In Shinobi’s office, the computer screen played a slow-motion aerial feed. The footage captured the brutal reality of the green vortex Allen had used to execute the mutated Category 3 Strix Temporalis. Within the eye of the storm, the monster had been systematically dismantled, shredded by invisible, razor-sharp blades of jade wind until nothing remained.

  "That kid is a walking cataclysm," Titan muttered, leaning back in his chair with a heavy exhale.

  Shinobi stared at the frozen frame of Allen standing amidst the feathers and blood. He was beginning to understand why the Heroic Federation guarded Allen’s files with such paranoid intensity.

  "You’re wrong, Titan," Shinobi replied quietly. "If this footage ever goes public, the civilians won't call him a cataclysm. They’ll call him a monster."

  Titan let out a nervous, dry laugh as his chair creaked under his massive weight. "I don’t give a damn what the public thinks. I’m worried about the High Command. What happens if an S-X Rank shows up to investigate? Or worse, what if Aegis himself demands an explanation? Just thinking about it gives me a heart attack."

  Shinobi shook his head and deleted the video file with a single keystroke. "Without evidence, they can’t touch us. Still, double the security for tomorrow... I don’t trust what Allen might do once Calibur makes his appearance."

  "Got it," Titan said, standing up and heading for the door.

  Once alone, Shinobi pressed a hidden catch on the wall behind his desk. A section of the paneling slid upward, revealing a complex web of notes and photographs. At the center, he had pinned three words: "Weapon," "Emotion," and "Stone." He connected them with a single red thread to a name: Allen.

  "If we go by the gems he uses—Sapphire, Ruby... I have half the answer," Shinobi whispered to the empty room. "But 'Emotion' and 'Weapon'... is he turning his feelings into a physical edge? No, it has to be deeper than that."

  Under the word "Stone," Shinobi had listed the gems Allen had revealed so far: The Prism of Emotion, the Ruby of Passion, the Sapphire of Honesty, the Topaz of Will, and the Emerald of Truth.

  "Elemental affinities are clear for most, except for the Prism," he noted. "And then there’s the connection to Calibur and Aegis."

  Shinobi still lacked the full picture of Allen’s history with Calibur, only knowing they were linked by Seira—the girl who had become the Gigax Leo. As for Aegis, the current President and founder of the Federation, information was scarce beyond the official propaganda regarding his strength and history.

  With a sigh, Shinobi hid the board behind the wall again. On his desk, a single document lay partially uncovered. In bold red letters, it read: "Project Perfection: Experimental Phase No. 1 — Subject: Seira."

  After a few hours of restless sleep, Allen sat up in his hotel bed. He looked at his tattered, blood-stained clothes draped over a chair, then turned his gaze to the wooden staff leaning against the wall.

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  With a flick of his wrist, the staff flew into his hand. A cold, polite smile touched his lips. "Good... I haven't lost my touch."

  He set the staff aside and reached for the bedside phone to order a fresh change of clothes. After a quick shower, he dressed in simple blue jeans and a black t-shirt. He laced his sneakers, tucked his stones into his pockets, and gripped his staff. His face was a mask of somber intensity as he walked out.

  He was staying in one of the Federation-run hotels, a temporary shelter for those displaced by the Strix’s attack and his own green tornado. The one silver lining was that Shadow’s team had scrubbed the fight from the grid. But today, Calibur was arriving. Just the thought of the man made Allen’s blood boil with a murderous heat he wasn't sure he could contain.

  Titan and Shinobi stood at the airfield, facing a man in ornate purple armor. His chestnut hair whipped in the wind, and his deep blue eyes held a regal, chilling light. To a casual observer, he looked like royalty. To Titan and Shinobi, he looked like a nightmare.

  Titan kept his eyes averted, his knuckles white from clenching his fists. Shinobi, however, maintained a calm, professional facade.

  "Sir, we have prepared an auditorium with maximum security for your—"

  "Nonsense!" Calibur interrupted, his voice cutting through Shinobi’s like a blade. Shinobi swallowed his resentment, forcing himself to remain silent. "There is no place safer than wherever I stand!"

  "Jackass," Titan muttered under his breath. He turned to walk away, followed by three junior heroes from his squad.

  Calibur’s eyes flashed. A smirk played on his lips. "General Titan... did I just hear... an insult directed at your superior?"

  Titan didn't even have time to turn around. Calibur vanished and reappeared directly in front of him, burying a fist in the General’s gut. Titan doubled over, blood spraying from his mouth as his eyes glazed over in shock. Calibur grabbed him by the throat, hoisting the massive man into the air.

  "You know the punishment for offending a High Rank is immediate execution... don't you?"

  Despite the pain, Titan let out a bloody cackle. He swung his right fist, his arm bulging to three times its normal size as he activated his ability. Calibur didn't move. He simply caught Titan’s arm and twisted. The sound of snapping bone filled the air as the arm was forced into a sickening, unnatural angle.

  "Since you’re a presidential candidate, I can't kill you," Titan wheezed, "but believe me... you won't live to see next year."

  "Lord Calibur, please!" Shinobi dropped to one knee, bowing his head. "Forgive Titan. His ability makes him... impulsive. He isn't in his right mind."

  The plea worked. Calibur sneered and dropped Titan like a sack of trash. He began to walk away, but paused to look back at Shinobi.

  "I’ll let it slide this once. But mend your manners, Ninja... and keep your dog on a shorter leash if you don't want him to disappear one night."

  Calibur left, his cape fluttering. Shinobi remained on one knee, his legs trembling with a cocktail of rage and fear. Titan lay in the dirt, blood pooling beneath his broken arm.

  "You didn't have to step in, you pampered ninja," Titan groaned.

  "Now I know how you feel when you visit Headquarters in City A," Shinobi replied, finally standing. "That man isn't even human. What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

  Titan spat a glob of blood and looked toward a cluster of tech vans a few yards away. "Not at all... I just wanted to give him a few extra reasons to tear Calibur apart."

  Shinobi followed Titan’s gaze. Allen was standing by one of the vans, his eyes fixed on Calibur’s retreating back. In his left hand, he was clutching both the Topaz and the Prism so hard his knuckles were white.

  "Besides," Titan added with a dark grin as he struggled to sit up. "Calibur is nothing compared to the monsters I see at HQ. This is going to be interesting... Allen or Calibur. One thing’s for sure: the civilians better run, because the heroes won't be able to save them from what's coming."