The city did not feel the same anymore.
People were still walking.Guards on duty.Monsters were still outside the walls.But something had changed.
Everyone knew it.
Tora stood near the wall of the safe zone, looking outside. The broken buildings were quiet. Even the monsters were not moving much.
Behind him, two guards were whispering.
"That's him… Devouring." "Don't say it loudly."Tora heard them.
He did not react.Before, people looked at him because he was strong.
Now they looked at him like he was dangerous.They was in fear
There was a difference.
Footsteps came closer.
Ronan stopped beside him.
"So," Ronan said, trying to sound normal, "we're famous now."
Tora didn't smile. "Not the good kind."
Ronan looked at his own arm. The skin was darker than before. Harder. Not fully human.
"It changed again," Ronan said quietly. "When the sky said my name… I felt it. Like my body is thinking for itself."
"That's your Authority," Tora replied.
"Yeah. I figured that part out."
They stood in silence.Then Ronan asked, "Did you already know?Tora looked at the empty streets outside the wall."No," he said.But he wasn't fully sure.Suddenly, a loud blast echoed from inside the city. Not from outside.
Inside. Both satar arguing but
Both of them turned at the same time.
"That's not a monster," Ronan said.
They started running.Smoke was rising from a small housing area.
Civilians were shouting. Guards were confused.In the middle of the street stood Lucy.
Three armed men were kneeling in front of her. Their weapons were broken on the ground.A faint silver light faded from Lucy's hand.
"You could've killed them," Tora said as he walked up.
Lucy shook her head. "They weren't here to destroy."Ronan frowned. "Then why?"
Lucy looked at the captured men.
"They came for us."
The words were simple.But heavy.
One of the men tried to stand. Lucy raised her hand slightly.
A thin ring of silver light formed around his neck. It didn't touch him.
But he froze.
"Who sent you?" Lucy asked calmly.
The man tried to stay silent.
The light around his neck tightened slightly.He panicked."Sector Nine!" he shouted. "Military command!"
Ronan's face hardened. "They attacked us?"
"They were not attacking," Lucy said."They were capturing."Tora felt something cold inside him."Capturing… for what?" Ronan asked.The man swallowed.
"To study the Authority holders."
Silence.
The word "study" felt worse than "kill."
Lucy removed the light. The man collapsed to the ground, shaking.
Around them, civilians were staring.
Not at the captured soldiers.
At Tora.At Lucy.At Ronan.
Like they were no longer just people.
Lucy spoke quietly. "Other cities will do the same."
Ronan gave a short laugh. "Great. So now humans are the problem too."
"They always were," Tora said.
He looked around.
The world had changed in one day.
Before, monsters were outside the walls.
Now danger was everywhere.
Lucy stepped closer to them. "We need to decide something."
"What?" Ronan asked.
"Are we going to hide… or stand openly?"
Tora didn't answer right away.
He thought about the sky.
About his name written for everyone to see.
About the hunger inside him that never truly went away.
"They already know who we are," he said finally. "Hiding won't change that."
Ronan looked at him. "So we fight everyone?"
"No," Tora replied.
"We survive."
Far away from the city
In a dark tunnel under a broken highway
Sylas Mikojuha stood alone.
A giant monster lay defeated behind him.
There was no glow around him.
No System message.
No title in the sky.
Only silence.
He looked up at the small piece of sky visible through the broken road above.
"They've started moving," he said softly.
The water at his feet did not reflect his face clearly.
Almost like even the world didn't want to show him.
He closed his eyes.
"I don't belong to the System," he whispered.
And somewhere deep inside the invisible network of the System—
An error appeared again.
Back in the city—
Tora looked at the burning building one last time.
The monsters were not the only threat anymore.
The world had announced four names.
And now everyone wanted a piece of them.
Lucy broke the silence.
"This is only the beginning."
Tora nodded.
He felt it too.
Something bigger was coming.
And this time—
It would not be just about survival.