Valerius carrying the lifeless body of Lys could not bear to he's face , getting Back to the GAPA headquarters .
Two wardens waiting for him to receive the body of Lys
Valerius drew his sword out of its sheath.
Signalling a warning
"You will not receive his body" he said
The Wardens prepared to attack
"Stop" the voice sounded from the speaker
Astra
The two parties stopped.
With valerius crying his heart out, like he has lost a part of himself
Astra then came down the building and took valerius and Lys inside
Where they locked Lys in a chamber beleiveing he would return.
Meanwhile
The executives of GAPA has started their meeting.
The room was sealed.
No windows. No insignias. No unnecessary personnel.
A circular table of black alloy sat at the center, holograms hovering above it—combat footage, energy graphs, casualty reports. At the core of every display was a single designation, now stamped in red.
LYS ARKEN — STATUS: DECEASED
No one spoke at first.
These were not politicians.
They were architects of policy, war doctrine, and survival.
A senior analyst broke the silence.
"Time of death confirmed. No residual regeneration signatures. No Aetherium rebound."
A pause.
"He's gone."
A murmur rippled through the council—not grief, but recalculation.
One figure leaned forward, fingers steepled. "Containment projections?"
Silence thickened.
Someone laughed under their breath. Not amused. Alarmed.
"So we're worse off than before," another councilor said flatly.
A military director spoke next. "Correction. We're exposed."
A feed replayed the final moments—Lys advancing, claws out, tail curved, refusing to escalate until it was too late.
"He wasn't just a weapon," the director continued. "He was a deterrent. Eclipse entities adjusted behavior around his presence."
A scientist cut in sharply. "Which is exactly why he was unstable. Uncontrollable variables don't belong in containment strategy."
"And yet," another voice replied, "he worked."
That statement hung in the air like a challenge.
The head of the council finally spoke. Calm. Measured.
"Arguing his value is irrelevant. He is dead."
A gesture dismissed Lys's footage. New files surfaced.
WARDEN CASUALTIES
SYNCHRONISATION RATE FAILURES
ORIGIN ENERGY OVERLOAD INCIDENTS
"Our priority shifts," the chair continued. "We no longer prepare around a singular anomaly. We prepare for a prolonged Eclipse escalation."
Someone hesitated. "What about Valerius?"
The room tightened.
"He is not controllable," the scientist said immediately. "No synchronization leash. No compliance framework."
"But he succeeded where Lys failed," the military director countered.
The chair raised a hand.
"Valerius is a temporary solution," they said. "Lys was a systemic one."
Another file opened.
PROJECT STATUS: SUSPENDED
REASON: SUBJECT TERMINATION
One councilor swallowed. "If the Eclipse killed Lys… what happens when they adapt again?"
No one answered right away.
Then the chair spoke, quieter now.
"Then we stop reacting."
A final hologram ignited.
NEW DIRECTIVE:
Accelerate Warden development
Increase Synchronisation thresholds
Authorize lethal force pre-escalation
Reclassify Eclipse events as WAR-LEVEL THREATS
"And," the chair added, eyes hard, "we erase Lys Arden from public record."
A beat.
"Not out of shame," they clarified. "Out of fear."
The meeting adjourned.
As the lights dimmed and the council dispersed, one unspoken truth remained:
Lys Arken had died fighting the Eclipse.
But GAPA would make sure
his absence killed far more.
An Eclipse disguised as a human.
Reported back to its master
"Lys Arken is dead" it said
The figure sitting on a throne of stars
Smirked
" It's about time"