The moment John declared war, the Vault trembled as if the walls themselves felt the collision of two destinies. The Benefactor's calm shattered. His composure slid into something colder, something dangerous enough to make the air feel heavy.
He turned fully toward John, eyes dark with restrained fury. "You do not understand what you are choosing."
John stood tall. "I understand enough."
Rita's heart hammered. She could feel the tension thicken like smoke. Morgan's grip tightened around his tablet, his knuckles white as bone.
The Benefactor's voice dropped to a chilling whisper. "You would throw your city into ruin rather than accept your inheritance."
John did not blink. "I would rather burn every shadow than let you decide who I am."
The Benefactor took a step forward, his expression tightening. "Then you will watch everything your father loved, everything you worked to rebuild, crumble to dust because of your pride."
John stepped closer. "My father died fighting you. I am not him. I will finish the fight."
The lights in the Vault flickered violently. The screens showing the city feeds flashed red warnings. The Benefactor lifted his device again.
Rita gasped. "John, he is activating something."
Morgan rushed toward the screens. "Sir, he is initiating the first sequence. I am trying to intercept but the coding is locked. He has remote access."
The Benefactor spoke calmly. "One command from me, and the Raymond Foundation will cease to exist."
Rita's voice trembled with fury. "You monster."
The Benefactor did not look at her. "I am a realist. Empires are maintained by sacrifice, not sentiment."
John moved closer, slowly, deliberately, his voice low and controlled. "If you destroy my city, you destroy your own legacy."
The Benefactor's smile returned. "Legacies can be rebuilt. But heirs are rare."
John took another step toward him, eyes burning. "You will not walk out of this room alive."
The Benefactor's hand froze over the device.
The Vault fell silent.
Rita whispered, "John…"
Morgan whispered, "Boss, think…"
But John kept walking until he stood only a few feet from the Benefactor.
For the first time, the Benefactor seemed uncertain.
"Do not force my hand." His voice shook, barely audible.
John was steady. "You want me alive. You need me alive. That is why you did not detonate any of your threats before now."
The Benefactor's jaw tightened. His eyes flickered.
Rita's breath caught. "John… he cannot risk losing you."
John spoke with lethal calm. "Your entire plan collapses without an heir."
The Benefactor's fingers tightened around the device.
John met his gaze fully. "So go ahead. Destroy the Foundation. Destroy the Crest. Destroy everything. But if you do, I promise you, I will spend the rest of my life hunting you across every continent. There will be nowhere you can hide. Not in your houses. Not in your shadows."
The Benefactor's composure cracked. Fear flickered in his eyes.
"You are your father's son," he whispered.
"No," John replied. "I am my own man."
The Benefactor hesitated for one long, trembling moment.
Then he lowered the device.
Rita exhaled shakily, her hand pressed against her chest.
Morgan whispered, "Thank God…"
But the calm lasted only a heartbeat.
The Benefactor suddenly stepped back, hit a panel on the wall, and the entire Vault door slammed shut behind them. Bars locked in place. Metal plates sealed every exit.
Rita spun around. "He locked us in."
Morgan's tablet began beeping frantically. "Not just that. He cut the internal power grid. The Vault is running on stored energy."
John watched the Benefactor move deeper into the chamber. He approached a secondary console positioned behind the glass pod.
The Benefactor spoke without turning. "You will not walk out of here freely, John. Not until you understand the truth."
John moved toward him cautiously. "What truth?"
The Benefactor pressed his hand onto the console. The screens around the Vault shifted, displaying old files, photos, recordings. Some were decades old, some older.
"My first encounter with Harold Raymond," he narrated. "He was brilliant. Visionary. But he lacked the stomach to lead the House. He wanted purity. Idealism. Compassion."
He turned slowly, looking at John.
"You inherited his strength. But your fire is your own."
Rita stepped beside John, her voice steady. "You do not get to define him."
The Benefactor ignored her.
"You think this is a battle between right and wrong. Light and darkness. But this is a war between leaders. Between those who move the world and those who are moved by it."
Morgan's voice trembled. "Nobody should have this much power."
The Benefactor returned to the screen displaying multiple city targets. "Power exists whether or not anyone is worthy of it. Your father was worthy. You are worthy. This world needs a Raymond at the helm."
John's fists tightened. "You are delusional."
The Benefactor's voice rose for the first time, sharp and brittle. "No, I am necessary."
Rita stepped forward in fury. "You killed Prosper. You terrorised this city. You twisted Harold's vision. You deserve prison."
The Benefactor looked at her with cold detachment. "Prison is for men. I am an institution."
"And institutions fall," John said.
The Benefactor's eyes narrowed. "Not mine."
He pressed another button. The Vault lights dimmed. A countdown appeared on the screen.
Rita gasped. "He armed the facility."
Morgan stared at the countdown. "John, this is a purge protocol. If it reaches zero, the entire Sanctuary will collapse on itself."
Rita whispered, horrified, "He is willing to die here…"
"No," Morgan said. "The purge protocol is selective. The central chamber collapses, but a side escape route seals him in an isolated bunker. He will survive."
The Benefactor looked at John with chilling calm. "You should not have chosen war."
John stepped toward him. "You will not escape."
The Benefactor moved toward the bunker door. "You cannot stop the countdown. Unless you accept the throne."
John froze.
The Benefactor placed his hand on the exit panel. "Choose, John. Leadership or annihilation."
Rita grabbed John's arm. "Do not listen to him."
Morgan shouted, "Boss, we can reroute the purge system. We can buy time."
The Benefactor pressed his palm against the door. It began to slide open.
"You are out of time, John."
John made a decision.
He lunged.
The Benefactor's eyes widened as John tackled him away from the bunker door. The two men crashed onto the floor. The device flew from the Benefactor's hand and slid toward the pod.
The Benefactor fought back with surprising strength, striking at John's ribs, throat, and jaw with calculated force. John retaliated, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him against the glass pod.
"Stop the countdown," John shouted.
The Benefactor spat blood. "Never."
John struck again.
The pod cracked behind the Benefactor's head.
Rita rushed forward to help, but Morgan grabbed her arm.
"Wait, the glass is unstable. If it shatters, the freezing agent inside will flood the entire room."
Rita froze.
John tightened his grip around the Benefactor's throat. "Turn it off."
The Benefactor smiled faintly, even through the pain. "You are more like me than you think."
John's eyes burned. "No. I am nothing like you."
He slammed the Benefactor against the pod again.
The crack grew.
The Benefactor coughed. "If I die… the purge continues. The city dies with me."
John leaned in, fury shaking through him. "Then we find another way."
The Benefactor's eyes widened. Realisation dawned.
"You do not intend to inherit. You intend to dismantle the House."
John whispered, "Brick by brick."
The Benefactor's calm cracked into true fear.
"You will destroy everything."
John replied softly, "Only you."
Suddenly, alarms blared. Morgan shouted, "John, stop. The purge is accelerating."
The Benefactor gasped, "If you kill me, everyone dies."
John loosened his grip slightly, breathing hard.
Rita stepped beside him. "John… we need to think."
The Benefactor sagged against the pod, coughing, bleeding.
He looked at John with a mix of hatred and awe.
"You are the only one who can stop the countdown."
John stood slowly.
"How?"
The Benefactor smiled weakly.
"Take the crown."
John's breath stopped.
He realised the truth.
The Raymond Project.
The throne was not symbolic. It was literal. It was tied to the control system.
Only a registered successor could stop the purge.
Rita whispered, "John… no."
Morgan shouted, "If you synchronise with the system, it grants you full control of the House."
John stared at the pulsing red countdown.
Ninety seconds.
He looked at the Benefactor.
"You want me to accept your legacy?"
The Benefactor whispered, "I want you to save your city."
John turned toward the pod.
Rita grabbed him. "John, think. If you take this, you carry everything. Every lie. Every shadow. Forever."
Morgan shouted, "But if he does not, the purge destroys the Sanctuary and triggers the external fail-safes."
The Benefactor laughed weakly. "Go on, John. Fulfil your destiny."
John closed his eyes.
Eighty seconds.
The room shook.
Rita whispered, voice breaking, "Please. Do not lose yourself."
Morgan begged, "Boss, what do we do?"
John opened his eyes.
And stepped toward the pod.
The Benefactor smiled.
But John walked past it.
Straight to the crash device on the floor.
He picked it up.
Morgan shouted, "John, what are you doing?"
Rita cried, "John, no!!!!"
John raised the device.
And smashed it against the ground.
The screens went black.
The countdown froze.
The Vault lights flickered.
Morgan stared in shock. "What did you do?"
John panted, sweat rolling down his face. "Every system has a core command. He carried it with him."
Rita stared. "You disabled the purge manually."
"Yes," John said. "Because I am not his heir."
The Benefactor screamed in fury. "You fool. You have doomed us all."
John turned toward him slowly.
"No," he said. "I just ended your throne."
The Benefactor charged at him.
John stepped aside and delivered a single, brutal blow.
The Benefactor collapsed to the ground.
Unconscious.
The Vault alarms went silent.
Rita rushed to John, throwing her arms around him. "I thought you were going to let him win."
John held her tightly, breath shaking. "Never."
Morgan dropped to the floor, relief overwhelming him. "Boss… we did it. You did it."
John looked down at the unconscious Benefactor.
The man who haunted his father.
The man who nearly destroyed the city.
The man who claimed to be a legacy.
John's voice was calm.
"He is not a legacy."
He stepped away from the body.
"He is a prisoner."
Rita exhaled in awe.
Morgan whispered, "What now…"
John looked at the sealed Vault door.
"The House of Shadows falls tonight."
He turned toward his team.
"And we end it together."