Tamsin stepped forward calmly, deliberately, his Gunblade resting lightly against his shoulder.
His eyes never left Skinny, who was watching him with a crooked grin and twitching fingers that seemed eager to move.
"Ivara," Tamsin said, his tone even, "take the big one."
Ivara scoffed.
She didn't turn to face him, but her annoyance was obvious. It wasn't just the command that bothered her. It was the assumption—that she needed to be told what to do.
She never took orders from Wardens. Not even from the Chief Warden Hayes or the ones she tolerated, like Tamsin.
Her lips curled slightly, and her silver gauntlet shimmered under the moonlight.
"Ordering me around now?" she muttered. "You sure are something."
Tamsin smirked.
"No," he replied softly, almost to himself. "I'm sorry. I just forgot who I was talking to."
The Cadets who were listening were confused. They felt like the two Wardens were talking in riddles too much.
There was no time for explanations. Not to the Cadets. Not to each other. The moment shattered when both enemies reacted.
Fatty's grin widened as he shifted his massive hammer from one hand to the other with a heavy clang.
"Oi, oi…" he called out. "You two know who we are?"
Skinny's eyes gleamed with a glint of delight. "Since you know who we are, guess we can't let you go, huh?"
"Enough talking," Ivara replied.
Despite everything that had been said about the Cursed Race—and despite the sheer force Fatty had shown—Ivara remained calm.
Too calm.
She stood in place, gauntlet lowered slightly, expression unreadable. Her eyes didn't flinch. Not even after witnessing the regeneration. Not even after Tamsin had been launched like a ragdoll.
Fatty noticed.
And he didn't like it.
His grin faltered, replaced by something colder. His jaw tensed as his fingers flexed around the handle of his hammer.
"You asked for it," he growled.
Then came the hiss.
Steam burst from the cracks in his skin like pressure valves opening all at once. His entire body radiated heat. The red glow across his veins intensified, crawling across his limbs like molten fire under the flesh.
His skin deepened in color. It was shifting from pale pink to a burning crimson. His muscles bulged grotesquely, swelling with power.
And then, he vanished.
A blur of red tore across the ground.
Cael's eyes widened in disbelief. "Super speed?"
There was no time to react.
The earth exploded behind him as Fatty reappeared mid-lunge, his hammer raised like a meteor descending from the sky.
He was fast.
Too fast for someone his size.
The sheer weight of it shattered the stone beneath his feet.
Ivara didn't wait as she launched forward, too. Her silver gauntlet pulsed with a faint glow as she sprinted across the rubble-strewn field.
There were no theatrics, no flashy techniques—just raw momentum and a single punch that thundered through the night air.
Fatty barely had time to raise his hammer when her fist slammed into his chest like a meteor. The sound of impact cracked the nearby stones, sending a shockwave of dust and loose debris in every direction.
The ground beneath him buckled.
He stumbled back three heavy steps, his grin faltering for just a breath.
Then he started laughing again.
"Ohoho… alright, alright," he said, steadying himself. "That was a good one."
Meanwhile, Tamsin didn't waste the opportunity.
He moved toward Skinny with fluid precision, his Gunblade swinging in an arc meant to test—not kill. Skinny dodged with minimal effort, letting his body twist unnaturally mid-air.
As he landed, something shifted in his form.
His arms shimmered, the pale skin hardening, darkening, morphing into jagged steel. Long, curved blades extended from his forearms as his entire stance changed.
He didn't just look dangerous now.
He was.
"That's his Force," Raith muttered, crouched low behind a slab of fallen stone.
Demitri, not far from him, narrowed his eyes. "That's just like mine…"
The fight continued ahead of them, but the Cadets had their own problems.
They were too exposed.
"Dane," Raith whispered sharply. "Are we sticking with the plan?"
Dane glanced back at him, then at the battlefield—at the way Fatty and Ivara tore through the air like colliding storms, and how Tamsin and Skinny moved like shadows through a dance of blades and bullets.
He gave a short nod. "Yes. Lead the way."
Raith didn't wait for another word. He turned to the others and called out just loud enough to be heard over the chaos.
"Move! We're going back to the building! Stay low and don't break formation!"
Squad C-707 understood right away which building was meant by Raith. Despite the sudden fear they felt, they knew there were no point in arguing.
They scrambled into motion—disorganized, half-frozen, driven by fear more than instinct.
It wasn't perfect.
It wasn't even coordinated.
But it was better than standing in the open.
Raith fell to the rear to watch their flank, but it didn't take long to spot the weak points in their retreat.
Vanna was already lagging behind.
Her steps were uneven, and her breaths came in panicked gasps. Her eyes flicked between every shadow, every spark of light, every thundering blow from the Wardens' battle. She looked one second away from bolting in the wrong direction.
Raith sprinted to her side and grabbed her arm—not harshly, but firmly.
"Hey," he said, locking eyes with her. "Look at me."
Vanna hesitated.
"You're not alone. Just follow me. Keep moving."
Something in his tone steadied her. She nodded, and Raith helped guide her back into pace.
Then came the other problem.
Cael.
He wasn't panicking like Vanna—but he wasn't listening either.
Instead of sticking with the group, he kept glancing back toward the fight, his steps slowing as if he were still trying to prove something.
"Cael!" Dane snapped because they were still too far from the said building. "Get back in line!"
"I am in line," Cael muttered—but he was already three paces off.
Raith ground his teeth. "You want to die out here? Fine. Just don't take the rest of us down with you."
That made Cael shoot him a glare, but even he wasn't dumb enough to argue now. He picked up the pace again.
It was still more than a kilometer away to the building. Luckily, the Wardens bought them enough time and with their speed as Tuners, they could cover the distance quickly.
"Over there!" Raith pointed out as he was leading the Cadets.
They moved through the rubble, hugging the edges of fallen columns and shattered stone, inching toward the cracked wall that led into the building.
"Are you sure we're safe in here?" Vanna asked, her voice shaky.
Kev didn't even turn to look at her. "You got a better idea? Or a better place?"
"That's enough talking," Dane cut in. His voice was sharp but steady. "We need to move. Fast."
"Hurry up, you guys," Mira added.
She tried to keep her voice low. The last thing she wanted was to accidentally draw attention and ruin whatever chances the Wardens had out there.
"Follow me," Raith said.
He didn't wait for a reply. He led the way, keeping a quick pace.
The sound of chaos outside faded with each step—replaced by the soft echoes of their boots against ancient stone and the tension in their breath.
The hall was wide but uneven, lined with broken pillars and walls eaten by time. The only light came from faint glyphs etched into the stone, pulsing like the last breath of something once alive.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Cael asked, clearly annoyed. "This place is a maze."
Raith didn't answer at first.
The truth was, he didn't need to think about it. Compared to the others, he didn't forget. He couldn't.
Every detail of this place was burned into his memory the moment he stepped foot inside. He saw the paths, the turns, the cracks in the walls—like they were etched behind his eyes.
The others sensed that.
And despite Cael's complaint, none of them hesitated. No one argued.
They followed Raith without question.
One more corner. One final bend.
And then, they saw it.
Two towering stone doors stood at the end of the corridor. They were massive, shaped with curved edges, and lined with carvings that pulsed faintly in the dimness.
The doors were shut tight, save for a narrow opening. It was just wide enough for one person to squeeze through.
Raith stopped.
"Here it is," he said.
Kev stepped up beside him. He looked at the doors, then at the thin gap. His shoulders tensed.
"It's too tight. We'll slow down getting in."
Dane joined them, his eyes scanning the surrounding space. Mira and Elisa kept watch behind them while the rest of the Cadets gathered, catching their breath.
Kev stepped forward and tried to push the door open wider. His arms strained.
Nothing happened.
Cael scoffed from the side and walked up without waiting.
"You're useless," he muttered.
He shoved Kev aside and pushed with both hands, jaw clenched. Still nothing.
Liara stepped closer, her voice calm. "It's no use. Miss Ivara tried before. The doors wouldn't move."
That made the others pause. Even Mira and Elisa glanced at Raith now.
Dane turned to him.
"You've been inside, right? How did they open?"
Raith's eyes widened slightly.
If even someone like Ivara couldn't move them, then…
'Does that mean only I can open them?'
He hadn't thought about it. But now that Dane asked, the realization hit him. It meant the doors only allowed him to open them.
"We need to get inside," Raith said quickly. "Now. This might be the only place safe enough to hold off whatever's out there."
Dane didn't argue. He turned to the group.
"Move. One by one."
The Cadets began slipping through the narrow gap. The door groaned slightly as they passed, but didn't budge further. Cael muttered something under his breath but followed along with the others.
Raith stayed near the entrance, waiting until the last Cadet slipped through the narrow gap. Once everyone was inside, he stepped forward and placed his hand against the stone surface of the door.
He activated his Force and a gentle warmth stirred in his palm. He began to pull the doors. The doors responded instantly.
They moved with a slow, steady groan, sealing shut without resistance.
A hollow thud echoed through the chamber.
Cael stared, eyes wide. "How…?"
He'd seen how stuck the doors were. He and Kev had pushed with everything they had earlier. Now Raith had closed them effortlessly.
Dane, who had been quietly observing, spoke under his breath. "I see…"
He didn't explain what he saw. But something in his eyes suggested that he understood why Raith had insisted on closing the door.
The deep boom of the doors settling into place seemed to swallow the outside world whole.
And just like that—silence.
The kind of silence that felt unnatural.
The kind that made you question whether you were alone… or being watched.
Darkness wrapped around them, thicker than before.
Kev, Cael, and Demitri were quick to pull out their lantern-like lights. The glow helped, but only barely. The walls still felt too close, the air too heavy.
No one spoke.
Even their breaths seemed muted like the air refused to carry sound.
Raith turned to face the others. Faces lit by the dim light, shadows clinging to their expressions.
They were safe.
At least for now.
But the silence wasn't comforting.