Bureau of Strange Affairs – Central Command Hall
All system terminals flashed red as a spiritual anomaly swept through the network.
Main screen: flickering.Soul-link frequencies: spiking uncontrollably.Surveillance nodes: reporting failure.
The Gray Domain had spoken.
Suddenly, a shadowy projection manifested—towering, cloaked in swirling mist. Its face was featureless, its form neither human nor beast.
It spoke directly into every soul present:
"I am the First Enforcer of the Gray Domain."
"You thought destroying the mirror system would end us."
"But the mirror was only the door.""We are the ones behind it."
The entire hall fell into silence.
Kaelin narrowed her eyes. "This isn't just a projection… it's a consciousness breach."
"It's not broadcasting through tech," Chen Xi confirmed, sweating. "It's inserting itself into the collective spiritual network."
The Enforcer raised its hand. Blood-red runes appeared across every wall, ceiling, and floor of the Bureau.
"Your soul-chains were born from us.""Your sigils are our scattered memories.""And now, the Gray Domain awakens."
"Surrender the dual-bonded hosts. We will only erase memory, not destroy reality."
Everyone's eyes turned to Kaelin and Lu Feng.
Kaelin stepped forward, unflinching. "You'll have to go through me first."
The Enforcer's voice lowered.
"Your soul has already cracked once. You are unfit for negotiation."
Kaelin's eyes sharpened. "Then see how many times I can break."
She drew her soul weapon, igniting a field of spiritual resistance.
In that moment, the projection vanished.
But at the exact same time—
Three major soul towers across the city erupted simultaneously.
Later – Bureau Conference Room
Director Gu Nanchuan sat grim-faced. "Are you certain what you saw was an Enforcer?"
"Yes," Kaelin replied. "Its structure, presence, command over law-based soulcasting—it wasn't a ghost. It was a higher-order enforcement system."
Lu Feng clenched his fists. "It wasn't threatening us. It was retrieving what it believes we stole."
"Which is?"
"My soul-link structure," he said. "I'm... one of their lost prototypes."
That night – Over the city
Gray cracks began appearing in the sky—tears in the world no human could see, but which every spirit could feel.
The war hadn't begun with violence.
It had begun with a warning.