The city of Áurea still shone.
Golden. As if nothing could erase its futuristic glow… not even the shadows of its alleys.
The artificial morning sun lit up the central region's buildings and streets, leaving only a few places shrouded in darkness.
On the surface, the great city of Porto Alegre carried on at the same pace.
The tremor from moments earlier had been frightening for being something extremely uncommon in Brazil, but it left no damage or casualties. Just a disturbance that passed quickly—though it wouldn't leave people's lips anytime soon.
Kael Dragan didn't feel the same.
After the ambush from that strange organization, when he had tried to rescue Emi and Nina at their old house in Porto Alegre, he was now rushing back to Áurea with superhuman speed.
Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders.
He knew he had taken too long, and now, the two of them were in the hands of that damned group, cult, or whatever they were.
He would go after them.
Even if he had to use every resource and contact he had to learn more about that mysterious organization.
Finding Louie's sister and mother was the priority now.
Even if it meant hurting others to get to their location…
That's why he carried with him the prisoner with the metallic body, sealed inside a purple sphere.
The sound of his footsteps echoed behind him, delayed compared to the speed of his movements and the storm of his thoughts.
He moved with confidence, while the enemy floated before him.
The city remained at peace, though still uneasy after the tremor that had shaken it moments earlier.
He wasn't there just to protect Louie.
He knew this was bigger than it seemed.
The fight against that unknown organization was only beginning.
And every step from here on could be the last before a direct confrontation—one that would undoubtedly affect far more than just Porto Alegre or Áurea.
Already in the underground city, he headed toward the old building—the place where he kept his failed inventions.
It was also where Louie had trained earlier, and where he held the key to enter after wandering Áurea for a while.
But suddenly, he slowed down sharply.
Far ahead, a familiar figure was running through the streets.
It was Louie.
— What's that kid doing running around like that? Young people these days can't even walk normally, huh? — Kael thought, staring at the boy's fast-moving silhouette.
But something caught his attention.
Louie's expression was serious and determined.
It looked like he was on some kind of mission.
More than that, he seemed to be chasing something… or someone.
His gaze cut through Áurea's busy streets like blades.
Yet ahead of him there was only a dark alley between giant buildings.
And what if Louie wasn't chasing someone…
But instead, being lured?
In that moment, the pieces began to click in Kael's head—like a puzzle finally making sense.
The reason they had tried to stall him for so long…
What if it had all been to capture Louie?
But in Áurea?
That was supposed to be impossible. The city's entrances were all tightly monitored, except for the tunnel—known by only an extremely small number of people.
For many, this underground city was the most protected and monitored place in the world.
Not even a rat entered without being noticed.
But another doubt gnawed at Kael's mind:
Why kidnap Emi and Nina if all they wanted was to buy time?
It would've taken him far longer to bring the two into Áurea than to face a handful of pawns head-on.
Kael hammered at this doubt in his mind for an instant.
But none of that mattered now.
What mattered was reaching Louie.
And fast.
Before it was too late.
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Seconds earlier…
Louie was completely focused on the chase.
The mysterious figure—the girl with black hair and violet eyes—had vanished into a dark alley of Áurea.
The city seemed alive, but the air felt strange, with crowds of people hurrying through the streets.
He didn't hesitate.
He went straight into the alley where the girl had disappeared.
His footsteps echoed along the walls, muffled by the voices around him.
That girl wasn't just a mystery—she might be connected to his story. To what he was, to what he had been. Maybe even to what he would become.
When he entered the alley, where he had lost sight of her, Louie was caught by surprise.
Two figures appeared before him, dressed in cloaks that shimmered purple like amethysts.
One was the girl he had been chasing.
The other, a hooded silhouette.
But in that moment, what truly mattered was that he was finally there, in front of her.
Or so he thought…
Before he could react or say a word, an invisible force invaded his mind.
His eyes widened.
His pupils—one blue, one red—shrunk rapidly.
His body froze.
His blood turned cold.
His mind, utterly confused.
It was as if something had seized control of him by force.
At first, Louie even wondered if it was just exhaustion.
But he quickly realized it wasn't.
This was intentional. A Kaelum power? Some kind of technology? He couldn't tell…
It twisted and distorted the way he saw the world, warping his thoughts, as if everything was a shattered mirror. As if even the few remaining shards were being stripped away from him.
Then, a cold, poisonous voice echoed in his head, coming from the second hooded figure beside the girl.
— Relax, Louie. You'll be in good hands… Or maybe not. — he said, releasing a genuine, macabre laugh.
When he lowered his hood, his identity was revealed.
A young man.
Long hair, lilac with a faint white layer.
Pink eyes, gleaming with a mysterious, snake-like intensity.
His macabre smile was sly, but also cold and unsettling.
He kept staring at Louie with that sinister grin—full of sarcasm, with an expression that sent chills… and disgust.
His eyes radiated a disturbing serenity, laced with superiority, as if he already knew the end of the conversation before it even began.
— A pleasure… Louie Kaede — he said, dragging his words in a near-cynical tone. — My name is Sethros… Not that it matters to a mere… Shell.
As he spoke, his eyes locked on Louie's, whose vision was starting to blur, fog forming before him.
— You may not know who I am… kid — he continued, smirking — …but I know exactly who you are… And it's going to be extremely fun playing with you… until you break.
He spoke as if he were a child delighted with a brand-new toy.
He stretched out his hand, and Louie felt pressure building inside his head.
As if his thoughts were being rewritten, reshaped, erasing who he truly was… or who he was trying to be.
He tried to resist.
But the pressure was too much for such a fragile mind.
Someone who had suddenly lost everything—his very identity, even his sense of self.
He had only just restarted from scratch.
With no memories. With a past scarred by pains he didn't even know existed yet.
And still, thrown into the middle of a war he didn't understand.
In a world that felt too strange—for him and for almost everyone else.
An easy target for Sethros' "Mental Dominance."
★ Mental Dominance (Psychic)
› A psychic ability that almost completely controls the minds of emotionally fragile or unstable people, forcing them to obey and adopt the user's ideas for long periods. However, individuals with strong will, clarity, or purpose can resist, and the control can be broken by intense emotional stimuli or external help. ‹
Louie felt his mind being squeezed, compressed until there was no room left for his own thoughts.
The sensation of losing control was crushing. He tried to scream, tried to resist, but no words came out. His muscles were completely immobilized.
Then, suddenly, Sethros made a sharp motion with his hand, and a sword glowing gold materialized within his grasp, wrapped in a mystical aura.
The power was partly physical, yet largely invisible and intangible.
When he released that energy, Louie felt it like a shockwave, both cold and hot at once, surging through his body.
Louie felt as though his existence were being erased, as if he were ceasing to exist in a material form…
Then, in an instant, Louie, Sethros, and the violet-eyed girl disappeared.
Leaving only an emptiness behind.
? Undefined Energy (Undescribed Ability of Sethros):
• Only demonstrated form so far:
› A golden energy shaped like a sword, capable of teleporting human beings or objects. ‹
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Meanwhile, Kael arrived at the alley where he had last seen Louie.
He stopped for a moment. The air felt heavier there.
He had sensed a massive presence just seconds earlier… but now, nothing. Louie was gone.
It was too late. If he hadn't gotten lost in thought, would things have been different? Would he have arrived in time? His mind burned with guilt.
Then his eyes scanned the alley, noticing a strange ripple in space itself right before him, as if something had been violently torn out of existence.
As if matter itself had simply… unraveled and ceased to exist there.
This was no ordinary phenomenon. Few in the world had the power to distort space.
Even as a subtle clue, it was enough.
If he could discover who was capable of that, he might find the key to understanding who had infiltrated Áurea.
Kael clenched his fists, rage still burning within him. He wouldn't let them take Louie like that… not without a fight.
He turned and headed toward Áurea's main command building.
He didn't speak a single word.
He carried with him a prisoner from that mysterious organization… and the guilt of having arrived too late—of failing to protect all those he had sworn to protect.