The dark orb dissipated. The shadow-user lowered his hand, expression hidden behind a mask of writhing darkness. Around him, operatives were already moving as they drew weapons, forming ranks, cutting off escape routes the trio’s escape routes.

But the plant woman didn’t wait for orders.

Her feet touched the ground as roots erupted from below. Massive, gnarled tendrils of living wood burst through the warehouse floor in a spreading wave, cracking concrete, toppling cages, splintering anything in their path. They moved with predatory speed, converging on Yenna’s position from every angle.

Yenna reacted as ice barriers formed around her—walls of frozen mist that the roots slammed into and shattered. She was already counterattacking as ice spears launched toward the plant woman, trying to stem the tide before it overwhelmed her as a plant from beneath her sent her flying in the air.

Above her, pressed flat against a ceiling beam while the chaos drew her attention downward. Metal glinted along his forearms—A rank 8 operative. His entire body was reinforced with living steel as his right fist connected with Yeena’s shoulder.

The impact lifted her off her feet, tore through her ice barriers like paper, and sent her flying backward across the warehouse towards Kael and Cassian.

Cassian moved as he caught Yenna mid-flight absorbing the momentum without stumbling. His feet skidded across the cracked floor for two meters before he stopped.

He set her down gently.

Yenna’s shoulder was already swelling, the joint visibly distorted. Ice crawled across the injury numbing the pain. Her breathing was ragged. Her eyes were wide, not with pain but with something that looked horribly like confusion.

"You didn’t see that?" she gasped at Cassian.

Cassian’s jaw tightened.

"I can’t just be spamming future sight continuously." His voice was flat, almost defensive. "It drains a lot of mana. I can’t keep it active at all times."

Kael snorted. "Well, that’s a bullocks."

"Not everyone has insane mana reserves like yours." Cassian’s tone carried a edge. "I have to be selective about when I use it. The rooftop ambush, yes. The foreman’s conversation, yes. But maintaining even five seconds of foresight in active combat burns through my reserves faster than I’d like."

"Did that system of yours show you that?" Kael asked with a smirk.

Cassian went still.

The silence lasted one heartbeat.

Then he smiled.

"Well," Cassian said softly. "Everyone has their secrets."

Kael held his gaze.

"Hey." Yenna’s voice cut through the moment. "I don’t know what you guys are talking about. But they’re closing in on us."

She was right.

The three Rank 8 operatives had formed a triangular formation between them and the exit. The metal-armored one who’d hit her stood at the apex. The other two flanked him—one with fire dancing along her palms, one holding a massive war hammer that hummed with contained kinetic energy.

Behind them, the two Rank 9s hadn’t moved. The shadow-user watched with his arms crossed, darkness writhing around him like a loyal pet. The plant woman stood amidst her forest of roots, a faint green glow emanating from her skin, eyes fixed on Yenna with cold recognition.

Five enemies.

The unconscious civilians on the transport platform stirred but didn’t wake. The teleportation formation continued humming, charging, indifferent to the combat about to unfold around it.

Cassian exhaled slowly.

Then his aura changed.

A subtle shift in the air around him, a thickening of presence that made the red runic lights seem dimmer by comparison.

Foundation Establishment Rank 7.

"When did you—" she started.

"Don’t be so surprised. You are surrounded by monster." Cassian rolled his shoulders.

He turned to Kael.

"Leader. Your orders."

Kael let the moment breathe.

Three Rank 8s. Two Rank 9s. A warehouse full of lower operatives who would swarm the moment they sensed weakness. Civilians who might die if the fighting got out of control.

And two people he’d known for less than two days, both of whom had just revealed they were stronger than their public rankings suggested.

"Well," Kael said slowly. "Looks like I ain’t the only monster."

His gravity flared as a crushing force that pressed down on the warehouse floor, cracking stone, buckling metal, making every operative in the room stumble or drop to one knee.

The shadow-user’s darkness writhed harder, fighting the pressure. The plant woman’s roots shuddered. Even the Rank 8s felt it—their formation wavered, their confidence flickering.

Kael’s silver eyes locked onto the shadow-user.

"The Rank 9 with the darkness ability is mine."

He turned to Cassian.

"The three Rank 8s are yours." A pause. "Careful of the metal one. Standard cutting attacks won’t do much."

Cassian’s smirk returned. "No need to tell me twice."

Kael’s gaze shifted to Yenna.

"And lastly, Yenna." Kael tilted his head. "I’m sure you must have a grudge with the plant lady. She’s the one who nearly buried you in roots."

Yenna’s eyes snapped to the plant woman.

The plant woman smiled back.

Something in Yenna broke as her cultivation base erupted.

Foundation Establishment Rank 8.

The temperature in the warehouse plummeted. Frost spread across every surface within ten meters. The air itself seemed to freeze, crystals forming where moisture had been seconds before. Her injured shoulder knitted itself together in a rush of ice-cold regeneration, the swelling vanishing, the joint popping back into place.

"Looks like we’re all keeping secrets," Kael murmured.

Yenna wasn’t listening.

Frost climbed her arms like armor—layered, dense, sharp-edged. Her white hair lifted in the frozen wind spreading behind her like a banner.

She launched herself at the plant woman.

The shadow-user moved to intercept.

He took one step before Kael’s gravity crashed down on him like a hammer.

The floor beneath the man buckled—folding inward like paper under pressure. Stone compressed. Metal shrieked. The shadow around him flared outward, fighting the crushing force, but even darkness had weight, and Kael was making sure of it.

The man dropped to one knee. His mask cracked.

He couldn’t move.

Kael walked toward him with his hands in his pockets, his silver eyes reflecting the writhing darkness like mirrors.

"You’re mine," Kael said.

The shadow-user looked up.

For the first time, Kael saw his face—pale, gaunt, eyes that were entirely black, no whites, no iris, just void.

"Interesting," the man whispered. "Your darkness feels... familiar."

Kael’s expression didn’t change.