Nova — Into the Old Wound of the World
The deeper tunnels of the Ironbound hideout looked less like caves and more like the skeleton of a long-dead beast. Twisted beams of ancient metal jutted from the walls, humming faintly with mana even after centuries of decay.
Raze led the group at a sprint.
Kira ran beside Nova, knives drawn, breath steady despite the chaos.
"Sentinels are closing from behind," she muttered.
Nova nodded. "I hear them."
Kira shot him a sideways look. "You hear everything, don't you?"
He didn't answer.
But she smiled anyway—a tiny, warm curl of the lips that struck him harder than a spell.
They reached a reinforced door etched with a symbol Nova knew better than his own reflection:
The Grey Phoenix.
His chest tightened.
"This is it," Raze said. "The old forge. What your family hid—whatever started all of this—it's inside."
The door rumbled open.
A rush of hot air burst out, carrying the scent of metal, old fire, and something else… something alive.
The chamber was massive, carved around a dormant magma vein. Hanging bridges stretched over glowing cracks, leading to a circular platform at the center—an anvil as tall as a house resting upon it.
The Heartforge.
Nova stepped forward, breath trembling.
"I've seen this," he whispered. "In dreams."
Kira came up beside him, voice softer than he'd ever heard it.
"So this… this is where House Grey made legends."
He nodded.
And for a moment—just a moment—she stayed beside him, her shoulder brushing his.
But the moment shattered as Raze's voice boomed:
"They're here!!"
Sentinels poured onto the bridges, metal feet clanging like war drums.
Nova's eyes flared.
"Let's end this."
Kira twirled her daggers. "Right beside you."
And they plunged into the storm together.
Sorra — Lines of Fire Across Silvercrest
The courtyard burned.
Students scattered as Crown enforcers cut through the Academy's barriers with crimson blades. Each slash cracked the air, unraveling protective spells like threads.
Sorra stood at the center of the chaos, chest heaving, blood dripping down her cheek.
The commander strode toward her, boots silent on the stone.
"You are strong," he said. "Your brother is stronger. But the Crown needs both of you."
Sorra raised her hands, mana swirling.
"Stay back."
He didn't.
With a subtle gesture, he signaled two enforcers—
—and lightning ripped through the courtyard.
Sorra barely managed to shield herself, the shockwave sending her crashing into a pillar.
Nico rushed to her side. "Sorra! Are you—"
"Fine," she coughed. "Help get the students out."
Headmaster Vale leapt down from a balcony, staff glowing with storm-white energy.
"Commander Arcturus!" he roared. "This is a violation of the Treaties!"
Arcturus didn't even raise his voice.
"The Crown has declared House Grey an imminent threat. We are within our rights."
Sorra's stomach twisted.
Threat?
All she and Nova had ever done was survive.
Her mana surged. Blood heated. Wind roared around her.
Arcturus's eyes sharpened.
"There it is. The Grey potential."
Before she could react, he blurred—moving impossibly fast—and appeared in front of her.
His hand closed around her wrist.
"You're coming with—"
Sorra's world exploded.
A blast of red-and-gold flame burst from her chest, throwing Arcturus across the courtyard. Students screamed as the ground cracked open beneath their feet.
Nico stared at her in shock.
"Sorra… your power—"
She didn't know what had happened.
She'd never summoned flames like that.
Something inside her had broken open.
Or awakened.
She staggered back, heart pounding like a drum.
And in that moment—she felt Nova again.
His mana signature flared, bright and violent.
He was fighting something enormous.
Something meant to kill him.
Her voice trembled.
"Nova… hold on…"
Because if he fell, she knew she would feel it.
And she wasn't ready to feel that kind of loss ever again.
Nova — The Birth of a Storm
The Sentinels poured across the bridges like metal locusts.
Nova cut through the first one, lightning bursting from his blade.
Kira slipped beneath another's arm, stabbing upward into its throat-like joint.
Raze smashed one off the bridge entirely.
But more came—dozens, then scores.
Kira skidded beside Nova, breath sharp.
"We can't hold them forever!"
"We don't have to," he said quietly. "We just need to reach the Heartforge."
As if responding to his voice, the magma vein below glowed brighter.
The forge pulsed—once, twice—calling to him.
Kira grabbed his arm.
"Nova—what's happening to you?"
He didn't know.
His heartbeat synced with the ancient rhythm of the forge.
His blood hummed with stored lightning.
Creation and Destruction churned inside him like twin storms.
Then—
Screams.
Several Ironbound were thrown into the abyss as a massive Sentinel climbed onto the central platform.
Not like the others.
Twice as tall.
Armor plated in obsidian.
A core burning with white-hot energy.
A Prime Sentinel.
Raze's face went pale.
"That's impossible. They only deploy those for war. Full-scale war."
Nova stepped forward.
"This is war."
Kira's hand brushed his, grounding him for just a moment.
"Just… don't do anything stupid."
He didn't promise anything.
He walked toward the Prime Sentinel, energy crackling around his form.
Silent Step.
Lightning Element.
Triple Strike.
And behind it all—
the pulse of the Heartforge.
The Prime Sentinel's core whined, ready to unleash a blast—
Nova vanished.
Kira shielded her eyes as the entire platform flashed with white-blue light.
Three strikes.
One heartbeat.
A shockwave roared through the cavern.
The Prime Sentinel staggered—
cracks spiderwebbing across its core.
But it didn't fall.
Instead, its chest opened—revealing a second core, hidden beneath the first.
Raze shouted, horror in his voice:
"Nova—GET BACK—THAT MODEL IS DESIGNED TO SELF-DESTRUCT!!"
Nova froze.
The core flared—
bright as a star—
and the world trembled.