THE BEAM
The moment the Aydren Ring awakened, City 73 changed forever.
A pillar of pure azure light erupted from the Rust Pits, piercing the clouds like a blade cutting heaven in half. Windows shattered. Birds fled in frantic spirals. Everyone in the city froze and stared upward.
Whispers turned to panic.
"Is it Eclipse?!""A fossil explosion?""Avalon is here—run!"
Far above them, on the tallest shattered skyscraper, a man watched the beam with a calm, almost amused smile.
His coat fluttered in the cold wind.His eyes glowed faintly with intelligence sharper than knives.
"…So," he whispered,"it finally begins."
REY'S AWAKENING
Inside the hangar, Rey screamed as the Aydren Ring melted into his skin.
Azure veins spread across his arm like lightning.Symbols—mandalas of spinning blue light—bloomed behind his pupils.
His eyes opened—
pure, blazing AZURE.
A shockwave blasted outward.
Five Avalon agents staggered back in terror.
Keven's grin widened."Ohh… look at that."
Rey took a single step.
The air cracked.Blue sparks scattered.
THE FIRST FIGHT — INSTINCT AWAKENED
1st Agent — Disarmed Instantly
The nearest agent raised his rifle.
Rey vanished from sight.
In the next instant, he stood beside the man, striking his elbow—CRACK—sending the rifle spinning through the air. A glowing mandala imprint flashed across Rey's palm as he hit the man's throat.
The agent collapsed, choking.
2nd Agent — Airborne Takedown
Another rushed in with a stun baton.
Rey leapt—three meters straight up.His aura wrapped around his legs like azure wind.
He spun in midair and smashed his heel into the soldier's skull.
The soldier flew backward into metal crates.
Keven blinked once."…did he just JUMP three meters?"
3rd & 4th Agents — Twin Strike
Two agents attacked together.
Rey slid under the first strike, fingers tracing a glowing arc on the ground.His knee shot upward, crushing one agent's jaw.
Mid-movement, he twisted sideways and drove an elbow into the second agent's face.Both hit the floor unconscious.
5th Agent — Into the Wall
The last soldier panicked and fired three bullets.
Rey's aura pulsed—Time slowed for him.
He tilted his head just one centimeter.Bullets missed.
He charged, grabbed the soldier by the chest, and SLAMMED him into the wall.
Concrete cracked.
Rey stood panting, mandala symbols fading around him.
His eyes burned like twin stars.
"Don't touch my mother."
KEVEN ENTERS
Keven laughed softly.
"You're beautiful, kid."
He moved—far faster than the other agents.
A punch to the stomach.Rey folded over.A knee to the jaw sent him stumbling.
Rey tried to rise again, aura flickering—
Keven slammed an elbow down on his spine.
"Sleep."
Rey collapsed.The blue aura flickered and died.
MEANWHILE — ECLIPSE LAB
Deep beneath another city, fossil shards floated in magnetic fields. Their eerie glow danced across the cold metal floor.
Dr. Tau worked feverishly at a console, adjusting resonance levels.
Behind him, a violin played.
A slow, mournful melody—as if sadness itself had learned to sing.
Yuri stood by the cracked observation window, white Eclipse coat hanging loosely on his thin frame. His hair hid half his face. His eyes were dull gray, overflowing with melancholy and quiet hatred.
He played without emotion.
Dr. Tau turned, softening.
"You're playing that piece again."
Yuri didn't look at him.
"It's the only sound that hasn't lied to me yet."
He rested the violin with gentle care.
Dr. Tau approached cautiously.
"Today may change everything, Yuri. The fossils are reacting more strongly. We may finally push humanity forward. Free them from Avalon."
Yuri finally lifted his head.
His eyes were hollow, old, tired of existing.
"Father… do you still believe they deserve freedom?"
Dr. Tau froze.
"They are suffering. You know that."
"They deserve it."
Dr. Tau's voice sharpened.
"Yuri—"
"No," Yuri interrupted quietly, stepping closer like a ghost."They laugh at your sacrifices. They spit on your work. They called you a terrorist, burned your labs, hunted us. And still… still you want to save them?"
He touched the glass chamber where a fossil pulsed with blue light.
"You're a good man, Father. Too good for them."
Dr. Tau clenched his fists."I want to heal them."
"Humans cannot be healed," Yuri whispered.
He lifted the violin to his shoulder again, bow trembling.
"They can only be replaced."
Dr. Tau's eyes widened.
"Yuri—this isn't justice!"
Yuri smiled sadly.
"Your justice tries to save the world."
He drew the bow.A long, tragic note filled the room.
"My justice will end it."
The fossils vibrated violently, reacting to him.
BACK TO THE HANGAR — THE CAPTURE
Rey lay unconscious, limp in Keven's arms.His mother screamed as Avalon agents dragged her toward a transport van.
Zen, bleeding and half-conscious, crawled toward them.
"MOM!! REY!!"
Keven looked at him with mild amusement.
"Too slow, Devil."
He kicked Zen aside and boarded the vehicle.
The doors slammed shut.
The van drove into the night.
The blue light in the sky slowly faded.
But City 73 would never forget it.