The doctor met Melissa at the ICU with a grim expression and a measured report.
"The three MKs you asked about, Mrs Blaze — they're in the ICU. We were able to treat them to some degree, but there are injuries beyond our ability to heal. Severely damaged internal organs, mostly. Priscilla is paralysed, though she's not in any life-threatening danger. Sylvia is stable for now. Levi is on life support."
"So you're telling me you can't fully heal them."
The doctor nodded and apologised. Melissa studied him for a moment, then exhaled slowly.
"You did your best. I'll need them transferred immediately."
She had the trio moved to a hospital in Frostilia — the capital of Blizzaria, a cold kingdom far south of the Olympian border. When they arrived, the three were settled into a private room, quiet except for the soft hum of medical equipment. Melissa stood at the foot of their beds and took them in — battered, still, pale against the sheets.
"You guys really did it this time," she said. Not loudly. "Not without consequences, though. It never ceases to amaze me how reckless you lot are, even against a legend." She paused, something settling in her chest that was equal parts pride and exasperation. "But I'm proud of you all. You're living up to everything I hoped you'd be." Her expression hardened slightly. "When you wake up, we are having a very firm lecture about this recklessness."
The door opened.
"Melissa!"
"Dr Kesiah." Melissa allowed herself a small smile. "It's been a while. You haven't aged a day."
"Oh, stop it." Kesiah moved to the beds, scanning her new patients with the efficient warmth of someone who had been healing people long enough that competence and care had become the same thing. "You've brought company."
"These are my students. My kids, in every way that matters. They're in critical condition and normal doctors don't have the ability to heal them. You're the only one I trust with this."
Kesiah sighed — the sigh of someone quietly exasperated by the limitations of average medicine. "All right. What are their names?"
"The short-haired blonde is Priscilla. The redhead is Sylvia. The boy is Levi."
Kesiah moved between them, her ability reading their biological states directly. After a moment she straightened. "Priscilla is a straightforward heal. Sylvia as well — no concerns there. Levi, however." She studied him carefully. "His organs need full regeneration. I can do it, but he'll need several days after the girls."
Melissa exhaled — long, quiet, relieved. "I knew I could count on you."
"Always." Kesiah pulled on a pair of gloves. "The girls should wake within a couple of days. Give Levi a week after that once I've finished with him. You're welcome to stay."
"Thank you," said Melissa, settling into the chair beside Sylvia's bed. "I'll stay."
Kesiah nodded and began without another word, the Flux moving through the air in quiet measured currents.
Melissa watched her work and didn't speak. Through the window, Frostilia's cold sky was a particular pale grey — the sky of a place that had decided this was the correct colour for sky and saw no reason to revisit the decision.
She looked at the daggers on the table beside Levi's bed. Someone had thought to bring them.
She looked at them for a moment and then looked away.
✦ ✦ ✦
The chamber where the legendary class myths gathered had no windows and no need for them.
The mystery man walked in and took his seat. Heads turned.
"You've finally arrived," said one of the legends.
"My apologies for the delay. I had business to attend to." He settled into his chair and folded his hands. "Now. Where were we."
Fenrir's eyes narrowed. "Where's Hercules?"
A brief silence.
"He won't be joining us. He met his end in battle against the MKs."
Fenrir went still. "Impossible. What happened?"
The mystery man raised a hand and projected the battle footage onto the air above the table — the Olympicõ recordings, the full sequence from the first wave through to the Ecstatic Nova. He let them watch without commentary until it finished.
"Four MKs," Takemikazuchi said, his tone carrying visible contempt. "Teenagers. Not even on our radar."
"It only proves he was the weakest among us," said Suijin.
"I'd disagree with both of you." The mystery man's voice was flat. "As the one who created you all, I know your strengths and weaknesses better than you know them yourselves. Hercules was not the weakest among the legends — not by a long measure. The MKs classified him as a legend and still underestimated him, which worked in his advantage. Frankly, he should have been assigned a higher threat code — red, not yellow. But there's no point dwelling on that now."
"Then explain it," said Takemikazuchi. "How did they kill him?"
The mystery man was quiet for a moment.
"Because Hercules met his match. One of those kids had the same adaptive mindset ability — the kind that allows you to learn and evolve in the heat of a fight. Where Hercules improved, the boy improved faster. The gap between them closed in real time, and then it reversed."
He paused, watching the frozen projection.
"His first attack was reckless, and the boy knew it immediately — he understood that Hercules was stronger than him and that direct strikes would do nothing. So he changed approach. He tested the defences, found a weakness, exploited it. As Hercules reinforced his barrier, the boy found new ways through it. He improvised a barrier of his own using his own Flux — mirroring Hercules' own technique back at him."
"Hercules sacrificed his regeneration to push his speed to the boy's level. He landed a severe hit. Any other opponent would have been finished." Something close to respect moved through the mystery man's voice. "But the boy thought through it. He used his comrades to buy time while he prepared his trump card, then overwhelmed Hercules at the moment he least expected it — making him feel the full weight of the gap that had formed between them."
Fenrir was uncharacteristically quiet. Then: "That kid sounds like a problem."
"A potential problem," the mystery man corrected. "For now, I'm placing these three surviving MKs on our watch list. They've shown the kind of growth that earns a threat designation. We monitor them."
Takemikazuchi scoffed. "We have bigger concerns than a handful of kids."
"You're right," the mystery man conceded. "And that brings us to the matter at hand."
—
He surveyed the room.
"We'll be attacking Olympus very soon. This will be the riskiest operation we've carried out in this entire war. The primary threat is Melissa Blaze — the Blazing Beast of Olympus, one of the Seven Wonders. I trust none of you need reminding of what she's capable of." He paused. "Given that, I'm deploying all of you. Together, that should be enough to bring the city down."
Fujin leaned forward. "The barrier. How do we get through it?"
"That's already been handled. I have someone on the inside. They're waiting for our signal."
Takemikazuchi rolled his shoulders. "When the barrier drops, I'm going straight for the king."
"Oh?" The mystery man raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"I want to fight the so-called King of Swords."
"You may run into Melissa before you reach him."
"A risk I'm willing to take."
The mystery man regarded him for a moment, then nodded. "Fine. Do as you will, as long as we achieve our objective." His gaze moved across the room. "Ideally, none of you will die today. But knowing the Blazing Beast — she'll take at least two of you out."
Suijin frowned. "Two? Isn't that an exaggeration?"
Fenrir and the mystery man exchanged a look — the kind shared between people who know something the other doesn't yet. The mystery man allowed himself a quiet chuckle.
"I keep forgetting how new you are to this group, Suijin." He rose from his seat. "Let's hope you won't be one of the two."
He opened a portal.
"It is time," he said.