The outskirts of Quezon City were a graveyard of rusted rebar and flickering holographic billboards. The air here didn't taste like the mountains anymore; it tasted like ozone, burnt copper, and the static of a thousand surveillance grids.
Ria pulled her bike into the shadow of a collapsed overpass. The Rebel Riders circled up, their modified engines humming like angry hornets. Behind them, the Iron Corp Tower loomed a monolithic spire of black glass surrounded by a shimmering "Lightning Cage" perimeter.
"This is it," Ria said, checking the charge on her plasma rifle. "The girl is in the sub-level detention block. But getting through that gate is suicide. They've got automated turrets that can pick off a mosquito at a mile."
Elias sat on the handlebars, his silver fur bristling. He knew he needed more power. Before the chaos started, he needed to know exactly what he was capable of.
System, he thought. Show me my status. Everything.
[SYSTEM STATUS: GALAXY DRAGON CAT]
Host: Elias (Reborn)
Level: 12 Species: Astral Grey Tabby (Evolving)
Title: [Vengeful Guardian] (+10% Damage against those who harm allies)
[ATTRIBUTES]
Strength: 25 (Small but Dense)
Agility: 65 (Faster than Soundwaves)
Intelligence: 45 (Human Consciousness retained)
Mana: 350 / 350
[ACTIVE SKILLS]
[Void Step - Level 3]: Short-range teleportation.
[Star-Fall Barrage]: Rapid-fire astral projectiles.
[Nebula Roar]: A localized shockwave that disables electronics.
[Galaxy Consumption]: Ability to devour dark energy and convert it to Mana.
[PASSIVE SKILLS]
[Lunar Stealth]: Near-total silence in shadows.
[Anito's Protection]: +20% Urban Stealth (Active).
Elias felt a surge of confidence. He wasn't the weak man who died on the sidewalk anymore. He was a weapon.
The Assault Begins
"Riders!" Ria shouted, her voice amplified by her helmet's comms. "We hit the main gate! Draw their fire! The cat is our ghost, he's the one getting inside!"
With a synchronized roar of engines, the Rebel Riders charged. They didn't go in quietly. They threw EMP grenades that short-circuited the first layer of sensors, and the night was suddenly filled with the red tracers of Iron Corp's automated turrets.
BOOM.
The ground shook as the Riders' lead truck, a reinforced monster of steel, slammed into the perimeter fence.
"Now, Elias! Go!"
Elias didn't run; he blurred. He activated [Void Step], flickering across the battlefield. To the human eye and the high-speed cameras, he was nothing more than a glitch in the air.
He reached the base of the tower just as a squad of Iron Corp Enforcers men in heavy exoskeleton suits deployed from the lobby.
"Target sighted! Small... animal? Fire!"
The heavy machine guns opened up, chewing the concrete around him. Elias didn't flinch. He jumped, twisting his body in mid-air, and opened his mouth.
"[NEBULA ROAR]!"
Instead of a meow, a deep, resonant frequency vibrated through the air. A ripple of blue, cosmic energy expanded outward. The Enforcers' exoskeleton suits hissed and sparked, their HUDs going dark. The automated turrets above spun wildly before shutting down.
Into the Hive
The Rebel Riders breached the lobby, providing a wall of suppressive fire. "Go, little dragon!" Ria yelled, taking cover behind a marble pillar. "Find the girl!"
Elias sprinted past the disabled guards, his sapphire eyes locking onto the elevator shaft. He didn't wait for the car; he jumped into the shaft, his claws digging into the metal cables with [Galaxy Grip].
He descended into the dark, his fur glowing with a faint, predatory light. Down in the sub-levels, the air was cold. He could feel it now, the familiar, rhythmic pulse of Lyra's Chronomancy mana, and the dark, oily stench of the "Lightning Cage" holding her back.
He reached the bottom floor and tore through the ventilation grate.
There, in a room filled with humming servers and pulsing red emergency lights, was Lyra. She was strapped into a chair, surrounded by a shimmering field of crackling electricity. Standing over her was a man in a white lab coat, holding a needle filled with a glowing, violet sedative.
Elias's pupils dilated until his eyes were almost entirely black, save for the swirling blue nebulae.
The man looked up, his face paling as he saw a silver-striped cat standing on the ventilation duct, its fur standing on end and its eyes glowing with the fury of a thousand stars.
"What... what are you?" the scientist stammered.
Elias didn't answer with words. He lunged, his claws glowing with the sharpness of a dying galaxy.