Ashes of the Silent War
Chapter 6 – Leviathan vs Leviathan
The laboratory trembled as Titan stepped forward.
Metal fragments still fell from the destroyed wall behind him. His massive frame filled the doorway like a living tank, red eyes glowing through the dim light.
Across the room, Kael Varden slowly raised his rifle.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Two Leviathans.
Two weapons created by the same experiment.
Then Titan smiled.
"So you're the prototype."
Kael's voice remained calm.
"And you're the mistake."
Titan laughed and charged.
The floor cracked beneath Titan's first step.
His punch came like a cannon.
Kael barely dodged as the blow smashed into the steel console behind him, ripping it apart.
Kael fired a full burst into Titan's face.
The bullets sparked against reinforced bone plating beneath Titan's skin.
Titan grabbed Kael by the throat and lifted him off the ground.
"You're weaker than I expected."
Kael slammed his elbow into Titan's arm and twisted free, flipping backward onto a laboratory table.
Before Titan could react—
Kael kicked a heavy metal cabinet directly into Titan's chest.
The impact staggered the giant for a split second.
Kael moved instantly.
Knife out.
He slashed across Titan's neck.
Sparks and blood sprayed across the floor.
Titan stepped back slowly.
Then he laughed again.
"You're faster."
His muscles flexed.
The wound closed partially.
"But I'm stronger."
He grabbed the entire steel operating table and hurled it like a missile.
Kael rolled aside as the table smashed into the wall.
Lyra shouted from the control terminal.
"Kael! We need to go!"
Titan roared and rushed forward again.
This time Kael didn't dodge.
He stepped in.
Two monsters collided.
Titan's fist slammed into Kael's ribs.
Kael drove his knife deep into Titan's shoulder.
The impact shattered glass chambers across the room.
Both men crashed through a laboratory wall into the corridor outside.
The hallway lights flickered.
Kael stood slowly.
Blood dripped from his mouth.
Titan cracked his neck.
"Good."
"This is what Leviathan soldiers are meant to do."
"Kill each other."
Outside the base, the night sky exploded with fire.
Across the wasteland, armies had begun marching.
More than 50,000 soldiers from different factions were now fighting across multiple ruined cities.
The Crimson Legion pushed their armored divisions toward the Iron Dominion strongholds.
The Northern Coalition launched artillery strikes from the frozen mountains.
The Steel Syndicate unleashed drones and automated war machines.
Entire highways became battlefields.
Cities burned again just like the first days of the global collapse.
And in the middle of it all…
A new force arrived.
Deep in the desert battlefield outside the city of Valkor, two massive armies clashed.
Dominion tanks fired across the ruined skyline.
Crimson Legion artillery hammered enemy positions.
Thousands of soldiers fought in the streets.
Then suddenly—
Every soldier heard the same sound.
A whisper in their communication channels.
"War is chaos."
"Chaos is opportunity."
Black aircraft appeared silently above the battlefield.
Their hulls carried a symbol soldiers feared more than any army.
A crown made of shadows.
The Obsidian Veil had arrived.
From the aircraft, hundreds of masked assassins dropped into the battlefield like falling knives.
They attacked both armies.
Dominion soldiers.
Crimson Legion troops.
No one was spared.
Chaos spread instantly through the battlefield.
Because when the Obsidian Veil appeared…
It meant someone far more dangerous was watching.
Back inside the Dominion research base, Kael and Titan crashed through another wall.
The building groaned under the force of their battle.
Titan grabbed Kael again and slammed him into the floor hard enough to crack concrete.
"You're finished!"
He raised his fist—
A single gunshot echoed through the corridor.
Titan stopped.
A bullet had pierced directly through his temple.
For the first time…
Titan looked surprised.
He slowly turned.
At the far end of the hallway stood a tall figure wearing a long black coat.
His face hidden beneath a dark mask.
His presence alone felt heavier than the war outside.
Titan's voice lowered.
"…Director."
Kael slowly stood, breathing heavily.
Lyra entered the hallway behind him.
Her eyes widened when she saw the masked man.
"No…"
She whispered the name.
"Noctis."
Leader of the Obsidian Veil.
The most feared strategist in the wasteland.
Noctis walked forward calmly.
Every step echoed through the ruined corridor.
He stopped beside Titan.
"You failed."
Titan dropped to one knee immediately.
"My apologies."
Noctis looked toward Kael.
"So this is the survivor of Battalion 13."
His voice was calm.
Almost curious.
Kael wiped blood from his mouth.
"You're the one controlling the Veil."
"Yes."
Noctis tilted his head slightly.
"And you are the one disrupting my plans."
Lyra raised her pistol.
"You started this war!"
Noctis turned his gaze toward her.
"I merely guided it."
Then he looked back at Kael.
"The world needs order."
"War creates that order."
Titan slowly stood again.
The bullet wound in his head had already begun healing.
Kael tightened his grip on his knife.
But Noctis suddenly raised a hand.
"Enough."
Titan froze instantly.
Noctis looked at Kael one final time.
"You are… interesting."
Then he turned and walked away.
Titan followed him.
Before disappearing into the darkness, Noctis spoke one last sentence.
"The real war begins soon."
The laboratory lights flickered again.
Silence returned.
Kael leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
Lyra checked the data device in her hand.
"We got the files."
Kael nodded slowly.
Then she looked at him again.
There was fear in her eyes.
"Kael… there's something else in the Leviathan files."
"What?"
Lyra hesitated.
Then she whispered the words.
"There's another Leviathan project."
Kael frowned.
"Another one?"
Lyra's voice trembled slightly.
"Yes."
"And this one…"
"…is much worse."