Day 83 Post-Impact
The sun climbed higher over NUS campus, revealing the full extent of the battle's aftermath.
Bodies littered the grounds. Hundreds of converted, their gray forms already beginning to dissolve now that the Sovereign's animating power had fled. Scattered among them, the New Order soldiers who hadn't retreated in time. And here and there, defenders who had given everything to hold the line.
Sarnav stood at the center of the carnage, exhaustion pulling at every muscle. The wound on his shoulder had stopped bleeding, but his whole body ached with the deep fatigue that came from pushing his cultivation to its limits.
"Casualty report." His voice came out rougher than intended.
Jade's response flowed through the network, her digital consciousness having already processed the data. Seventeen defenders dead. Forty-three wounded, twelve critically. Wei Ming's barrier specialists are exhausted but recovering. The converted losses number approximately two hundred and sixty.
Two hundred and sixty enemies for seventeen defenders. By any measure, it was a decisive victory. But those seventeen names would weigh on him nonetheless.
"The Sovereign?"
Gone. I tracked the corruption signature moving northeast before it dissipated entirely. He's wounded badly. Based on the power output during retreat, I estimate he's operating at maybe forty percent capacity.
"He'll recover." Sarnav knew how these things worked. Power at that level came with regeneration to match. "How long until he's back to full strength?"
Unknown. Could be days. Could be weeks. Depends on resources available to him.
Wei Ming approached, looking like he'd aged ten years overnight. Dark circles ringed his eyes, and his hands trembled with residual strain from maintaining the barrier. But he was smiling.
"You actually did it." The Singaporean's voice cracked with emotion. "I thought... when the barrier fell, I thought we were all dead."
"Your people held the line. That's what mattered."
"Our people now." Wei Ming extended his hand. "Singapore stands with Harmony. Whatever you need, whenever you need it."
Sarnav clasped his hand firmly. "We'll formalize everything once we're back. For now, focus on your wounded. Sana will help with the critical cases."
As if summoned by her name, Sana appeared at his side. Her holy light already glowed softly around her hands, ready to heal. But her eyes went to Sarnav first, assessing his injuries with the practiced concern of someone who had spent weeks putting him back together.
"You're hurt."
"I'll live. The critical cases first."
"Sarnav-kun." Her voice carried that gentle steel he'd learned to recognize. "You almost died. I felt it through the network. We all did."
The other wives were converging now. Ishani, her light constructs finally fading, exhaustion evident in every step. Serena, supporting her brother as they walked together. And Zara, hanging back slightly, her military bearing struggling to contain something that looked very much like fear.
"I'm fine," Sarnav said, and the chorus of disbelieving stares told him exactly how convincing that was. "Okay. I'm not fine. But I'm alive, and we won, and right now that has to be enough."
Ishani reached him first, her hand finding his face, tilting it to examine the cuts and burns. "Sayang, you look like shit."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome." But she pulled him into a fierce embrace anyway, her body trembling against his. "Don't do that again. Don't face something like that alone."
"I wasn't alone. Zara..."
He looked past Ishani to where Zara stood, her expression unreadable. The captain had saved his life. Had thrown herself between him and death without hesitation, without being part of the network, without any guarantee she'd survive.
"Captain Hassan performed admirably," Ishani said, following his gaze. Something complicated moved behind her eyes. "We owe her a debt."
"We do."
The moment stretched between them. Zara, still holding herself apart from the group. The wives, recognizing something shifting in the dynamic. And Sarnav, caught between gratitude and something deeper that he wasn't ready to name.
Serena broke the tension with characteristic pragmatism. "We need to move. The Sovereign retreated, but the New Order still has forces in the city. My brother's exhausted. We can't defend this position indefinitely."
"Agreed." Sarnav forced himself to focus on logistics. "Wei Ming, how many of your people can travel?"
"Most of them. The seriously wounded..." He hesitated. "We don't have the medical resources to move them safely."
"Sana will stabilize them. We'll organize transport once we're sure the immediate area is secure." He turned to Jade. "Can you get a message to Harmony? We need evacuation support."
Already done. Chen Wei is mobilizing. ETA six hours for the first convoy.
Six hours. They could hold for six hours.
"Set up a perimeter," he ordered. "Rotating watches. Everyone who can fight takes a shift. Everyone who can't, rest while you can."
The group dispersed to their tasks, leaving Sarnav standing amid the aftermath. His body demanded rest, but his mind wouldn't stop churning through everything that had happened. The Sovereign's power. The barrier falling. That moment when death had seemed certain.
And Zara, appearing from nowhere with a shield she'd never manifested before.
"You should sit down before you fall down."
He turned to find her watching him, arms crossed, the professional mask firmly back in place. But he'd seen behind it now. Couldn't unsee it.
"Captain."
"Commander." She held his gaze. "That wasn't smart. Engaging an S-rank directly when you're still A-rank. You could have died."
"I know."
"You're not invincible. Your system, your network, your wives... none of it matters if you're dead."
"I know."
"Then why?" Her composure cracked slightly, frustration bleeding through. "Why did you take that fight alone?"
"Because no one else could." The simple truth of it. "Wei Ming was spent. My wives were holding the perimeter. The Sovereign was coming regardless. Someone had to stand in front of him, and I was the only one with even a chance."
"A chance." She laughed bitterly. "You were losing. Badly. If I hadn't..."
"If you hadn't, I'd be dead." He closed the distance between them, watching her stiffen but not retreat. "You saved my life, Zara. And I don't even understand how. That shield you created. I've never seen you manifest anything like that."
"Neither have I." Her voice dropped, something vulnerable entering it. "I saw him about to kill you. And something inside me just... broke. Or maybe opened. I don't know. I just knew I couldn't let it happen."
"Why?"
The question hung between them, loaded with meaning neither was quite ready to address. Zara's jaw tightened. Her eyes flickered away, then back, defiant.
"I told you. When we get back to Harmony. We'll talk."
"We're alone now."
"No." She shook her head. "Not here. Not surrounded by bodies and blood and the smell of corruption. When we talk, it needs to be somewhere that isn't a battlefield."
It was fair. More than fair. And yet part of him wanted to push, wanted to hear her say what they both knew was coming.
"Okay," he said instead. "Harmony. After we get everyone home safe."
"After," she agreed.
She turned to walk away, then paused, looking back over her shoulder. "Sarnav? For what it's worth... I'm glad you're not dead. It would have been annoying to file that paperwork."
Despite everything, he laughed. "Glad I could save you the inconvenience."
"Don't let it happen again."
She walked away, and he watched her go, filing away the memory of how her voice had cracked on that last sentence. However much she tried to hide behind professionalism, the cracks were showing now. Too wide to ignore.
Through the network, he felt his wives' awareness of the exchange. Curiosity. Concern. And from Ishani, something sharp and watchful that might have been jealousy or might have been something else entirely.
She fought well, Ishani sent privately. I'll give her that much.
She saved my life.
I noticed. A pause. We'll discuss it. All of us. When this is over.
The harem dynamics had been stable for a while now. Eight wives, each finding their place, their role, their relationship with him and each other. Adding a ninth, especially someone like Zara, would shift everything. They all knew it.
But that was a problem for later. Right now, there was work to do.
The next six hours passed in a blur of activity. Sana worked through the critically wounded, her holy light knitting flesh and bone with tireless dedication. Wei Ming's people secured the perimeter, their morale buoyed by victory. The converted bodies dissolved entirely by noon, leaving only stains on the ground to mark where they'd fallen.
And slowly, carefully, the survivors began to believe they might actually live through this.
The convoy from Harmony arrived as the sun began its descent. Military trucks, requisitioned from the Malaysian government, now flying Harmony's banner alongside the MCF flag. Colonel Hassan had come through on his promise of support.
Chen Wei himself led the evacuation effort, his gruff competence exactly what was needed. He took one look at Sarnav and shook his head.
"You look like you fought an S-rank with nothing but enthusiasm."
"Something like that."
"Heard the captain made an impression." Chen Wei's eyes flickered to where Zara was organizing her own people. "Good soldier. Shame to lose her to politics."
"You think we're losing her?"
"I think she's already lost, sir. Just hasn't admitted it yet." The old soldier smiled slightly. "Seen that look before. On a lot of faces, after you pull them out of the fire."
The evacuation proceeded smoothly. Wei Ming's two hundred survivors loaded into trucks alongside Harmony's forces. The wounded, stabilized by Sana's healing, traveled in the medical vehicles. And one by one, the defenders of NUS left the battlefield behind.
Sarnav was the last to board, taking a final look at the campus that had almost become his grave. The Sovereign was still out there. Wounded but not dead. The New Order had lost this battle, but the war for Singapore was far from over.
But they'd won today. And sometimes, that had to be enough.
The convoy crossed back into Malaysia as night fell. The damaged Causeway had been reinforced enough for vehicle traffic, though it groaned ominously under the weight of the trucks. On the other side, Harmony's territory welcomed them with lights blazing.
Home.
The word meant more now than it had before. This wasn't just a safe zone anymore. It was a power base. A growing faction with allies, resources, and the kind of reputation that came from victory against impossible odds.
Mythili met them at the convoy's arrival point, her former judge's composure cracking slightly at the sight of her son. She'd aged since the impact, lines of worry that hadn't been there before. But her eyes were sharp as ever, cataloging his injuries with a mother's practiced concern.
"You're hurt."
"I'm fine."
"You're lying." She reached up to touch the bandage on his shoulder, her fingers gentle despite her tone. "Sana told me what happened. The Sovereign. You almost..."
"But I didn't." He caught her hand, squeezed it. "I'm here. We won."
"This time." Her voice carried weight he didn't want to examine too closely. "What about next time? The time after that? How long until your luck runs out?"
"It's not luck. It's preparation. Training. The network."
"It's also recklessness." She pulled her hand back, professional distance reasserting itself. "But that's a conversation for another time. Right now, you need rest. All of you do. I've arranged quarters for the Singapore survivors. Food and medical attention are already being distributed."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Just..." She hesitated, something complicated moving behind her eyes. "Just be more careful. Please."
She walked away before he could respond, leaving him with the unsettling feeling that he'd missed something important. Through the network, he sensed Serena's attention sharpening.
Your mother cares about you very much.
She's my mother. Of course she does.
That's not what I mean. A pause, probability calculations running behind the words. Never mind. It's not relevant right now.
It wasn't relevant. Couldn't be relevant. But the seed of unease had been planted, and Sarnav couldn't quite shake it.
The welcome home celebrations were subdued but genuine. Survivors from both communities mingling, sharing stories of the battle, beginning the slow process of integration that would make them one people. Wei Ming and his sister Serena walked among them, bridges between old and new.
And in a quiet corner of the command center, Zara Hassan sat alone, staring at nothing in particular.
Sarnav found her there an hour later, after the immediate chaos had settled.
"Captain."
She looked up, and the mask was gone. Just exhaustion and something else, something raw and unfinished.
"We're in Harmony now," she said. "You wanted to talk."
"I wanted you to talk. When you're ready."
"I'm ready." She stood, facing him directly. "I've been ready since I threw myself between you and an S-rank enemy without knowing if I'd survive. Since I manifested power I didn't know I had because the thought of you dying was unbearable. Since I admitted to myself that somewhere in the last week, I stopped being a soldier on assignment and started being... something else."
Her hands were shaking. Captain Zara Hassan, who had faced down monsters without flinching, trembling as she spoke words that cost her everything.
"I don't know how your system works. I don't fully understand the network, or the bonds, or what it means to be one of your wives. But I know what I feel. And I know that I'm done pretending I don't feel it."
Sarnav stepped closer, close enough to touch. "What do you feel?"
"Terror. Confusion. Desire." She met his eyes, defiant even in vulnerability. "And something that might be love, if I knew what that was supposed to feel like."
"It feels like this." He reached up, cupped her face in his hands. "Like being willing to die for someone. Like finding strength you didn't know you had because losing them isn't an option."
"I'm thirty-two years old. I've never been in love. Never had time for it, never saw the point. And now I'm standing here telling a man ten years younger than me that I think I might be falling for him. A man who already has eight wives. How does that make any sense?"
"It doesn't have to make sense." He pulled her closer, felt her resistance crumble. "It just has to be true."
When he kissed her, she made a sound that might have been a sob or might have been relief. Her arms came around him, holding tight, and he felt her surrender in the way her body pressed against his.
The first kiss was gentle. The second was desperate. The third was a promise.
"Not tonight," he said when they finally broke apart. "You're exhausted. I'm injured. And this deserves better than stolen moments in a command center."
"Tomorrow?" Her voice was hoarse.
"Tomorrow. I'll come find you. And we'll do this properly."
She laughed, a broken sound. "Properly. Nothing about this is proper."
"Then we'll make it proper." He kissed her forehead. "Get some rest, Zara. You've earned it."
She left, and he watched her go, feeling the shape of tomorrow taking form. Another wife. Another bond. Another piece of the network falling into place.
Through the connection, he felt his other wives' awareness. Acceptance, mostly. Ishani's watchfulness, Serena's calculations, Jade's quiet monitoring. They'd known this was coming. Had probably known before he did.
Tomorrow would bring complications. Conversations. Negotiations of the heart that were never simple, no matter how many times he'd done them before.
But tonight, there was just the victory. The survival. The quiet satisfaction of having protected everyone he was responsible for.
Sarnav returned to his quarters, finally letting the exhaustion claim him. His last thought before sleep took him was of Zara's face when she'd said she might be falling for him.
Nine wives. One more step toward whatever destiny the system had in store.
[DAY 83]
[WIFE COUNT: 8/32]
[ESSENCE: 876,100 / 1,000,000]
[SINGAPORE SURVIVORS: 200 INTEGRATED]
[SOVEREIGN: WOUNDED, LOCATION UNKNOWN]
[ZARA HASSAN: CONFESSION RECEIVED]
[NEXT: VICTORY]