The Northern Continent stretched endlessly below Arata's secluded vantage point. Snow-dusted peaks, dense forests, and jagged cliffs gave the land an unyielding aura, one that few dared traverse. From his hidden stronghold atop a jagged ridge, Arata observed maps, astrological markers, and magical currents flowing across the world. Though he was far from the East Continent and the city of Karveth, the pulse of events reached him like whispers through the weave of the world itself.
He was nineteen now. Two years had passed since he left the Kurogami estate and graduated from the Sky Severing Academy. Those two years had not been wasted—they had been meticulously used to learn, plan, and position himself in the shadows of the continents, far from prying eyes. In Karveth, his avatar, John Merciless, moved like a phantom, executing missions with surgical precision, while Arata remained distant, unexposed, and calculating the outcomes from his Northern Continent stronghold.
In Karveth, the city stretched out under the night sky, lanterns flickering along cobblestone streets, canals reflecting glimmers of magical wards, and towering fortresses marking the influence of the Circuit Guardians. The Kurogami mission was underway, led by the three strongest of the organization: Reiji, Selara, and Kael, flanked by the rest of the Kings and Queens maintaining perimeter control. They moved silently, shadows against shadows, their presence barely detectable to the untrained eye.
The target: a secret lab run by the Circuit Guardians, containing the child who had been injected with experimental Awakening Accelerants. This lab was a tightly controlled facility, designed to isolate and accelerate circuit evolution in subjects—children and adults alike—without alerting the public or other factions. Only the strongest of the Circuit Guardians were stationed there, elite enforcers tasked with guarding these "living experiments."
From miles away, Arata's eyes, hidden beneath the mask of John Merciless, scanned the operation. He was not physically present in Karveth—his body remained on the Northern Continent—but the avatar's actions followed his intricate mental commands. Every step, every infiltration route, every fallback and contingency had been anticipated and planned.
Perfect, he thought. Every move accounted for. Every response calculated. And they don't even know it.
As the Kurogami operatives reached the inner chambers of the lab, the child was led into a safe room within the facility's hidden annex. The room was bathed in soft, muted lantern light, casting shadows across the girl's terrified eyes. She clutched her sleeves tightly, trembling as she faced the masked figures surrounding her.
Reiji knelt slightly, gesturing for her to speak.
"It's… safe now," Selara said, her tone gentle but with an edge of authority, reassuring the girl without belittling her fear.
Kael remained leaning against the wall, flames flickering faintly along the tips of his circuits. His presence was calm, almost detached, yet radiated an unmistakable dominance.
The girl's voice trembled as she spoke. "They… they injected me. They said it would make me stronger, but I could feel… pain. My circuits… they burned. And if I escaped… they said they would kill me."
Reiji's eyes narrowed. "They underestimated us."
"They treated everyone as a tool," the girl continued, shivering. "Adults, children… anyone who could awaken circuits faster. None were treated as humans."
Selara's smile vanished. "Monsters," she muttered under her breath.
Reiji finally spoke, quiet and firm. "Good. Now we know exactly what we've saved—and why it matters."
Kael, ever calm, let the words hang in the air, the faint flicker of fire along his circuits reflecting his satisfaction at the precision of their infiltration.
Thousands of miles away, in the fortified chambers of the Circuit Guardians' Association, the head of the organization, Kazuhiko Aratani, slammed his fist against the table. The report had arrived almost immediately after the lab breach.
"What? The lab… attacked? And the reports say…" Aratani's voice was sharp, cutting through the chamber like a blade. "It was led by John Merciless?! Are you telling me the ghost in the shadows is now openly interfering with our secrets?"
His subordinates shifted nervously. Some trembled at the implications.
"It's impossible," one muttered, "we took every precaution—the lab, the perimeter… everything."
Aratani's glare silenced them all. "Impossible? Impossible is the word for fools. Our arrogance blinded us. We controlled everything… or so we thought. And now the one who could unravel us is in the open."
Another officer, a younger man, stammered, "But he couldn't have… the facility is sealed with multiple layers of barriers, traps, and elite guards—"
Aratani's eyes narrowed, sharp as a blade. "Precisely. And yet, he bypassed them all without so much as a ripple. Every step anticipated. Every contingency covered. That is genius beyond reckoning."
Another officer stepped forward, hesitant. "Headmaster… the child… she was injected with a stabilized Awakening Accelerant. Experimental… her circuits are evolving unpredictably. She is unlike any other subject we've encountered."
Aratani clenched his fists. "A variable we cannot predict… evidence of our failure. And the one we fear most knows of it."
He gestured sharply at the council. "Understand what this means. Every formula, every report, every unethical experiment is now exposed. John Merciless didn't just infiltrate; he orchestrated. Genius. And precise. And the child… now she becomes part of his calculation."
Even as the council debated, Aratani's eyes remained on the reports, the maps of Karveth, and the markers of Kurogami influence. Every data point reminded him: the chessboard had shifted. They were no longer players—they were pieces.
High above the forests and icy ridges of the Northern Continent, Arata remained motionless in his hidden fortress. His view spanned magical maps, astronomical markers, and currents that linked continents together. Every motion of John Merciless in Karveth was mirrored in his mind as if he were present physically.
Let them stew in their assumptions, he thought. They think I am preparing, learning… but every piece is already positioned. Every reaction anticipated.
His lips curled faintly under the mask. "The girl… the experiments… perfect. They will serve as a variable exactly when I need them. Every action, every reaction… part of the equation."
Koketsu, the left-eye circuit, pulsed faintly beneath his skin, reminding him that the world could be bent to imagination alone. The avatar, John Merciless, acted as both sword and shadow, executing the plan with lethal precision, while Arata himself remained untouchable, observing and calculating from afar.
In Karveth, John Merciless' presence was felt before it was seen. The infiltrators moved like ghosts, dismantling barriers, reading magical wards, and manipulating outcomes as if the city itself obeyed their will. Every guard neutralized, every route blocked or opened, every contingency covered—these were all instructions from Arata's mind, executed flawlessly by John Merciless.
Three of the strongest infiltrators engage the lab, he noted in thought. The rest maintain perimeter, observing, controlling, and preparing for intervention. The girl becomes the variable. The city—the stage. Every element part of the calculation.
Even as the operation unfolded, Arata considered the Circuit Guardians. Their elite forces would not remain idle—they would respond with force. But every possible countermeasure had already been considered. Each outcome, every failure, every perceived success, was already accounted for in his plan.
By the time Karveth's city council realized the lab had been breached, the girl was safe within Kurogami's hands. Reports flooded the Circuit Guardians' Association that a group called Kurogami had infiltrated the lab, led by John Merciless. Panic rippled through the association, each officer aware that their darkest secrets were now compromised.
Arata, still distant in the Northern Continent, allowed a faint smile. They will believe they are the players, yet they are the pieces. And every step they take will feed into the web I have already spun.
He turned back to his maps, tracing magical ley lines and currents across the continent. Karveth was only one stage. There were countless other cities, families, and factions to manipulate. Every variable, every pawn, every "experiment" could be used in his grand strategy.
The world is a game, he mused silently, and I am the rules it bends around itself.
Koketsu pulsed faintly, a reminder that imagination was reality, and John Merciless was merely the instrument to enforce it. The Northern Continent offered isolation, perspective, and control—a vantage point to watch the world fall into calculated chaos without ever stepping into danger himself.