The declaration went live at dawn.
Across the Sunbound Capital, every Vein-prism flared to life at once. Streets froze mid-motion. Airships halted. Market chatter died as holographic banners unfolded across the sky, burning gold and crimson.
A single symbol dominated them all:
⚠️ WORLD THREAT PROTOCOL INITIATED ⚠️
Citizens stared upward, confused, afraid.
Then the face appeared.
Kael Wynn.
Not smiling. Not heroic.
Cold. Desaturated. Framed by warning sigils.
A voice echoed from every tower, every construct, every Vein-linked implant.
> "By unanimous decree of the Sunbound High Council, Kael Wynn is hereby designated an existential-level threat to planetary stability.
He is to be captured or terminated on sight.
This order supersedes all previous honors, pardons, and classifications.
The false hero is revoked.
The destroyer is named."
Silence.
Then the city erupted.
---
SUNBOUND CAPITAL — RIOT ZONE
"That's not true!"
"He saved us!"
"They're lying—this is propaganda!"
Crowds surged as soldiers deployed in waves, Sentinels descending from Vein-platforms, visors glowing red. Barricades rose from the streets as Vein-constructs locked districts down with brutal efficiency.
Kael watched it all through fractured vision.
Not from the Capital.
From the Veins.
---
LOWER VEINS — ELIAS'S DOMAIN
Kael ran.
The corridor screamed as Elias fired.
Blue-white bolts tore through the space Kael had occupied seconds before, melting Vein-metal like wax. Kael slid across the floor, barely avoiding a collapsing wall as Aurelia's voice shouted in his mind.
LEFT—NOW!
Kael obeyed on instinct.
A blast tore through the corridor behind him.
"You can't outrun me," Elias called, mechanical footsteps relentless. "Every version of you tried."
Kael's lungs burned. His body shook—not from fear alone, but from something awakening inside him. The Veins responded to his panic, lights pulsing brighter as he passed, pathways rearranging themselves.
"Why are you doing this?" Kael shouted back. "If I'm the threat—why not explain?"
Elias laughed.
A hollow, metallic sound.
"Because understanding doesn't stop extinction."
He leapt.
The floor exploded upward as Elias slammed down, blocking Kael's escape. His mechanical arm unfolded fully now—barrels spinning, Vein-etched blades humming.
"You're unstable," Elias said coldly. "And instability ends worlds."
Kael raised his hands instinctively.
The Veins answered.
The walls moved.
They twisted inward, Vein-constructs ripping free and slamming into Elias, forcing him back. Kael stared in horror as the system bent to his will.
"I didn't mean to—"
You did, Aurelia whispered. You chose.
Elias recovered quickly, tearing through the constructs with brutal precision.
"You see?" he said. "You don't control it. It responds to you."
Alarms blared.
Elias's eye flicked upward.
"They've activated the protocol," he muttered. "Sunbound doesn't waste time."
He looked back at Kael.
"This just became bigger than us."
Then the Veins shook violently.
---
SHADEFALL — COUNCIL FRACTURE
The Shadefall Trial Chamber burned.
Half the council chambers were already abandoned, elders fleeing as Vein-pylons overloaded. Lysandra stood bloodied at the center, blade dripping as soldiers hesitated around her.
"They named him a destroyer," one councilor spat. "Sunbound wants war."
"They want control," Lysandra snapped. "And Kael is the excuse."
A mystic stepped forward, trembling.
"The Veins are reacting across the world," she said. "This isn't political. It's systemic."
Lysandra turned sharply. "Where is he?"
The mystic swallowed.
"Below. With Elias Wynn."
That name sucked the air from the room.
"Then the rumors are true," an elder whispered. "The architect lives."
"And he's hunting Kael," Lysandra said.
She didn't hesitate.
"Open the lower passages."
A councilor slammed his staff down. "You'll doom us all!"
Lysandra met his gaze, unflinching.
"Then doom us with eyes open."
The Veins screamed again.
The chamber cracked open.
---
SUNBOUND — HIGH COUNCIL
Minister Coradan stood alone before the central prism, hands folded calmly as chaos raged outside.
"Status?" he asked.
A general bowed. "Termination teams deployed worldwide. Bounty broadcast to all allied states."
"And public response?"
"Unstable. But manageable."
Coradan smiled faintly.
"Good. Fear makes people obedient."
A junior councilor hesitated. "If Elias Wynn is alive—"
Coradan's eyes hardened.
"Then we erase him after we erase Kael."
He stepped closer to the prism.
"History does not repeat," he said softly. "It is curated."
The prism flared.
A second face appeared beside Kael's.
Lysandra.
"Add her," Coradan ordered. "Accomplice classification."
---
THE WORLD REACTS
Across Elysium—
Borders closed.
Armies mobilized.
Vein-cannons powered up for the first time in centuries.
Ancient treaties shattered overnight.
Because the message was clear:
Kael Wynn lives.
And the world might not survive it.
---
LOWER VEINS — CONFRONTATION
Kael staggered as another shockwave hit.
"Why won't you help me?" he demanded of Elias. "If you know how this ends—why not change it?"
Elias stared at him.
Because you're not meant to survive, he almost said.
Instead, he raised his weapon.
"Because every time I hesitated," Elias said quietly, "millions died."
He fired.
Kael screamed as pain ripped through his side, collapsing him to his knees. Blood hit the Vein-floor, glowing faintly as it touched the system.
The Veins reacted violently.
Lights went blinding white.
Aurelia screamed inside his mind.
KAEL—STOP HOLDING BACK—
"I don't want this!" Kael shouted.
But the Veins didn't care what he wanted.
They cared what he was.
The ground split.
A gateway began forming beneath Kael—ancient symbols igniting, power surging toward critical.
Elias's eyes widened.
"No," he whispered. "Not yet."
---
SHADEFALL — LYSANDRA'S DESCENT
Lysandra sprinted through collapsing tunnels as constructs turned hostile around her. She cut them down without slowing, following the pulse she felt in her bones.
"Hold on," she whispered. "Just hold on."
Ahead—
Light.
Too bright.
Too familiar