The tunnel lights flickered then went black
No footsteps
No voices
But Echo's eyes gleamed in the dark
They're here
Azel didn't draw his blade
He just placed one hand against the tunnel wall
The mana in the air felt twisted
Not from mages
From something else
Puppets
Echo whispered
Sera tensed her fingers around a rune stone
Azel spoke calm and cold
They're using students as shells
Controlled through carved sigils on the spine
Three shadows appeared down the tunnel
Then three more behind them
Twelve total
All dressed in academy uniforms
But their faces were blank
Eyes glazed
Movements sharp and unnatural
One stepped forward
Its mouth opened but no sound came out
Only a puff of red smoke
Message delivery
Azel watched the smoke form shapes
Letters
Return the remnant or we silence your bloodline
Echo laughed quietly
Tell them to try
Sera raised the rune stone
I can disrupt three of them maybe four
Echo took a step forward
I'll take five
Azel didn't answer
He just walked toward the nearest puppet
And pressed two fingers against its forehead
The puppet froze
Trembled
Then cracked
Its body collapsed into black ash
The rest charged
Sera flung the stone forward it exploded in silver light three puppets halted twitching
Echo moved through the space like a shadow
He didn't punch or kick
He touched pressure points
Cracked sigils
Broke the spellstrings mid motion
Five down in seconds
But the last four were different
Faster
More precise
Eyes glowing red now
They moved together
Not like individuals
Azel saw the rhythm
They're linked to a node nearby
Not just puppets
A cluster
Sera backed against the wall
Too fast
Echo grinned
Perfect
He vanished from sight
Appeared behind one puppet and whispered
Shatter
The puppet exploded
But the other three didn't stop
Instead they moved even faster
Two blades came for Azel's throat
He ducked rolled kicked the left one into the tunnel wall
The third reached Sera's arm sliced through her sleeve blood hit the ground
Azel's eyes narrowed
He snapped his fingers
The lights returned
The remaining puppets stopped mid-motion
Confused
Then they all screamed
Not voices
Just raw noise
Their heads burst
Ash covered the floor
Sera held her bleeding arm
That was reckless
Azel didn't respond
He walked toward the end of the tunnel
They know where we are now
And they know we're not scared
Echo wiped blood off his hand
Next time they'll send real killers
Good Azel whispered
Then we stop holding back