The Zero-Point transport, a jagged silhouette against the orange-hued sunrise of the southern horizon, hummed with the frantic energy of a field hospital. The air was thick with the smell of ozone, burnt circuit boards, and the metallic tang of dried blood.
In the center of the cargo hold, Kenji Tanaka sat on a metal bench, his torso wrapped in bandages that pulsed with Priya's healing light. But the physical wounds were secondary. His eyes, once a standard hazel, now flickered with a deep, unsettling violet hue the mark of the Abyssal Heart beating in rhythm with his own pulse.
[STATUS: RANK 5 VETERAN (LOW)]
[CORE STABILITY: 64% - WARNING: MULTI-SCRAP INTERFERENCE]
"You're shaking," Elara said, stepping into his line of sight. She looked exhausted, her usually pristine Frost Weaver robes stained with salt and grime. She held a thermal blanket, which she draped over his shoulders.
"It's the Heart," Kenji whispered, his voice sounding like two stones grinding together. "It doesn't just sit in the core, Elara. it eats. It's trying to hollow out the kinetic scrap to make room for the Void."
"Then regulate it," she said, her voice firm. "You're a Veteran now, Tanaka. The System doesn't just give you a title; it gives you the capacity to command the energy. If you let the scrap dictate the terms, you'll end up like the Adjudicator a hollow shell guarding a grave."
Kenji took a shaky breath, closing his eyes. He reached inward, visualizing his core. It was a chaotic theater. The golden kinetic scrap of the Harpy Matriarch was fighting for dominance against the cold, implacable violet of the Abyssal Heart, while the Absolute Defense shard sat like a silent judge between them.
He focused on the [Void Step] blueprint he had just unlocked. It wasn't about speed; it was about the absence of space. By leaning into the Void, he could momentarily "delete" the friction between the competing scraps.
Slowly, the shaking stopped. The violet glow in his eyes dimmed to a steady, controlled simmer.
"Better?" Elara asked.
"Manageable," Kenji replied. He looked around the hold. Mateo was asleep in a chair, his headphones still on, his fingers twitching as if he were still dodging Sentinels. Bjorn and Zola were at the back, speaking in low tones with Commander Kael.
"They're scared, Kenji," Elara murmured. "Not of the Central Authority. Of you."
"I'm scared of me, too," Kenji admitted.
Commander Kael approached, her cybernetic eye whirring as it scanned Kenji's stabilized core. "The Purge Bomb at the Citadel has caused a diplomatic earthquake. The Central Authority is claiming the explosion was a 'natural disaster' caused by unauthorized Scrapsmith interference. They've raised your bounty to fifty million Embers. Dead or alive though Alaric Vance's personal orders specify 'intact core.'"
"Where is he?" Kenji asked.
"He's at the Sanctum of Spires," Kael said, projecting a holographic map. "It's the Central Authority's main research hub. They're panicking. They didn't think a Rank 4 could survive an A-Rank zone, let alone integrate a Fallen Star. They've moved the timeline up. They're going for the third Star themselves."
She zoomed in on a location in the Northern Tundra, a place of perpetual blizzards and jagged ice mountains.
"The Glacial Eye. It's a Rank S Zone. It houses the Scrap of Eternal Stasis. If the Authority gets it, they can effectively 'freeze' any core in the world. They'll be able to shut down the Insurgency without firing a shot."
Elara's breath hitched. "The Glacial Eye... that's near my family's estate. The Volkov Citadel is the only refueling station within five hundred miles of that zone."
"Which is why you're going back," Kael said. "But not as a daughter. As an infiltrator."
The mission briefing was grim. The Glacial Eye was guarded by Cryo-Colossi beings of living ice and ancient stasis magic. But the real threat was the environment. The temperature in the Eye was so low that even a Frost Weaver's internal core could freeze solid.
"We need the Stasis Scrap to counter Alaric's light," Kenji said, standing up and testing his weight. He felt a surge of [Void Step] energy a sudden, weightless sensation that made the world feel thin. "If we can freeze the light-anchors, he can't stabilize the world. We can turn the hierarchy into a chaotic field again."
"And how do we get past the Volkov sensors?" Zola asked, joining the group. "They have Rank 8 scanners. They'll see Tanaka's violet signature from the border."
"They won't," Elara said, her voice cold. She pulled a small, silver locket from her neck and handed it to Kenji. "This is a Volkov Resonance Dampener. It's keyed to my DNA. If I 'tether' my core to yours, the scanners will only see a single, Rank 6 Frost Weaver signature."
"A tether?" Priya asked, concerned. "Elara, that means your life force is tied to his. If his core redlines or the Void takes over, it'll pull you down with him."
Elara looked at Kenji. There was no hesitation in her gaze. "He's the only one who can do this. And I'm the only one who can get him in."
Kenji took the locket. As his fingers brushed hers, a spark of violet and blue energy arced between them. For a second, Kenji saw a flash of her memories the cold, lonely halls of the Volkov estate, the crushing pressure of her father's expectations, and the moment she chose to follow a lowly Scrapsmith into the sewers.
"We do it," Kenji said.
The transport dropped them off in the outskirts of the Northern Tundra. The wind was a physical wall, howling with a ferocity that threatened to strip the skin from their bones.
[ENVIRONMENTAL WARNING: TEMPERATURE -70°C]
[CORE DRAIN: 0.8% Per Minute (Thermal Regulation)]
Elara stepped forward, her hands moving in a graceful, circular motion. [Frost Weaver: Mantle of the North]. A shimmering blue aura expanded, shielding the team from the worst of the wind.
"We have to move fast," Elara shouted over the gale. "The Volkov Citadel is twenty miles ahead. We'll use the service tunnels."
As they trekked through the whiteout, Kenji practiced his new Rank 5 capabilities. He didn't just walk; he used [Void Step] to "skip" over the deepest snowdrifts. Each step felt like a momentary lapse in existence a flicker of purple light, and he was fifty feet ahead, leaving no footprints.
But every time he stepped, he felt the Abyssal Heart grow hungrier. It wanted the cold. It wanted to consume the kinetic energy of the blizzard.
"Stay focused, Kenji," the locket whispered. Elara's voice was clear in his mind, thanks to the tether. "Don't let the Void look at the storm. Look at me."
They reached the service entrance. A massive, frosted steel hatch hidden beneath a cliff. Elara placed her hand on the scanner.
"Access Denied. Genetic Signature Recognized: Elara Volkov. Status: Fugitive. Initiating Silent Alarm."
The group froze.
"Silent alarm?" Mateo hissed. "That's worse than a loud one!"
"They're already here," Kenji said, his Scrapsmith sense flaring.
From the shadows of the tunnel emerged four figures. They wore the silver-and-white armor of the Volkov Justiciars the Rank 6 elites. And at their head was a man who looked like an older, harder version of Elara.
Viktor Volkov. Rank 8 Grand Master of Cryomancy.
"Elara," Viktor said, his voice like cracking ice. "You've brought the animal to our doorstep. My brother, Alaric, told me you were lost, but I didn't believe you were this… degraded."
"Father," Elara said, her voice trembling but her chin held high. "I'm not the one who's lost. You're serving a System that wants to turn the world into a tomb."
Viktor looked at Kenji. His gaze was like a physical weight, a Rank 8 pressure that made the very air feel solid. "The Scrapsmith. You smell of the Void, boy. It's a foul scent. It's the smell of something that doesn't belong in the light."
"I'm a Veteran now, Viktor," Kenji said, stepping forward. He felt the Absolute Defense scrap engage, forming a thin, violet-tinged shield around the team. "And the light is looking a little dim these days."
"A Veteran?" Viktor laughed, a cold, mirthless sound. "You think a title makes you a match for a Grand Master in his own domain? This isn't a Sunken Citadel. This is my world."
Viktor raised his hand. The blizzard outside didn't just enter the tunnel; it became the tunnel. The air froze solid in an instant, turning into jagged, crystalline spears that launched toward the team.
"Kenji, now!" Elara screamed.
Kenji didn't use the Disruptor. He used the Abyssal Heart.
[Void Step: Erasure]
He didn't move the team. He "deleted" the space where the ice spears were supposed to land. The crystalline weapons vanished into a violet rift, reappearing behind Viktor and his Justiciars.
Viktor's eyes widened in momentary shock. He swiped his hand, shattering his own redirected attack, but the opening was made.
"Go!" Kenji roared.
The team sprinted past the Justiciars, heading deeper into the Volkov Citadel.
"You can't run from the cold, Elara!" Viktor's voice echoed behind them, growing louder and more resonant. "The Glacial Eye is my heart! You're just walking into your own funeral!"
As they raced through the metallic corridors, the locket on Kenji's chest began to glow a frantic, pulsing blue.
"He's tracking the tether," Elara panted. "He's going to use it to freeze us from the inside out."
"Then we have to get to the Eye first," Kenji said, his violet eyes scanning the path ahead. "If we get the Stasis Scrap, we can turn the tether back on him."
The chapter ends with the team reaching the central elevator of the Volkov Citadel the one that leads straight down into the heart of the Glacial Eye. But standing in front of the elevator is the final obstacle: Elara's sister, Lyra Volkov, a Rank 7 specialist in "Neural Frost" a magic that freezes the mind itself.
The war for the Second Star had officially entered the Volkov household.