Chapter 11: The Hollow Circle
A storm was coming.
Not the kind with rain or thunder—
But whispers.
Moves in the shadows.
Old names resurfacing like bloated corpses in a forgotten river.
Rayven could feel it in the air.
And tonight, it would strike.
A Secret Gathering — Tower Black, Upper Bastion
Behind closed doors in one of Bastion's tallest corporate towers, a man in a grey three-piece suit addressed a room full of powerful elites. Politicians. CEOs. Military leaders. Their faces were sharp, clean, but their eyes… cold.
"Operation Lazarus is in motion," the man said, voice even. "Phase One: activate embedded Watchers. Phase Two: retrieve the remaining sigils. Phase Three—" he smiled, "—welcome our Forgotten Heir into the fold."
A masked woman beside him placed a hologram on the table.
It was Rayven.
Another screen flickered to life—this one showed the Cathedral.
"I want that relic off his arm," the man said. "Before it begins to think."
Eastgate Cathedral – Armory Room
Rayven winced as the armor wrapped around his left shoulder, activating new Core filaments. Selene tightened the lock at the collarbone.
"You keep pushing past the gauntlet's thresholds. It's not designed for a soul that's… waking up this fast."
Rayven flexed his fingers. "Then maybe I need something beyond design."
She raised a brow. "Feeling poetic today?"
He smirked faintly. "Just focused."
Rhea entered, her expression unusually tense. "We found them."
Rayven turned. "The Hollow Circle?"
Rhea nodded. "They've embedded themselves in Bastion's upper echelon. Four Watcher defectors confirmed. One of them sits on the city's Security Council."
Selene scowled. "Of course. Bastion's rot starts at the top."
Rayven straightened. "Then we go slice it off."
Flashback: The Hollow Circle
Five years ago, Bastion was already decaying.
A group of radical Watchers, tired of hiding the truth, split from the order. They believed the Core could rebuild the world—not just protect it.
But their method?
Unseal every lost heir. Break every binding relic. And tear down the city's hierarchy.
Their motto was burned into every wall they tagged:
"No kings. No cages. No control."
Rayven's mother had once led the charge to destroy them. She failed.
And now… they were back.
Mission Briefing – The Cathedral's Vault Room
Rhea spread a digital map across the vault table. "One target: Mylen Carsen. Bastion's youngest Security Director. Recently promoted. Secretly tied to Hollow Circle through offshore accounts and encrypted communiqués."
Selene crossed her arms. "So, what's the plan? Public extraction? Or silent?"
Rayven stepped forward. "Silent. If we out them publicly, they'll scatter before we find the others."
Rhea nodded. "We'll breach Tower Black at 02:00. Minimal force. Core suppression field active."
Selene smirked. "You always bring the subtle fireworks, don't you?"
Rayven replied, "Only when I want to leave an impression."
02:00 – Infiltration Begins
Tower Black stood like a spear in the clouds—black glass, steel bones, and no soul.
Rayven and Selene approached from above, descending silently from a stealth lifter. Rhea was already inside, disabling the upper security grids.
Inside the 37th floor, Carsen sipped brandy alone, reviewing encrypted files on a holo-screen.
He didn't hear the door open.
Rayven stepped in, unarmed.
Carsen turned. "Mr. Vale. I've been expecting you."
Rayven didn't blink. "Then you already know what happens next."
Carsen smiled. "Not exactly. You see—"
Before he could finish, he pressed something under his desk.
A pulse echoed through the room. Rayven staggered.
His gauntlet shrank, the core flickering.
Selene shouted through comms. "Rayven, it's a null field! Get out—"
Too late.
From the walls emerged three Hollow Circle agents, cloaked in crimson and chrome. Their weapons pulsed with anti-Relic energy.
Rayven ducked under the first strike, sweeping low to take one out. His instincts sharpened even without the gauntlet's full power.
But he was fighting on uneven ground.
Carsen stood calmly behind his desk. "You weren't made to be free, Rayven. You were made to respond."
"Funny," Rayven growled, punching a Hollow Circle agent through the window, "I'm feeling pretty unresponsive right now."
Selene broke through moments later, crashing through the ceiling with twin blades drawn.
Together, they cleared the floor—leaving Carsen cornered.
Rayven grabbed him by the collar. "Tell me where the others are."
Carsen smirked. "You're too late. Bastion doesn't need a hero. It needs a culling."
He bit something in his mouth—a poison capsule. He dropped instantly, twitching.
Rayven's knuckles clenched.
Selene whispered, "He was never going to talk."
Rhea's voice crackled in. "Pull out. We've stirred the nest."
Later – Eastgate Rooftop
Rayven stood alone on the roof, city lights glittering below.
Rhea joined him. "You handled yourself well."
He nodded. "Too well. That gauntlet… it adapted, even under a null field."
"That's because it's no longer just reacting to the Core," she said. "It's reacting to you."
Rayven stared into the night. "They wanted me to fall in line. But I'm not theirs."
"No," Rhea said quietly. "You're no one's."
Suddenly, a shadow moved across the sky—just a flicker.
Selene called out from the stairwell, "Guys. You'll want to see this."
They followed her to the observatory scanner.
Above the city—floating just beyond the reach of public detection—was a skycraft fortress bearing an ancient insignia:
The Seraphim Order.
Rayven's eyes narrowed.
"They're here," he said.
Rhea's voice dropped. "And if they've awakened… the Hollow Circle won't be your biggest problem anymore."