Paragon County was nothing more than a field of ruins...
The outer walls had given way in several places, leaving wide breaches through which the attackers had poured in. The watchtowers were still smoking, their wooden inner structures finishing their combustion with sinister crackling, and residual mana sparks crackled in the air, releasing sparks of shifting colors.
In the main streets, Black Neon mbers were still clashing with Spectrum fighters, their battles blocking strategic intersections. Blades clashed in continuous tallic clangs, incantations exploded against the already cracked cobblestones sending stone shards flying, and the cries of wounded civilians mixed with the shouted orders of officers trying to maintain so cohesion in the chaos.
Kaiser had just landed in the center of the collapsed square, his boots kicking up a cloud of dust and ash, when Kara appeared to his right, out of breath, her coat slashed at the shoulder by a blow that had nearly been fatal.
"We did everything we could to hold them back. But they attacked without any warning from our Spiders."
Her voice was strained, almost broken by the frustration of failing to prevent this invasion.
Kaiser swept his gaze across the scene, his irises quickly scanning the damage. Black Neon mbers were retreating in disciplined formation to avoid being surrounded. Several official buildings were already ablaze, their roofs collapsing in places in showers of sparks.
"Shit! I underestimated their ultimatum!"
He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw hurt.
He had believed The Spectrum was too busy searching for Solomon’s key in Tenebris to launch an offensive of this scale. He thought he had ti, or perhaps they were bluffing because summoning demons was their main objective, so why should they worry about an organization that had appeared out of nowhere?
But he had been dead wrong. Worse still.
They hadn’t just honored their ultimatum, they had also discovered his identity as The Predator.
"Fuck! More and more people know who I am!"
Kara stared at him, her eyes reflecting both worry and determination.
"Kaiser... they knew exactly where to strike. The strategic buildings, the guard rally points. This isn’t a coincidence, he’s been watching Paragon County for so ti."
He took a deep breath, feeling the smoke-laden air burn his lungs, trying to contain the surge of adrenaline making his heart pound wildly.
He had to accelerate the new The Predator plan. Very quickly, no more waiting. But right now, sothing else mattered more.
"I hope my father is okay..."
Kara answered imdiately, as if she had anticipated the question:
"Yes, Eleanor asked the county guards to take him to a safe place while waiting for Ragnar to teleport him to Black Neon."
Kaiser turned his head toward her, eyebrows furrowed in a mix of relief and exasperation.
"Damn it, where the hell is that fucking Ragnar? He’s never around when we need him."
Without waiting for an answer, he started running, his legs propelling his already moving body.
He pushed the Eye of Predation to its absolute limit, forcing the ability beyond its usual boundaries.
His pupils darkened to a deep, almost scarlet red from the blood that had rushed into his irises. His aura pulsed violently, spreading in concentric waves through the destroyed streets, passing through walls and rubble. Living silhouettes appeared in his perception field, marked by distinct aura signatures, so already weakening.
He ignored the fighters and the enemies.
He searched for one signature only: that of Count Paragon.
The streets flashed beneath his steps at prodigious speed. He leaped over a collapsed wall whose stones blocked the road, crossed an alley choked with debris while dodging charred beams, skirted a fight without even slowing down.
Then he felt it.
"In the county guard barracks... Shit..."
He smashed through the main gates with such force that the tal rampart twisted before completely giving way.
Bodies lay scattered all around, torn apart, so in grotesque positions that could turn the stomach. Several guards had been cleanly sliced. Others seed to have been shredded by a violent spell, their limbs scattered over a wide area.
The walls were blackened in places, the stone itself lted under the intensity of the heat.
The central courtyard was still burning, iridescent flas dancing across the ground, slowly consuming the cobblestones.
"This isn’t ordinary fire..."
The colors kept shifting constantly, moving from electric blue to deep purple, then to an almost white orange that forced eyes to squint.
At the center of the courtyard lay Count Paragon, stretched out on his back in a position that might have seed almost peaceful if one ignored the state of his body. His armor was shattered in several places, with fragnts of tal deeply embedded in his flesh where blows had pierced the protection. His chest had been run through by what looked like a residual mana arrow, a clean and devastating wound that revealed the internal damage. Around him, blood had already ford a large pool.
Upon seeing the scene, Kaiser clenched his teeth. He didn’t truly feel affection for his own father, but rather a sense of debt. His father had helped him enormously; without the funds and the trust he had placed in him, he would never have reached this level. He had sworn to repay him in kind, to avenge Isaak by killing Kris, but... with all the shit he had caused, he had put him in danger.
"Father..."
The Count opened his eyes with difficulty, his eyelids trembling slightly. His gaze was hazy, but he imdiately recognized his son despite the pain.
"Kaiser... you bastard son..." His voice was weak. "I... knew... this day would co..."
Kaiser knelt beside him in the still-warm blood, his hands trembling slightly despite all his efforts to control them.
’I fucked up so badly, I never managed to repay you...’
"Don’t talk, you’ll tell later. I’m getting you out of here."
He placed his hand on the wound, feeling the body heat escaping with the blood, trying to assess the damage with the Eye of Predation.
The statistics scrolled before his eyes...
[Critical hemorrhage
Perforated organs: right lung, liver, intestines.]
"Shit..."
Kaiser felt his throat tighten. He had faced monsters, saved people, so admired him, others feared him, but... he had never felt this.
"Total helplessness."
The Count tried to raise a hand, the movent requiring superhuman effort. Kaiser imdiately grasped it, squeezing it between his own, feeling the skin already cold.
"You got involved in politics, you bastard son... You... chose... a dangerous path..."
"I know."
"Then... see it through to the end..."
An irregular breath lifted his chest, accompanied by a wet sound in his perforated lungs.
"I’m going to fix this. I promise you. And I haven’t forgotten the promise I made to you."
But deep down, he knew that promise was empty.
Kaiser stayed there, kneeling in the burning courtyard, surrounded by corpses.
He had believed he could control everything, anticipate everything.
He had believed he could play with the forces at play without suffering the consequences. And now, the price was right before his eyes, in his hands, in the blood staining his gloves.
Paragon County was burning, and his father was dying in his arms.
"I’m tasting my own dicine..."
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