The violet glow in Evan Sharp's eyes hadn't dimmed. Sparks still crawled along his shoulders, snapping from nail to nail. The Cinder Guild's fire was ash behind him, Pike's scream still ringing in his ears.
But Speed Sense prickled with a thread that hadn't snapped.
A white arc slashed westward — Pike's path.
Evan looked once at the crowd still cheering his name, still chanting Lightning Crown, then vanished into violet blur.
The Slums of Lowwater weren't markets or forges or docks. They were a wound left to fester. Shacks leaned into each other for balance; their roofs patched with tar and rope. Smoke burned from oil fires in rusted barrels. Narrow alleys stank of piss and hunger.
This was where Pike had run.
This was where Evan's lightning hummed low and uncertain. The Slums weren't his yet.
He landed in a clearing ringed by broken carts and mud. Pike stood there, chest heaving, surrounded by men and women clutching knives, clubs, bottles with rag fuses. They weren't trained. They weren't wardens. They were desperate.
"See?" Pike shouted, voice raw. "He's no ghost — he's lightning. He'll burn you all! He'll claim every street until you've got nothing! Unless you burn him first!"
The Slummers snarled, fear twisted into fury.
Evan stepped forward, violet arcs crawling at his heels. His voice carried calm through the crackle.
"Burn me?" he said. "Try."
The mob roared.
Knives flashed. Bottles shattered. Fire leapt.
Evan moved.
Quickstep blurred him between the first three, their swings carving only sparks. Burst Step cracked mud as he drove his shoulder into one chest, spinning with Momentum Shift to fling the man into his allies.
A bottle of flame arced overhead. Evan triggered Thunderstep.
Lightning detonated from his footfall, violet shockwave blasting outward. The bottle ignited midair, its fire shredded by static, raining harmless sparks. Men dropped screaming, their weapons flung away.
[DING] Thunderstep chain complete.+15 Speed.Speed: 870 → 885.
The mob faltered. Fear cracked through their rage.
Evan's eyes sparked violet arcs. "Run."
Half obeyed.
The rest screamed and charged anyway.
Velocity Veil+ bloomed — ten Evans scattering across the clearing. Each ghost punched, kicked, drove knees into ribs. Vector Veil rotated its clean pocket, one strike every heartbeat undeniable. Men dropped like wheat under scythes, groaning in mud.
Evan walked forward through his ghosts. Each step lit arcs across the ground. Each blink flashed lightning in his eyes.
The Slummers broke. They ran, stumbling, cursing Pike's name as they vanished into alleys.
Only Pike remained.
His face was twisted, spit hanging from his lip, eyes bloodshot. He clutched a vial in shaking hands — one last Cinder gift.
"You can't take this place!" he screamed. "It's mine!"
He hurled the vial.
Evan's foot slammed into the mud.
"Thunderstep."
The explosion erased the vial before it reached him. Pike's scream drowned under the violet shockwave that ripped carts apart, flattened shacks, and left black arcs crackling in the mud.
When the light faded, Pike was on his knees, shaking, ears bleeding.
Evan's hand closed on his collar. He lifted him effortlessly, violet arcs snapping across his arm.
"This isn't yours," Evan said. His voice was thunder. "This city runs with me."
He hurled Pike into the mud. The man didn't rise.
The system pulsed.
Quest: Claim the Slums.Objective: Defeat Pike and his mob.Reward: +35 Speed, Domain Bond (Minor).
The mud thrummed under Evan's boots. The shacks groaned. The alleys whispered. The Slums bent.
Quest complete.+35 Speed.Speed: 885 → 920.Domain Bond — Slums (Minor) acquired.
The threads in Evan's chest roared louder. Hook Street, Docks, Foundry, Towers, now the Slums. Five voices, five domains, weaving into one network.
Title Update: [Domain Strider II] → [Domain Strider III].Effect: Domain Network bonus +25% movement speed. Perception distortion +15%. Domains resist foreign influence.
Lightning sparked higher, violet arcs leaping from rooftop to rooftop. His eyes glowed brighter, twin storms trapped in glass.
The Slums had a new king.
Far across Lowwater, Registry slates screamed warnings. Fifth domain claimed. Speed approaching 1,000. Anomaly status escalating.
Officers barked, commanders cursed. Aelira read the numbers without flinching.
"He's faster than projection," one officer said. "We can't let him weave the city. At this pace, he'll hit Gold before month's end."
Aelira's braid gleamed as she turned. "Then we run him now."
"Deploy Gold?"
Her lips curved faint. "Not yet. Silver squad. All of us."
The room went silent. The Registry didn't send multiple Silvers for anything less than a war.
"This is war," she said.
Back in the Slums, children peeked from broken shutters. Men and women crawled from alleys. They stared at Evan Sharp, violet lightning crawling across his shoulders, sparks in his eyes.
One whispered, "Ghost."Another, "Lightning Crown."Then louder: "Our Silver."
The cry rolled through the Slums, catching like flame.
Evan stood still, letting the lightning crown his body, letting the Domains roar in his chest.
He didn't smile. But his eyes sparked brighter as he whispered to the storm in his blood:
"Faster."
Status — Evan SharpLevel: 10Speed: 920Tier: 2 — Silver (Lightning Stepper)Passive: Lightning CurrentTechniques: Thunderstep (D+), Vector Break (D), Vector Veil (E), Velocity Veil+ (E), Speed Sense (E)Titles: [Uncatchable II], [Domain Strider III]Domains: Hook Street (Strong), Docks (Minor), Foundry (Moderate), Towers (Minor), Slums (Minor)Overflow: 15%
The system pulsed one final warning.
Hazard Forecast: Multiple Silver-class operatives inbound. Registry deploying a squad.
Evan's grin was sharp. His violet lightning hissed louder, eyes burning storms.
"Finally," he whispered.
The race was about to begin.