The storm that brewed above Zeta hadn't ceased. Lightning lashed across the skies like divine wrath, and thunder rolled with the weight of ancient judgment. The Twilight squad emerged from the temple, eyes darting skyward.
Alex felt changed — not just stronger, but clearer. The convergence core had awakened something within him. A resonance. A connection to a lineage that stretched deeper than even the Emperor's twisted legacy.
Nyssa adjusted her hood and moved beside him. "We need to move. That surge of mana? It wasn't quiet. The imperials will be coming."
"They already are," murmured Kael Dagon, appearing from the mist like a shadow. The spy's expression was grim. "House Valtieri forces landed two clicks from here. They're sweeping the ruins."
Alex's fists clenched. "They're not here to study. They're here to bury whatever I just unlocked."
Kael nodded. "And I have more. A coded message from House Dagon. Mira says Delta is on the move too. Regent Sylvia has deployed her Black Cloaks."
Nyssa's jaw tightened. "Assassins."
"They'll come for Alex first," Kael said. "After what just happened in that temple, you're no longer a rumor. You're a threat."
"I'm done running," Alex replied. "If they want me… they'll find me ready."
---
Meanwhile – Imperial Capital, Continent Alpha
In the highest spire of the Ivory Citadel, Emperor Orion Valerius stared into a shimmering mirror — a relic from Zeta itself, one of the few he'd stolen and survived to keep.
He had seen it all. The convergence core. The boy. The aura of the ancients.
His bastard son.
"He's alive," he muttered. "And he's awakened."
A figure stepped from the shadows — Regent Sylvia Ravenshade, clad in her obsidian robes, her violet eyes sharp as knives. "I warned you, my Emperor. You should have crushed him the moment the prophecy re-emerged."
Orion turned to her, voice like iron. "No prophecy controls me. But if he's found Zeta's truth… then the time has come."
Sylvia arched a brow. "For war?"
"No," the Emperor said, stepping forward, golden mana radiating from his skin. "For extinction. Send word to Epsilon. Alistair will know how to erase him."
---
Back in Zeta – Twilight Safezone
The camp flickered with protective sigils as the squad regrouped. Alex sat alone beneath a jagged rock outcrop, staring at his hands — the swirling remnants of the convergence glyphs fading under his skin.
Nyssa approached quietly. "You're thinking about him, aren't you?"
"My father?" Alex asked. "Or the Emperor?"
"Both."
He sighed. "He abandoned me. Left me to grow up under suppression, with no guidance. And yet… everything I have now is because of him."
Nyssa crouched beside him, her voice softer. "Sometimes legacies don't make sense until you choose what to do with them. You're not him, Alex. But you can finish what he started."
"I will," Alex said, his eyes glowing faintly. "I'm going to bring down the wall. Free humanity. And make the Saints fear the name they tried to erase."