Outside, in the cool, clear air of District Air, Lori, James, and Zack waited for Tony. A tense silence hung between them. The newly revealed missions, the secret of life beyond the Wall, and Eli’s fleeting reaction all continued to circle through their minds. Inside the building, oil lamps had become unnecessary; the rising sun now cast a soft yet brilliant light across the headquarters of the Research Team.

  Lori broke the silence. She had a slender frame, her hands marked with scars from countless chemical experiments.

  “Nice to meet you, Zack,” she said, her voice ringing like an unexpectedly clear bell. “I’m Lori.” She shrugged lightly. “Natasha and I spent the whole night analysing the results of your last encounter. The composition of the demon you defeated is… fascinating.”

  A tall, muscular young man stepped up beside her.

  “James,” he said, extending his hand. “Tony and I have spent the past few months scouting beyond the Wall. He’s the demon slayer. I’m the one who makes sure we don’t get lost.” The admiration in his voice when he spoke Tony’s name was unmistakable.

  Zack nodded, studying them with a faint glimmer of awe. He took in Lori’s scarred hands, James’s calm, confident posture. These were professionals—people who truly made a difference. The shame and anger over his C-rank hardened into a quiet, burning determination to prove himself.

  He lifted his head, his gaze sharp and resolute.

  “I’m Zack,” he said firmly. “I’ll do everything I can to make this mission succeed. One day I’ll uncover the origin of the demons—and I’ll wipe them out. One by one.”

  There was no arrogance in his words, only the unshakable will of someone who had found his purpose. For the first time since joining the team, he didn’t feel like an outsider. He belonged here. He had a goal.

  The heavy doors of the headquarters burst open. Tony stepped outside, sunlight catching on his face. Zack, Lori, and James fell in beside him as they moved into the wide, pristine street. The orderly calm of District Air still felt strange to Zack, so unlike the mud and rubble of home.

  Tony glanced at him.

  “Zack, what do you know about the balance of power in Brittania?”

  Zack shifted awkwardly, searching for the right words.

  “Uh… not much, honestly,” he admitted. “I know there’s a king…”

  Tony nodded, as if he had expected that. They entered a park of neatly trimmed hedges and blooming flowerbeds—an island of tranquillity amid the efficient district—turning away from the noise of the city.

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  “There are four royal families,” Tony continued quietly. “Ashford, Bellgrave, Darwyn, and Thorne. The current king is Clay Thorne. That means the heir will always come from one of the houses of Ashford, Bellgrave, or Darwyn.”

  Zack frowned. Four families? In District Fire, history lessons had been about survival, not politics. This was a world entirely unfamiliar to him.

  Lori took over.

  “Brittania was founded by one man who created a safe haven during the apocalypse. He was the first king. But he had four daughters—Anna, Bella, Dana, and Tara. They all married, and because the first king didn’t want any one family to control the throne completely, he created this system.”

  Tony nodded.

  “Exactly. But Rick—the founder of the Research Team—uncovered something else. The first king had a mistress, and a son by her. Someone who could carry on the bloodline after all.” His eyes flicked to James. “That bloodline has always been opposed by the four royal houses. It’s possible it no longer exists.”

  James spoke, his voice calm but tight with restrained tension.

  “The Royal Guard is the executive arm of the royal families, directly under the king. I wouldn’t be surprised if they spilled blood to erase the rightful heirs—perhaps even the blood of their own kin.”

  ?

  At the same time, in a small chamber deep within the headquarters, Celia sat at a plain wooden table. The flickering light of an oil lamp cast jagged shadows across the walls. Lizzy and Remy sat beside her, their faces unreadable in the dimness. Across from her sat Lucius, his gaze sharp and penetrating. The words about the first king’s illegitimate son echoed through the cramped room.

  Celia stared at him in disbelief.

  “A fifth royal family?” she whispered. “No… the only legitimate royal line? What’s their name? And how can we be sure Rick was telling the truth?”

  Lucius’s reply was sharp and unyielding.

  “You will confirm it. Your father is Richard Ashford. He knows more than he has told us—and we want you to question him.”

  Celia swallowed hard. Her heart pounded in her throat as the lamplight trembled with her fear. To interrogate her father—the thought alone was terrifying. But even more frightening was Lucius’s cold, unwavering stare, as though he were weighing her very soul. Was he using her, turning her into a pawn in a game she barely understood? What would happen if she refused?

  Lucius leaned forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

  “This is your mission, Celia. Your loyalty is being tested. If you fail… your future here—or anywhere—will be far from certain.”

  She knew it was no empty threat. He had the power to end her life before it had truly begun. The lamp flickered, and for a moment Celia no longer saw a flame, but the truth hidden in the darkness—the truth about her father and a royal house built on lies.

  ?

  High atop the Hellfire Wall, where heat shimmered in pale waves and the air reeked of ash, Natasha and Gina told the same story to Eli, Thomas, and Kevin. The revelation of the fifth bloodline and the Royal Guard’s purges hung like frost in the air. Thomas and Kevin exchanged stunned glances, but Eli’s face remained empty, as always.

  “I don’t care about royals,” he said flatly, his voice nearly lost in the roaring wind.

  The words were brief and final. He turned away from the group and walked to the edge of the wall, where molten stone still glowed.

  Natasha stepped forward, about to speak—but Eli had already decided.

  “Let’s go to Benny,” he said, and with that he leapt from the massive wall into the abyss below.

  The others rushed to the edge and stared down in disbelief as Eli descended with astonishing, almost unnatural grace. His movements were fluid, effortless, as if gravity itself had no hold on him.

  Natasha watched him, admiration and unease mingling in her expression. What a strange boy, she thought. Gina voiced the same feeling aloud.

  “What is he, Natasha? He’s a mystery.”

  “No idea,” Natasha sighed. “All we know is that he’s A-rank, that his power has something to do with his hands—and now with descending the Wall. His motives are a complete enigma.”

  She shook her head and gestured to the others.

  “Let’s follow him. We can’t stay up here.”

  Thomas, Kevin, Natasha, and Gina began their descent as well—far slower and far more cautiously than Eli’s effortless fall.