move its body until it stood up completely.

"Go," Zoe said and tossed it once, but the bird didn’t fly; it simply scratched her palms with its beak. And on the second try, the bird looked straight into the human’s silver-grey eyes before flying from her palms. "Go, fly high and never come low."

Zoe’s cheeks reddened when the bird continuously flew and joined a group of Chickadees in the sky.