Ashfall burned.
Not with fire—but with fear.
Imperial proclamations appeared overnight, etched into stone tablets and nailed to every gate, tavern, and watchtower. Spirit messengers screamed through the skies, repeating the same decree in cold, emotionless tones.
> IMPERIAL DECREE
Kael Viren — confirmed traitor, otherworld collaborator, avatar-class anomaly.
DEAD OR ALIVE.
Bounty: Ten Thousand Spirit Stones.
Additional rewards granted by imperial sects.
Kael watched one such announcement from the shadow of a ruined rooftop, Rion resting behind him, barely conscious but breathing steadily.
"They've escalated," Rion rasped. His voice was weak, but his eyes were sharp. "Avatar-class… they've made it public."
Kael nodded. "They want to drown the truth in fear."
Rion coughed, then gave a humorless smile. "Then they've already failed."
By dawn, Ashfall was no longer neutral ground.
Mercenaries arrived first—small groups testing rumors, probing the edges. Then came sect scouts, masked and cautious. Finally, imperial elites.
Kael felt them before he saw them.
Pressure.
Organized. Disciplined. Heavy with cultivation.
"Black Fang Division," Rion murmured after sensing them. "Emperor's private hounds."
Harvester stirred uneasily within Kael.
> Multiple high-threat units. Suggest separation.
"No," Kael replied silently. "Not yet."
He helped Rion to his feet, weaving a temporary disruption veil around them. "Can you move?"
Rion nodded slowly. "Enough."
They slipped into the alleys just as the first squad entered the square.
The Black Fang didn't shout. Didn't threaten.
They advanced.
Formation tight. Qi synchronized. Each soldier carried weapons etched with suppression runes—designed not to kill, but to contain.
"They've prepared specifically for you," Rion said.
Kael's gaze hardened. "Then I'll change the rules again."
A spear cut through the air—silent, precise.
Kael twisted aside, feeling the suppression field graze his shoulder. Pain flared briefly as his qi stuttered.
Interesting, he thought. They can interfere with avatar manifestation.
Harvester's voice sharpened.
> Then permit me partial emergence.
"Limited," Kael answered. "No sovereignty."
The shadow seeped outward—not fully forming, but enough.
Kael moved.
Mental Disruption rippled through the squad like a wave of static. Timing fractured. Signals misaligned. A shield came up half a heartbeat late.
Kael struck the opening.
Not lethal. Not yet.
He disabled joints, disrupted meridians, shattered coordination. The Black Fang adapted quickly—but adaptation required certainty, and Kael denied them that.
Then—
A horn sounded.
Low. Resonant.
Reality tightened.
Every sound dulled. Colors dimmed.
Rion froze.
Kael felt it instantly.
Something had arrived.
The air ahead collapsed inward.
A figure stepped out—not from light or shadow, but from misalignment.
Humanoid. Fractured. Each limb existing a fraction of a second out of sync with the rest of its body. Its eyes glowed like collapsing stars.
An Arbiter.
Harvester recoiled instinctively.
> Law Enforcer detected. Arbiter-class. Identity-focused.
The Arbiter spoke, its voice echoing before the sound reached Kael's ears.
> Violation confirmed.
Unauthorized avatar sovereignty.
Subject: Kael Viren.
The Black Fang soldiers dropped to one knee without being ordered.
Rion whispered, "Kael… this is beyond the empire."
Kael stepped forward anyway.
"I haven't claimed sovereignty," he said evenly. "Only survival."
The Arbiter's head tilted.
> Survival does not permit fracture.
Your avatars approach independent will.
Correction required.
Pressure slammed into Kael's mind—not pain, but categorization. His memories trembled. His sense of self wavered.
Harvester fought back, shadows thrashing within Kael's consciousness.
> Permission to resist.
Kael clenched his fists.
"No," he said softly.
Then, louder, to the Arbiter: "You're early."
The Arbiter paused.
That hesitation—barely measurable—was real.
> Explain.
Kael met its collapsing gaze. "The Law exists to prevent contradiction. I am not a contradiction yet."
Silence.
Wind returned. Colors sharpened.
The Arbiter straightened.
> Observation accepted.
Correction deferred.
It turned—then stopped.
> But understand this, Kael Viren.
When one avatar speaks your name without you…
I will return.
The Arbiter vanished.
Just like that.
The Black Fang soldiers retreated immediately, dragging their wounded.
Ashfall exhaled.
Rion sank to one knee, breathing hard. "That thing… it wasn't imperial."
"No," Kael said quietly. "It wasn't even political."
Harvester's voice was unusually subdued.
> The Law has acknowledged us.
Kael looked toward the capital, far beyond the horizon.
"Then we move faster," he said.
Inside him, something else shifted.
Another fragment stirred.
Not shadow.
Heat.
Ancient.
Coiled.
The Dragon Hybrid gene opened one eye.