The night sky over Valestra City burned with streaks of crimson and blue light. The scent of ozone filled the air, mixed with gunpowder and smoke. A high-pitched screech echoed between the skyscrapers as something monstrous darted between alleys, trailing sparks like a comet.
Liam skidded across the cracked pavement, claws digging deep to stop his momentum. His body trembled, half-human, half-beast. Steam rose from his shoulders. "Sophia! It's heading your way!"
On a rooftop two blocks away, Sophia crouched low, eyes locked through her rifle's scope. Her ponytail fluttered in the rising heat. "I see it."
The creature burst through a car lot, smashing vehicles aside like toys. Its body shimmered with distorted light, like liquid glass over muscle. It had no face, only a writhing mass of tendrils and a single gaping maw in its chest.
Sophia steadied her breathing. "This one's fast."
Liam leaped onto a streetlight and howled. His voice echoed, making windows tremble. A spectral outline of wolves flickered around him. "Keep it busy, I'll corner it!"
"I thought you were the one keeping it busy," Sophia muttered, her finger tightening on the trigger.
The creature lunged toward him. Liam ducked, claws flashing. Sparks flew as he slashed at the tendrils, each strike making the air ripple with force. The monster shrieked, twisting midair, its movements erratic and unpredictable.
"Come on, come on!" Liam shouted. "Stay still, you slippery—"
A tendril lashed out, striking him square in the chest. He flew backward, smashing through a vending machine. Metal crumpled around him, but he rolled to his feet almost instantly. "I'm fine!"
"Good," Sophia said calmly. Her crosshair glowed. "Because I'm about to end it."
She switched her rifle module. The barrel of her relic gun unfolded, revealing intricate golden runes that pulsed with light. "Relic Type IX – Seraph Precision."
The moment she pulled the trigger, the world froze. A white line of pure light cut across the street, soundless and instant. The bullet pierced the creature's core, exploding in a burst of golden flame.
The monster screamed, its body dissolving like melting glass. The air shimmered with fragments of Aetherium as it collapsed.
Liam stumbled closer, panting. "You never miss, do you?"
Sophia reloaded the glowing cylinder in her rifle. "You just make the targets big enough to hit."
"Ha." He crouched beside the fading creature and reached into his pouch, pulling out a small, black rune sphere covered in crimson lines. "Alright, let's see if this one holds."
He pressed it against the creature's remains. The runes began to glow as the sphere vibrated violently. "Please work…"
The light pulsed once, twice then burst.
The sphere exploded in his hand, scattering shards across the street. The Aetherborn's fading essence recoiled, momentarily reforming before dispersing into the air like dust.
Liam stood still, frozen. Then his shoulders began to shake.
Sophia exhaled slowly. "It failed?"
Liam clenched his jaw. His fist slammed into the ground, shattering the concrete. "That's the third supernatural that withered away! Are you kidding me?!"
The echo of his shout rolled down the street, loud enough to make a few alarms go off in nearby buildings.
Sophia lowered her weapon, resting it on her shoulder. "Come on, Liam. You know damn well how hard it is to capture one. Even the F grade supernaturals would easily withered away, much more the higher grade supernaturals."
Liam's claws retracted slightly as he gritted his teeth. "Even so, that's about fifteen thousand units down the drain."
She looked at him, her sharp eyes softening a little. "We'll get another chance. Maybe not tonight, but we'll get one."
He sighed, shoulders relaxing. "Yeah. Guess we will."
"Let's go," she said, nodding toward the car parked at the end of the street. "Before the Bureau drones show up."
---
The city was quiet again. Only the distant hum of neon signs and the low whisper of the wind through the empty streets remained. Sophia drove through the dim-lit roads, her eyes fixed on the path ahead while the neon reflected faintly in her glasses.
Liam leaned back in the passenger seat, rubbing his temples. "Still thinking about that puppet?"
Sophia didn't answer right away. Her fingers tightened slightly on the steering wheel. "Yeah. It just feels… unnatural."
"You mean creepy?"
"Maybe... but it feels more wrong." She glanced out the window at the passing lights. "The puppet... feels human but also doesn't. I never felt anything like this before even with the rare intelligent supernaturals."
Sophia then smirked. "Well, according to yesterday's reports with the gang war and sighting of it in the cameras, it's pretty much confirmed that it was a rogue transcender."
Liam then shook his head. "No. When I fought it... the way it resonated with the Aether. It felt different."
Sophia turned her head toward his, expression serious now. "Different how?"
"It smelled like a supernatural," he said.
Liam grinned faintly. "I told Jack the same thing. That puppet isn't a transcender. I'm one hundred percent sure it's a supernatural. My nose was never wrong."
Sophia sighed. "Too bad it escaped. I actually never saw a puppet-type supernatural before."
Liam chuckled. "If that thing really is a supernatural, what do you think it is? Emotional birth? Environmental birth? Elemental birth?"
Sophia thought for a moment. "Hmm… it should be an emotional birth right? Sure it's so fucking tough that you couldn't even scratch it but that's it. The puppet doesn't have any abilities other than maybe a tough skin."
Liam tapped his clawed fingers against the window. "I'm gonna take a hard guess and say emotional too. Emotional births are the weakest in power, but they're the weirdest and most unique. No two are ever the same. Environmental ones are strange but predictable, and elemental births are practically copy-paste versions of each other."
Sophia nodded slowly. "You're right. Still, I hope I can get one of my own soon."
Liam laughed lightly. "Careful what you wish for. Some of them bite."
"I can handle that," she said with a faint smile. Then her phone buzzed.
She picked it up, pressing the device to her ear. "Sophia speaking."
A sharp voice came from the other end. "Agent Sophia, urgent notice from the Aegis Command. A supernatural monarch has entered the continent."
Sophia's eyes widened. She almost slammed the brakes. "What?"
Liam straightened instantly. "You're kidding."
The voice continued, grim and clear. "It's confirmed. A Class-S entity has crossed the borders two hours ago. The Council has issued continental alert level red. All transcender units are to be on standby."
Sophia's knuckles went white on the steering wheel. "Which direction?"
"Unknown. Last reading placed it somewhere near the coastal border. Its Aetherium signature is too large to pinpoint accurately."
The line went dead.
Silence filled the car for several seconds.
Sophia finally whispered, "A supernatural monarch again."
Liam's face had gone pale. "There's plenty of them in the world, but they usually stay in their own territories."
"Yeah," Sophia said quietly. "And when they don't, cities vanish."
She drove in silence for a moment longer. "I fucking hope this one just passes by."
Liam leaned back, forcing a chuckle that didn't reach his eyes. "It'll pass. It always does. Monarchs have no reason to stay here."
"Yeah… you're right."
But she didn't sound convinced.
---
The Aegis Corporation headquarters rose like a steel fortress over the western district. The massive logo of the silver shield gleamed above the entrance.
Sophia and Liam entered the operations hall, the air buzzing with tension. Screens flashed with red-coded alerts, each one tracking energy signatures and threat reports.
Sophia approached a young researcher at one of the desks. "Any new data on the puppet?"
The researcher nodded nervously. "Yes, ma'am. We received a combat report this morning. Agents Jack and Kyle engaged the entity in the Frostveil Forest."
Both Sophia and Liam's heads turned sharply.
"They fought it?" Liam asked.
"Yes," the researcher said. "They initially thought it was a rogue transcender, but their data confirms it was a supernatural. A strong one."
Sophia's voice dropped. "Did they capture it?"
The researcher looked down. "Sadly, no. Both agents sustained slightly major injuries but they will be healed in no time. The puppet escaped deeper into the northern woods."
Liam exhaled sharply through his nose. "Figures."
Sophia straightened her coat. "Lead us to Jack and Kyle. Now."
"Yes, ma'am."
The researcher hurried ahead, and the two followed through the corridors. The air inside Aegis was heavy with unease. Every monitor showed live maps, emergency lights glowed red, and the faint hum of rune generators echoed through the walls.
She looked toward Liam. He was silent, his fist twitching slightly.
As the metal doors to the infirmary slid open, the smell of medicine and burned Aether filled the air. Two figures rested on the beds inside, it's Jack and Kyle, their bodies are covered in bandages.
Sophia's sharp eyes softened. "Jack. Kyle."
Jack looked up weakly, a smirk forming on his lips. "Took you long enough."
Sophia stepped closer. "Tell me everything about that puppet."
Kyle's tired eyes opened. "You're not gonna believe this…"
The air in the room thickened, carrying the faint scent of scorched porcelain and blood.
And far away, deep in the northern woods, Hina's crimson eyes opened again under the pale light of the moon. Chains rattled softly in the dark as something ancient stirred in the distance, its presence vast and suffocating.