The dust from the library's collapse had barely settled when the atmospheric pressure of Oakhaven underwent a drastic shift. It wasn't the violent, jagged energy of the Black Lightning, but a cold, suppressive weight that seemed to drain the color from the surrounding district. Three districts away, within the skeletal remains of a rusted clock tower in the Old Quarter, Shin Van Croft stood perfectly still, his eyes closed as he monitored his internal resonance.
「 Internal status check... 」 Shin's #HIGHIQ mind projected a complex holographic map of his own mana-veins. 「 Seal Integrity: 81.4%. The resonance loop used against the Baron was precise, but the backlash has widened the fractures. If the integrity falls below 75%, my presence will become a beacon for every sensory-unit in the city. 」
[Tick... Tock... Tick...] (The sound of a single, rusted gear struggling to turn against decades of corrosion.)
「 "You're leaking, Shin," 」 a melodic, detached voice drifted down from the darkness of the rafters.
The Silver Phantom descended through the shadows, landing with the eerie grace of a spirit. Her silver hair reflected the moonlight like liquid metal, but her posture was unusually rigid—a sign of genuine concern.
「 "That display at the Kaelen estate sent a ripple through the city's ley lines. You didn't just escape; you announced your return to the Crown. And they haven't sent the Guard this time. They have dispatched a Specialist. They have sent the Silent Shadow." 」
Shin opened his eyes. They glowed with a faint, dying ember of dark electricity. 「 "I am aware you guided me to the chronicles for your own reasons," 」 he said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. 「 "I also know your 'Silver Threads' carry a distinct tracking frequency. You didn't assist me out of loyalty; you assisted me to observe how the Void reacts to external stimuli. But right now, your motives are irrelevant. We are both caught in the same grid." 」
The girl did not deny it. She leaned against a decaying pillar, her arms crossed. 「 "Perhaps. But right now, the grid is shrinking. The Crown has realized that physical force only serves to fuel your energy. They have sent Victor, an Inquisitor who specializes in 'Anomalies' like you." 」
[Clink... Catch... Clink... Catch...] (The distant, metallic sound of a coin being flipped, carrying through the night air with impossible clarity.)
Shin's ears twitched. He moved to the narrow slit of the clock face and looked down. The street below was a desert of cobblestones, illuminated by the sickly violet glow of the mana-lamps. In the center of the intersection stood a man in a tailored grey trench coat. He carried no visible weapon, simply flipping a silver coin with mechanical precision.
「 Victor, 」 Shin thought, his mind accessing a database of tactical profiles. Victor was a conceptual mage, possessing a power known as "The Scale of Nullity."
[WHMMMMMMM—!] (A sudden, low-frequency hum that made the air feel dense, as if gravity had intensified within a five-block radius.)
「 "Mana Interference Field," 」 Shin whispered, his mind instantly deconstructing the magical weave. 「 "He isn't searching for me physically. He has already anchored the district. Look at the streetlamps." 」
The Silver Phantom looked out. The violet light in the lamps was no longer flickering; it was frozen, solidifying into a rigid, crystalline glow.
「 "He's 'locking' the ambient mana," 」 she hissed. 「 "If you trigger even a spark of your power, the Scale will detect the imbalance instantly. He will have your soul-signature locked within seconds." 」
[Ping—!] (The sound of the coin hitting the stones. It didn't bounce; it landed flat, as if all kinetic energy had been absorbed instantly.)
Victor began to walk. He wasn't moving toward the tower yet. He was walking in a slow, deliberate circle, dragging the tip of his silver cane along the ground.
[Skreeeeeeeeee—] (The high-pitched sound of metal scratching stone, leaving a glowing white line of mana on the pavement.)
「 "He's constructing a geometric prison," 」 Shin muttered, his #EGOIST nature analyzed the threat. 「 "He believes he can neutralize a storm by balancing the equation. He is waiting for me to provide the 'Action' so he can deliver the 'Reaction.' But his logic relies on a single, predictable source." 」
「 "What is the plan?" 」 the girl asked, her body tensed for a desperate flight. 「 "If we break the perimeter, we hit the anchors. If we stay, he compresses the field. There is no logical exit, Shin." 」
Shin stared at the man below, observing the precise timing of the coin flips. Every pattern, no matter how sophisticated, had a foundation of predictable variables.
「 "Victor believes in Nullity," 」 Shin said, a cold, predatory smile spreading across his face. 「 "He believes every force must be countered. He is waiting for my frequency to appear so he can delete it. But what happens when the frequency comes from ten thousand sources at once?" 」
Shin reached into the clock tower's rusted machinery. He didn't use his lightning. Instead, he used his raw physical leverage to jam a heavy iron strut into the main drive gear.
[CRA-A-A-CK!] (The sound of ancient brass snapping under immense mechanical stress.)
「 "This tower is the central node for the district's old hydraulic mana-pipes," 」 Shin explained, his voice calm despite the groaning of the tower. 「 "By shattering the pressure valves manually, the district's ambient mana will begin to leak in erratic, high-pressure bursts. Each burst will carry a trace of the residual energy I left at the library." 」
[HISSSSSS—BOOM! HISSSSSS—BOOM!] (The sound of underground mana-pipes bursting across the entire district in a chaotic sequence.)
Below, Victor stopped. For the first time, his coin flip faltered. The silver coin clattered and rolled into the gutter. The "Scale" was being overwhelmed by a sea of false positives. To his sensors, it felt as if Shin Van Croft was appearing in every alleyway simultaneously.
「 "He is blinded by the noise," 」 Shin said, grabbing his cloak. 「 "The hunter cannot find the prey if the entire world is screaming. Now, we move through the static." 」
[Zzzzzzt—!] (A microscopic, controlled spark of black lightning, perfectly masked by the roar of the bursting pipes.)
Shin didn't run away. He began moving across the rooftops, heading towards the center of the district. He knew that to defeat a mind like Victor's, he couldn't just escape the web—he had to lead the spider into a trap where its own "Balance" would become its greatest weakness.
「 "Follow," 」 Shin commanded without looking back. 「 "The first move is done. Now, let's see how he handles a variable he can't calculate." 」