He tapped his fingers on the desk, lost in thought. “Or maybe Axel knew Cassia couldn’t protect herself, figured Vaughn might come after her again, and took him out first.”

That seemed far more like Axel—cold, calculated, but it made sense.

“That’s the first case…” he muttered. “Then Vernon drags Fletcher out to that cabin and runs into the infected again. Gets turned in the process.”

The pieces were messy, but they were starting to fit.

“If I can find that unknown infected,” he whispered, “maybe I can finally pull the truth out of all this bullshit.”

After stepping into this position, Skye had gained access to countless reports from law enforcement agencies across the country. Awakened individuals who’d shown no signs of infection were suddenly mutating out of nowhere.

With the Wolfe incident still fresh in his mind, Skye couldn’t shake the feeling that something much larger was being concealed.

“But how the hell does an infected like this stay hidden?” he muttered, pacing.

By logic alone, an infected capable of turning a Level 5 Awakener like Vernon couldn’t possibly be lurking quietly in a small city like Everton.

“Preliminary speculation,” Skye said under his breath, jotting down notes, “this infected displays intelligence comparable to a normal human, the ability to trigger sudden infection in Awakened individuals, and… exceptional resistance to detection.”

He pulled a weathered sheepskin-bound journal and a cheap ballpoint pen from his coat pocket.

After a long pause, he wrote a single word: Zero.

Then he drew two lines branching out from the name—one leading to Universal Studios, the other to the Shiverstone cabin.

He stared at the page for a moment, then tucked the notebook away.

.......

At the Shiverstone City Hotel, Charles listened to Vince’s report, a faint smile creasing his weathered face.

“Elite squad, huh?” he said slowly. “Not impossible. You and Rosaline are both sitting between mid and upper Level Five, and now Millers has broken through. With the three of you together, we might just stand a chance.”

Vince and Rosaline exchanged uncertain glances.

Their combined strength wasn’t insignificant, but an elite squad? That was a title reserved for the best—those at the very top of the Awakened ranks. They’d half-expected Charles to caution them against rushing in, to tell them to wait, to prepare.

Instead, he agreed without a second thought.

“Mr. Charles…” Vince began, unsure.

Charles chuckled, waving him off. “Vince, I’m not that old yet. If I can see Obsidian rise to the elite ranks again before I’m gone…” He trailed off, his voice soft with nostalgia. “That’d be enough to make me proud.”

The room fell quiet.

Neither Vince nor Rosaline had lived through Obsidian’s golden years, but they knew the story. Once, the squad had been among the strongest in the federation—until something happened that nearly destroyed them.

Vince had been the one to rebuild from the ashes.

“Axel’s gone to pick up his sister,” Charles said after a moment. “When he’s back, come with me. I want you to meet my wife.”

He smiled faintly, turned, and shuffled back to his room.

The silence lingered.

“Do you think Mr. Charles has really moved on?” Rosaline asked quietly.

Vince’s answer was barely above a whisper. “If he’s willing to come again, maybe that’s his way of trying.”

......

Inside another hotel room, a small figure stood before a mirror, wiping the blood from her lips.

For a long time, she just stared. The reflection staring back wasn’t quite her own.

Her once-dark hair now shimmered in the dim light—a deep violet streaked with crimson—and her eyes burned faintly red. She was still petite, still delicate, but there was something haunting in her beauty now, something that felt both alluring and dangerous.

The Life Crystal in her palm disintegrated into fine dust as she clenched her fist.

Annabelle exhaled slowly. The rush of heat and power subsided; her breathing steadied. Before her eyes, her hair shortened and darkened again, her eyes cooled to their usual shade, her fangs retreating as if they’d never been there.

“He really didn’t lie to me,” she whispered.

In just two days, her absorption rate had tripled. Skills that once felt foreign now came to her instinctively, muscle memory written straight into her blood. Her body hummed with energy—alive in a way it had never been before.

She smiled faintly, though the expression was tinged with something darker.

Back then, she couldn’t even break free from Vaughn’s grip. Now, she knew she could escape—even without transforming.

Annabelle closed her eyes and let the last wave of power settle into her bones.

Then, as the air shifted, she froze.

Someone was there.

When she turned, a figure was standing by the window, silent and motionless.

“Brother!”

He’d masked his presence entirely before approaching, intending to surprise her—but what he sensed had startled him. Her strength now was nearly on par with a Level Three at peak form.

Annabelle flushed under his gaze. “I—I don’t know. I just practiced, I guess.”

Axel smiled, choosing not to pry. If Annabelle could finally protect herself, that was all that mattered.

Then, from outside, came the sound of a key card swiping—and a familiar, irritated voice.

“Cassia, you’re unbelievable. We agreed to have dinner together, and you’ve hogged Axel for two whole days.”

“Shut up! I’m not with Axel!”

The door swung open.

For a moment, the world went still—two inside the room, three standing in the doorway—each staring at the other in stunned silence.

“Axel?!”

Drayke froze in the doorway, eyes wide. “You—Cassia—you two—”

Both he and Storm glanced between the pair with identical, knowing looks.

Cassia’s mouth twitched. The sight of Axel alive and well hit her with a wave of relief… quickly followed by a flush of embarrassment.

Damn it. I just said I wasn’t with him!

Drayke turned red as Cassia fell silent. Storm, ever composed, crossed her arms and added dryly, “They weren’t together. She just moved in with him.”

“Ah… right.”

Axel cleared his throat, trying to redirect before it got any worse. “Actually, I just got here.”

“Of course you did,” Drayke said, nodding with exaggerated sincerity. Storm nodded too, pretending to buy it. “Sure. Totally believable.”

Axel sighed.

A few minutes later, after a fair bit of coercion from Drayke, Axel had scrawled his name hundreds of times across stacks of paper. Then, he joined them all for a quick meal downstairs.

Drayke beamed, clutching his newly-signed treasures. “Now I’m rich!”

Storm stared at him, deadpan. “You do realize that even though Axel’s kind of famous now, most people haven’t actually seen him, right? Nobody’s going to buy your bootleg autographs.”

Drayke’s smile faltered as he looked down at the pile of signatures. “…You’re right.”

In truth, the Academy Competition had made waves across the Federation, but the event wasn’t televised or recorded. Only those who’d been at the Olympic Sports Center had actually seen the contestants in person. Once the hype faded, so would the value of his little “investment.”

Dinner wrapped up quietly. Then Axel’s communicator buzzed.

“Drayke, Cassia—I’ve got to go. Captain’s calling.”

He stood, left a cloth bag for each of them on the table, dropped a few bills for the meal, and stepped out into the snowstorm.

Drayke frowned, curiosity piqued. “What’s this?”

He opened the bag and blinked at several small, blood-red stones glinting in the dim light.

Storm and Cassia’s eyes went wide at the same time.

“Blood Refining Stones.”

Drayke stared at them blankly. “...Can you eat them? Are they tasty?”

........

A few Blood Refining Stones didn’t mean much to Axel now—but for Cassia, Storm, and the others, it was an extraordinary gift. For cultivators at their level, these stones were rare treasures, potent enough to accelerate their progress for months.

Following Vince’s directions, Axel caught a cab out to the outskirts of Shiverstone. Smoke curled from chimneys as they climbed higher into the hills, where a small mountain village clung to the edge of the frozen woods.

Children in thick cotton coats laughed as they sledded down the frozen riverbed.