The rain hadn't let up. If anything, it was heavier now, soaking through Kentaro's clothes, stinging his skin. Each drop echoed like a clock ticking down in his mind.
"Kentaro, you need to know."
Tenka's voice broke through the storm, sharp, grounded, steadying.
He didn't stop walking, but his pace slowed. He glanced sideways at her, jaw tight.
"Yes," he said. "Understood. Please… just tell me."
They were heading back toward the main lodge, but Kentaro didn't care where his legs took him anymore. He needed something, anything, to help Serica.
Tenka inhaled through her nose. She looked up at the clouds, as if debating where to even begin. Then she started.
"There's another Alberline. Not Serica. Not a rumor. We've confirmed her. Code name: Dominance."
Kentaro's stomach twisted. He'd known it deep down. That feeling in the cave. The air. The voice. It wasn't just power, it was ownership.
Tenka kept going. "She's been seen a handful of times, always classified. Every field agent who's encountered her has either disappeared, resigned… or cracked."
He blinked. "What?"
"She doesn't want to kill," Tenka said softly. "She wants to be left alone, and when she can't get that, she does what she needs to. The mission reports say it feels like being… overwritten."
Kentaro stopped walking. The rain was still hammering down, but his world had gone oddly silent.
"And Serica… where is she, she's still missing..."
Tenka sighed, understanding his frustration.
"We're tracking her. The moment she moved, satellites picked up an energy bloom matching an Alberline pulse. We're narrowing it down."
Kentaro shook his head, his breath sharp. "I should be doing something; wasting my time standing here isn't an option!"
"Don't be stupid, you running to where she is, running in blind, or going to dominance with no plan, just isn't smart whatsoever, without a plan, you can die in both situations."
Tenka's voice was stern, but there was concern behind it.
His lips pressed into a line. He said nothing.
Tenka continued. "Her ability is… hard to explain. She can generate a sphere, a spatial field. Inside it? Physics doesn't work the same. She controls everything. It's not just defense. It's her territory."
Kentaro frowned. "Territory?"
"She can force actions. Thoughts. You're not yourself inside it. You're hers. If she wants your legs to buckle, they will. If she wants your voice to disappear, it vanishes."
A tremble crawled down Kentaro's spine.
"She builds a reality," Tenka said. "And she puts you inside it."
"…That's insane."
Tenka nodded. "We agree."
"Is there a way to fight it?"
"Barely." She glanced at him, finally cracking a grin. "But don't worry, Haylcon's been working on Alberline counters long before you ever stumbled into this mess."
Kentaro arched a brow, his voice faint with hope. "You found a weakness?"
"Two, actually." She raised a finger. "First, the barrier is small. Twelve by twelve feet, radius, and height. That's about it. She can't expand it beyond that, or it collapses."
Kentaro nodded. "Okay… second?"
"She can only maintain it for 30 seconds. After that? It shuts down. One full minute of cooldown."
He exhaled hard, not relief, but calculation. "Thirty seconds in hell. One minute window. Got it."
Tenka eyed him. "If you're gonna take her on, do it during that cooldown. Outside the barrier, she's still strong, but beatable."
Kentaro rubbed the back of his neck. "Assuming I even get to her. Serica could be…"
"No." Tenka stepped in front of him, forcing him to meet her eyes. "You stay sharp. Serica's tough. And she's fighting. But we don't know what state she's in. Or what Spire's trying to do to her."
His breath caught at that name. "Spire?"
"Yeah," she said. "It seems there the ones pulling the strings here from was intel suggested, and I wouldn't be surprising, that damn reiden, he's the executive the one who owns spire, from what we've gathered they work with the goverment also along with cradle though it's not too big in terms of size but apparently all of their soldiers are elite. And your buddy mr Kestrel. He's one of them."
Kentaro clenched his fist. The name hit like ice in his chest. "So what… this was all planned?"
Tenka nodded grimly. "Down to the detail. Dominance. The trap. Serica's capture. Kestrel's involvement. All of it."
There was a long pause. Rain. Breathing. Then Tenka added:
"…But the part where you care this much? That wasn't planned."
Kentaro stayed silent, but he was in full agreement that they were underestimating the power of him and Haylcon.
"Get ready," Tenka said, her voice cutting clean through the downpour. "We'll find her. We'll save Serica… and Dominance. Then you can actually enjoy the rest of this damn trip."
Kentaro gave a weak smile, his voice low.
"Yeah… let's do this."
But before Tenka could explain the plan to save Serica, his tone was quieter now, edged with something unsettled.
"By the way… before all this, I ran into Kira and Tengen. Things went south. Fast."
Tenka raised an eyebrow. "Kira? No shock there. But Tengen?"
She let out a breath, almost amused. "Damn. You really do have a talent for picking the worst friends."
Kentaro chuckled dryly, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Guess so."
But the smile didn't reach his eyes. Not even close.
---
A sharp burst of static cracked in Kentaro's earpiece. Then Tenka's voice came through, calm, direct, but laced with something that made his stomach tighten.
"We've found her."
Kentaro stopped walking.
His throat tightened. "…Serica?"
"Yes. But… you're not going to like where."
He braced himself. "Hit me."
"The tracking device we planted on her after her first seal, yeah, remember that day? It pinged. Her location is underground. On the far side of the island."
Kentaro blinked. "Other side?!"
"Confirmed. Opposite ridge. Deep below surface level. Looks like a hidden lab or bunker built into the bedrock."
Kentaro groaned, hands flying to his soaked hair.
"That's a 40-minute trek at least, even if I sprint and Halycon's door-crossing tech won't work, right? Not with mechanical lockouts?"
"Yep. It has to be network-synced. And neither I nor Haruka has ever linked that sector to our gate."
He cursed under his breath. The rain was falling harder now, and the clock was ticking. Serica didn't have forty minutes.
Then Tenka's tone shifted, lighter, teasing.
"Hey. Remember on the rooftop? When you asked where our base was?"
Kentaro narrowed his eyes. "Yeah. You said it wasn't on some mega-fleet like the Fraxinus, still kind of bummed me out."
"You're right, it's not, but we've got a cloaked ship stationed just off the western ridge, mid-air dock. Not huge, but fast. It'll get you there in two minutes max."
Kentaro blinked. "Oh yeah, I forgot since you said you didn't have a fraxinus style ship, I kind of forgot about the whole ship idea?"
"It's not ours technically," she admitted. "It's Halycon's long-range scout; they use it when they need to scout an Alberline, but we can borrow it in emergencies."
"Then why didn't you send it earlier?!"
"It takes time to get clearance, the fact that this whole situation sprang out of nowhere doesn't help, remember this was meant to be training, not a 2 way battle, because of that it really put a halt on clearance."
She took a breath.
"We can beam you back to HQ, prep you, and launch within five minutes. But…"
"But?" he asked, already dreading it.
"You're being followed, right? Kira and Tengen?"
He didn't answer.
"You'll need to lose them. Fast. We can't pull you out if you've got company."
"Got it." Kentaro's voice dropped low. "Just one thing."
"Hm?"
"You better have that ship gunning when I land."
"Already on standby."
There was a brief pause.
"Kentaro, we have an idea what their goal is, now that we know who's behind it, we believe their goal is to corrupt Serica, to break her seal with you, and to try and steal her power."
Kentaro clenched his fists, rain rolling off his skin.
"I don't care who they are, I won't let those bastards do that."
Tenka smiled.
"I know that"
Then he turned to face back towards Kira and Tengen, who were following him.