Kael started to move but stopped. His gaze swept across the ruined void, sharp and searching, until it landed on the broken figure ahead.
Jov.
His body floated among the wreckage, twisted beyond recognition. One arm cracked open, flesh and bone torn apart. His eyes stared wide, glassy, and empty. Nothing moved in that hollow frame. Maybe he was gone. Maybe not. Kael clenched his jaw, unsure.
Max followed his line of sight. His chest tightened.
"That's strange. Almost everyone survived that blast. Why didn't he? Was it because of that strange hand... or the double cores inside him?"
Ash turned toward them. His eyes flicked to Jov's body, then back to his brothers. He opened his mouth to say something, but another voice tore through the void.
"Well, well. Still clinging to life, are we? I didn't expect that. Seems this asteroid holds more secrets than we thought."
Max froze in place.
A figure drifted through the broken remains of the battle. His coat, black as midnight, flowed weightless behind him. A silver mask covered his face, marked with slow, glowing lines. They pulsed like veins, cold and alive. He didn't float like debris, tossed and aimless. He moved with calm purpose, steady and sure.
Ash gritted his teeth. A cold weight pressed against his chest.
'What was this now?'
Greg stood still, watching. Then his head turned, slow and measured, locking onto Jov's broken form. His voice came low, carrying a hint of cruel amusement.
"Exactly as I thought. He couldn't handle that much power. But you... You three managed to survive. Why didn't he?"
Greg tilted his head, studying the body like a puzzle already solved.
"But something doesn't fit. Was it his vessel? His soul cores? No... that's not it. Doesn't matter. I'll take him back. The lab rats will be happy to see this one."
Kael's fingers curled into fists, his voice sharp and cutting.
"Who the hell are you?"
Greg turned, slow and deliberate. The veins on his mask burned brighter, lighting his face like a second pulse.
"How strange. You can still speak out here in the void. Is that glow around your bodies keeping you alive? Or something else entirely?"
They stayed silent. Their gazes locked onto him, unblinking.
Greg gave a quiet chuckle, cold and dry.
"You don't have to answer. I'll figure it out soon enough. And who am I? I could tell you... But where's the fun in that? Let's keep things mysterious for now."
Max drifted forward, his voice steady but his heart racing.
"Mystery? No need. That mask gives it all away. You're with Apex. Part of the group they call 'Mask.'"
Greg said nothing. He simply raised his hand.
Water shimmered into existence, swirling from nothing, cold and perfect. It slithered through the air like a living serpent, wrapping itself around Jov's body. A clear shell formed, smooth as glass, sealing the broken form inside.
Max's eyes widened. His AI sparked to life, words crackling in his mind.
[Alert: High-level soul stage detected. Soul Energy signature matches… 7th-stage threshold.]
Cold swept through his veins.
He whispered the words he didn't want to believe.
"A Stage 7 soul."
Ash stared, the weight of it crashing down on him.
"Seventh stage. Things just got bad."
Max didn't answer at first. His mind raced, searching for a plan, but every path led to the same place. None of them ended well.
"Yeah. Worse than bad. We need to leave. Now."
Kael's hands burned faintly, embers licking his palms. His voice stayed calm, steady as stone.
"So what if he's Stage Seven? We've fought powerful enemies before. We just hit harder."
Max kept his eyes locked on Greg.
"Are you serious?"
He didn't blink.
"He's not just someone who controls water. He is water. Almost the same level as dad."
The weight of those words hung in the void.
Greg's laugh came quietly but sharply. He tilted his head, like hearing a joke no one else understood.
"Interesting. So there's still some fight left in you. But remember this. I'm not some disposable grunt you're used to facing. I stand among those who truly matter."
Ash kept his head down, breath unsteady. He wasn't looking at them. He was already looking for a way out.
"Max. Think. We can't fight him. There has to be a way out of here."
Max clenched his jaw, looking down at his torn sleeve. The space where his watch used to be felt colder than anything around them.
"Even if we tried to fight, it wouldn't change a thing. We're stranded. My communicator was attached to my arm. I lost it… when my arm was gone."
Kael's eyes widened. Flames snapped to life across his shoulders.
"You lost your arm?"
"Later. I don't have the details. Right now we find a way out."
Ash turned his head, scanning the wreckage of broken ships. Then his eyes stopped. Apex vessels drifted in the distance, far but not unreachable, shadows against the stars.
"What about those?"
Max followed his gaze. The shape of the transport ships stood out against the void.
For a second, nothing. Then a small grin broke across his face.
"That… could work. But how do we get there?"
Kael rolled his shoulders. Sparks danced at his feet.
"Leave that part to me."
Max's voice dropped.
"I don't like that tone."
Kael didn't wait. He grabbed both of them by the waist, gripping them tightly and solidly.
Max's chest tightened.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Kael grinned wider, heat crackling beneath his skin.
"Better than sitting here waiting to die."
Fire erupted from Kael's legs. It wasn't normal flame. It burned wild and unstable, like raw energy barely held in place. Power gathered beneath them, then exploded outward.
They shot through the void like a falling star, a comet tearing through the battlefield.
Greg's head snapped up. A streak of red and black cut across the wreckage, too fast to follow. For a moment, it was gone. Then a faint ripple trembled in the vacuum, as if space itself had shuddered.
Greg stared after them, unmoving. Then his head tilted slightly.
"That kid. Just what has this asteroid done to him?"
His voice dropped, low and cold.
"If we don't catch him now, it'll be too late when he reaches his peak."
He raised his wrist, fingers tapping across the communicator.
"All units, move. Pursue immediately. Do not let them escape."
Engines roared to life across the wreckage. Apex ships turned as one, hunting shapes streaking through the void. Their hulls caught the pale starlight, sharp and cold.
The chase had begun.
Kael pushed forward. Flames spun from his legs, carving trails of light through the dark. Every burst rattled his body, shaking his bones.
There was no air. No sound. But the pressure closed in on him like a storm wrapping around his skin, crushing and invisible.
His own voice broke in his throat, lost against the roaring fire.
"What the hell is happening?"
Max clung to Kael's shoulder with one arm, body locked against the force.
"Stop, you idiot. At this speed, we'll fly straight past the ship."
Kael gritted his teeth. He forced the flames to slow, but it wasn't clean. Their momentum broke, tossing them into weightlessness. They spun through the void like falling debris.
Ash drifted nearby, palm pressed to his head.
This was not the plan.
'Let's never do that again.'
Max twisted his body, sharp and fast. His eyes snapped to the side. Apex ships were closing in. Fast. Too fast.
"They're catching up."
Ash turned sharply, scanning the wreckage ahead. His gaze locked onto a smaller vessel, shadowed but intact.
"There. That ship. We can use it."
Max followed his line of sight and gave a sharp nod.
"Perfect."
He glanced at Kael without smiling.
Kael exhaled, flame curling around his boots.
"Okay. I don't know what's going on with my ability, but I think I've got it under control this time."
"Good. Move."
Kael grabbed them again. This time the fire didn't explode wildly. It burned steadily, pushing them forward—fast, but focused.
The Apex ships noticed. Red beams tore through the dark, cutting across their path.
Kael's eyes narrowed. He twisted sharply, fire wrapping around his body. He ducked, spun, and slipped beneath the blasts. His movements blurred like a streak of flame dancing through falling stars.
One beam scraped past his arm. Heat burned his skin and he hissed through his teeth.
Max's voice cut through the fire.
"Less showing off. More surviving. The ship is right there."
Kael rolled his eyes, teeth clenched.
"Fine."
He threw one last burst of fire, and they slammed hard onto the vessel's hull. Boots locked onto the metal with sharp clicks, magnetic clamps holding them in place.
Kael didn't pause.
He drew his fist back. Fire roared down his arm.
The punch hit like a cannon.
Metal screamed as it melted and bent. A hole was torn open in the hull, glowing red. Air rushed out with a violent hiss, dragging bodies into space. They flew past, limbs flailing, weightless and silent.
Max's eyes widened.
"Are you insane?"
Kael blinked.
"What?"
Max pointed at the torn hull, voice sharp.
"You just vented half the ship's oxygen. Heat. Probably the entire life support system."
Kael shrugged, calm as ever.
"Not like they'll need it anymore. And we don't either."
Max dragged a hand down his face.
"Controlling this thing isn't going to be great. I swear, one day I'm going to—"
Ash walked past them without a word. He didn't waste a second. He stepped through the breach and disappeared inside.
Max and Kael exchanged a quick glance.
They followed.