The scream came from the southern docks just after sunset. It was short, sharp, and ended abruptly enough to make every nearby worker freeze. Kylrus was already moving before the full report reached the palace. The moment the first warning arrived through the communication network, he understood that this wasn't another political maneuver. Something had finally moved from the shadows into the open.
Cassian followed without asking permission, while Selene dispatched shadow scouts ahead of them to secure information before their arrival. By the time they reached the docks, chaos had already spread through the entire district. Cargo crates lay shattered across the pier, two guards were unconscious near a collapsed warehouse wall, and one dockworker had vanished entirely. Panic moved through the crowd in waves as workers abandoned their posts and fled toward the city streets.
At the far end of the pier stood the source of the disturbance. Whatever it was, it had once been human. That much was obvious. Its proportions were distorted beyond recognition, veins pulsed violet beneath stretched skin, and unstable mana surged through its body in violent bursts. Unlike trained mages who guided energy through disciplined channels, this thing carried mana that behaved like a flood breaking through damaged walls. Every movement caused visible fluctuations in the air around it.
One of the royal knights charged forward in an attempt to stop it. The creature reacted instantly. It caught the incoming sword with one hand, snapped the blade as though it were made of wood, and struck the knight hard enough to send him flying into the river. The entire exchange lasted less than two seconds.
Kylrus stepped forward calmly. The fracture within his core pulsed in warning the moment his senses touched the creature's mana signature. It wasn't remotely close to a Transcendent, nor did it possess refined combat ability. However, its instability was artificial. Someone had modified it deliberately.
"Is that one of them?" Cassian asked quietly as he drew his sword.
"Yes," Kylrus replied.
The creature roared and charged directly toward them. Kylrus met it without releasing overwhelming force. He stepped aside at the last moment and struck with precise control, his blade carving a deep wound across its side. The injury should have ended the fight immediately. Instead, the creature barely slowed. It stumbled, twisted unnaturally, and launched another attack before the wound had even finished bleeding.
Kylrus raised his blade and blocked. The impact was stronger than expected. Although the creature lacked technique, its body had been reinforced through sheer mana saturation. It fought like a siege engine rather than a warrior. Every movement was wasteful, but every strike carried enormous force.
Cassian moved from the flank and drove his sword through the creature's shoulder. The attack landed perfectly, yet the creature showed no reaction. It simply turned, seized Cassian's arm, and held him in place. At that instant, Kylrus noticed a rapid mana buildup forming within the center of its chest.
"Move!"
Cassian reacted immediately and tore himself free. A heartbeat later, the creature released a pulse of distorted energy. It wasn't an explosion. It was something far more specific.
Suppression.
The surrounding air warped visibly as the effect spread across the pier. Kylrus felt the fracture within his core constrict violently. His mana output dropped almost instantly, accompanied by a sharp surge of pain. Within seconds, he estimated the reduction at nearly twenty percent.
The creature attacked again before the effect stabilized. This time Kylrus's counterstrike missed its intended target by a fraction. The creature's claws raked across his shoulder, tearing through cloth and drawing blood. Cassian's eyes widened when he saw the wound.
"Kylrus—"
Kylrus ignored it. His attention had already shifted elsewhere. The creature's behavior wasn't autonomous. Someone was controlling variables from a distance. Expanding his senses outward, he scanned the rooftops overlooking the docks.
There.
A faint violet shimmer.
Standing atop a distant building was Lyra Aetheris. Beside her stood Caelum, holding a compact metallic device covered in unfamiliar runes. Their eyes met across the distance. Lyra smiled faintly.
Then the device pulsed again.
The suppression intensified.
Kylrus felt his available mana drop further. Twenty percent became thirty. Thirty became thirty-five. The fracture screamed in protest as the pressure increased.
The creature launched another attack. It wasn't becoming smarter. It was simply becoming more aggressive. Realizing brute force would only waste energy, Kylrus changed tactics immediately. He stopped trying to overpower the creature and instead focused entirely on observation. Every unstable construct had a point of failure. He simply needed to identify it.
He waited.
The creature committed to another reckless charge. At the last moment, Kylrus stepped inside its reach and abandoned conventional swordsmanship entirely. Rather than cutting through muscle or bone, he struck directly into the warped mana node hidden beneath its sternum. A narrow stream of force entered the unstable core and disrupted the artificial pattern maintaining its body.
The effect was immediate.
The creature convulsed violently before collapsing onto the pier. Its mana circulation destabilized completely and imploded inward. Moments later it lay motionless, still twitching occasionally as the remaining energy dispersed.
The suppression field flickered once.
Then vanished.
When Kylrus looked back toward the rooftop, Lyra and Caelum were already gone.
Cassian stepped beside him and glanced at the defeated creature.
"You were slower."
It wasn't criticism.
Only observation.
"Yes."
Kylrus wiped blood from his shoulder and studied the corpse.
"It was deliberate suppression."
Cassian's expression darkened.
"They weakened you."
"Yes."
Selene arrived moments later with her scouts and assessed the situation immediately. Her eyes moved from the creature to the damaged pier and finally to Kylrus's wound.
"The mana distortion matches the resonance frequency from the festival."
Kylrus nodded.
"They improved it."
He crouched beside the corpse and examined the remains carefully. The creature had never been intended as an assassin. Its combat ability was secondary. Everything about its design pointed toward observation and data collection.
"It wasn't meant to kill me."
Cassian frowned.
"It almost did."
"No."
Kylrus stood again and looked toward the empty rooftops.
"This was field testing."
Understanding dawned on Selene's face immediately.
"They wanted combat data."
"Yes."
He turned away from the corpse.
"They wanted to see how I respond under suppression."
Meanwhile, far from the docks, Lyra sat inside the estate cellar while a crystal recording replayed the battle. Every movement Kylrus had made was preserved within the projection. His reduced mana output. His altered timing. His transition from overwhelming force to precision-based combat.
"He adapts quickly," Lyra said softly.
Caelum adjusted the suppression device beside her.
"Thirty-five percent reduction achieved."
A faint smile appeared on Lyra's face.
"Next iteration."
"Fifty percent?"
She nodded.
"And release two subjects instead of one."
The chained figures deeper within the cellar twitched violently at her words.
Back at the docks, the aftermath continued. Kylrus moved toward the surviving dockworkers and found one man barely clinging to life. Kneeling beside him, he guided stabilizing mana through the injured body until the man's breathing normalized. The worker would survive.
Unfortunately, another discovery followed shortly afterward.
The missing dockworker was eventually found behind a stack of broken crates. This time they had arrived too late.
Cassian stared at the body for several seconds.
"We didn't get here fast enough."
Kylrus remained silent for a moment before answering.
"No."
That single word carried more weight than either of them wanted to admit.
Later that night, Aurielle entered Kylrus's chamber without waiting for permission. The moment she saw him, her attention went directly to the wound on his shoulder.
"You were weakened."
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Approximately thirty-five percent."
For the first time that evening, genuine concern crossed her face.
"And you still fought?"
"Yes."
She stepped closer.
"You could have died."
Kylrus met her gaze calmly.
"Yes."
Aurielle exhaled slowly.
"They're escalating."
"So am I."
She folded her arms.
"They want you to release everything under suppression."
Kylrus walked toward the window overlooking the capital.
"I know."
"Then don't."
A faint light reflected within his eyes.
"I won't."
The pieces were becoming clearer now. The twins were not trying to defeat him directly. They were trying to exhaust him. To pressure him into mistakes. To force emotional decisions. The festival had proven one method. The docks had proven another.
This time, however, they had added casualties.
Kylrus touched the fracture within his chest. The pain remained, but it felt different now. He had experienced suppression directly. He had measured it. Adapted to it. Learned from it.
"They want me fighting monsters."
His gaze hardened as he looked across the sleeping capital.
"Then I'll build something stronger than monsters."
Far beneath the estate, Lyra stood among the restrained subjects and watched them struggle against their chains. A faint smile touched her lips as she moved between them.
"Soon."
Her voice was almost gentle.
And deep within the Royal Grand Library of the Valerios Empire, hidden behind forgotten records and sealed histories, the black-spined book rested silently upon its shelf.
Waiting.