The Celestial Watch was abuzz with tension. Injured soldiers with broken weapons and fractured morale spread through the halls like wildfire. Orrin Vale paced in his office before the council of captains. His subordinates, several elite officers in his division, stood silently with the other two in emergency care.
"Report," Orrin commanded, his voice sharp despite the ache in his shoulder.
One of the captains stepped forward, bowing slightly. "Sir… The man you encountered… The masked one… He defeated your entire team. He apparently moved with such precision and speed, and his prana was unlike anything we've seen outside of the highest-ranked captains."
Orrin's hand tightened on the edge of his desk. "The Masked Man… He didn't waste a single movement, and even my highest captains couldn't stand up to him. Two sacrificed themselves to protect me, but thank God that they are still alive after all that."
Murmurs spread through the council. Shock, disbelief, and a hint of fear threaded the room. "Sacrificed themselves?" another captain asked. "Sir… this is impossible. No one has taken on a full Judicator unit like that and lived…"
Orrin raised a hand, cutting the murmurs off. "The Masked Man is not a full commander level yet. If I go full out on him, in the end I will succeed. By experience, he shouldn't even be capable of such power. Yet he fought as though the entirety of the Celestial Watch were beneath him."
The council exchanged uneasy glances. Orrin continued, his voice steady but heavy with concern. "If he had been more experienced, more powerful… the outcome could have been catastrophic. This is not a threat we can underestimate."
One captain, younger and wide-eyed, asked cautiously, "Sir… do we know who he is?"
Orrin shook his head. "No. Only that he has someone else working with him, and he doesn't wear a mask but covers his face with a hoodie. This masked man carries a presence that rivals even a few of the commanders, but we don't know if he can rival them. For now… we prepare for the next phase."
Even as the council members of the judicator faction dispersed, whispers of the Masked Man echoed through the hallways. Soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, their respect laced with fear. Reports were not sent to every captain, every branch, and every watch outpost because if the information that a commander retreated goes out, it will not be good.
This was not a normal contender. This was someone who could reshape the rules of power entirely, someone who would be impossible to predict.
Orrin leaned back in his chair, eyes closed. Even injured, even exhausted, he understood one undeniable truth: this Masked Man would not be defeated by experience alone. And for the first time, he feared what lay ahead for the Watch.