The revelation of Third Division Captain Soo-jin Lee's betrayal rippled through the SDF's Neo-Seoul headquarters like a seismic fault line, fracturing alliances and sowing seeds of distrust. Days after the Recruit Squad's raid on the Black Lotus safehouse, Captain Lee was summoned to a closed-door tribunal in the Commander's fortified chamber. Flanked by the other Division Captains—Ji-yeon Kim (Second, earth), Min-soo Kang (First, lightning), Dae-hyun Park (Fourth, telekinesis), and Eun-ji Choi (Fifth, illusion)—and under Commander Hyeon-soo Choi's gravity-laden scrutiny, Lee faced the encrypted files head-on.
"You stand accused of colluding with Black Lotus," Commander Choi intoned, his powers making the air heavy, pressing on Lee like an invisible weight. "Funneling intel, orchestrating attacks to trigger Black Heart users for government handover. Deny it, and we investigate further."
Lee, his water affinity calm as a still pond, met their gazes without flinching. "I don't deny it," he said evenly, his voice a ripple of admission. "The SDF's neutrality is a farce—governments pull strings, and Black Hearts are the future of power. I acted to secure our edge, not betray it." The room tensed, but no outrage erupted; Lee's rank as a Division Captain shielded him from immediate punishment. SDF protocols demanded ironclad proof and a full council vote for demotion, and his confession, laced with justification, muddied the waters.
Trust eroded like sand under waves. Min-soo and Dae-hyun exchanged guarded glances, their faith in Lee diminished—whispers of "watch your back" would follow in future ops. Eun-ji's illusions flickered subtly, masking her suspicion. But Ji-yeon Kim, the Second Division Captain, was a volcano contained. Her earth powers rumbled faintly, cracking the floor tiles as fury boiled beneath her stern facade. She'd championed Min-jun's squad, seen the potential in his controlled Black Heart, and now this traitor threatened everything. Yet she held it in, her voice steel: "If Third Division's rot runs this deep, clean up your own mess. Take over the missions our squads have been handling—Black Lotus hunts, mana vein patrols. Prove your loyalty through action."
Lee's eyes narrowed, a sly current in his calm. "I'll do it—on one condition. Min-jun Park's Recruit Squad joins my division. They're unassigned, after all. Let me mold them, harness that Black Heart properly."
Ji-yeon slammed her fist on the table, earth mana splintering wood. "Absolutely not! That squad's under my oversight—they're recruits, not pawns for your schemes." Her opposition was fierce, personal; she'd fought for Min-jun's freedom, seeing in him a tool for good, not the monster others feared.
The other captains shifted uncomfortably. They didn't care for Min-jun's worth—his Black Heart made him a liability, a walking bomb they watched warily, ready to dispose of him at the first sign of lost control. "Let Third handle it," Min-soo muttered. "Keeps the kid contained."
Commander Choi's gravity powers pulsed, silencing the room. "Ji-yeon, your passion is commendable, but personal feelings cloud judgment. You can't train recruits with bias—especially one like Park. Approved. The Recruit Squad transfers to Third Division immediately."
Ji-yeon stormed out, her fury a quake in her steps, but protocol bound her. Min-jun's squad—Ji-hoon, Soo-jin Han, and Hye-jin Moon—received the transfer orders that evening, a bitter pill amid their budding cohesion. Min-jun, ever thoughtful, analyzed the move: "Lee's playing a long game. We stay vigilant—Black Heart or not, we're in his web now."
At Haneul Academy, the squad adapted to the shift, but envy and apologies lingered like ghosts. Ji-hoon joked through the tension, his kinetic bursts adding levity, while Hye-jin teased Soo-jin about her "captain crush," pushing her toward more confident interactions with Min-jun. But the transfer news soured the air, whispers of "Third Division's tainted" following them.
Meanwhile, across the East China Sea, a different storm brewed. In Shanghai's bustling financial district, a terrorist attack struck without warning—mana-infused explosives ripping through a high-rise, flames twisting into unnatural shapes that devoured steel and flesh. Bodies lay mangled, limbs charred and scattered in gore-soaked streets, the air thick with screams and the metallic tang of blood. Casualties numbered in the hundreds, the strike targeting a joint Korea-China mana research facility.
Chinese investigations pointed east: encrypted signals traced to Japanese servers, mana signatures matching Tokyo's underground Eclipse Collective tech. "Japan's meddling," a Chinese official declared in a press briefing, footage of the carnage—entrails spilling from blasted bodies, survivors clawing through rubble—fueling outrage. The treaty between Korea and Japan, already frayed by Aiko's involvement in Min-jun's case, now faced a new fracture. Korea denied complicity, but whispers linked it to retaliation for Aiko's deportation.
In Tokyo, Aiko Tanaka watched the news, her wind powers howling in her room. Her Eclipse Collective family denied involvement, but the setup reeked of Black Lotus—or worse, the SDF traitor Captain Lee—stoking international fires to distract from his exposure. "This pulls me further from Min-jun," she muttered, her resolve hardening to uncover the truth from afar.
Back in Neo-Seoul, Min-jun's squad geared for their first Third Division mission: infiltrating a Black Lotus outpost tied to the Shanghai attack. Under Lee's watchful eye, Min-jun's Black Heart stirred, sensing the web tightening. Trust was a luxury, betrayal a blade in the dark—and blood would soon test their bonds.