"Igor? Is it really you, my son?" the man asked, his voice trembling with disbelief and fragile hope.
"Yes, I am here, Father. I’ve co to set you free."
"You’re here to free ?" Vireon’s tone shifted to concern. "But won’t your sister and mother be in danger because of this?"
Igaris shook his head firmly. "No, Father. Isadora and Mother are not here. They were abandoned in the Forsaken Land long ago. The Calamities broke their promise. They tried to kill us. Mother fled and hid us in that rciless place just to keep us alive."
Vireon stood frozen. Then his eyes widened.
"They did what?"
A low buzz filled the air.
The chamber trembled as Vireon’s rage exploded outward. It wasn’t just anger—it was pure, suffocating killing intent. His aura rose like a tidal wave, pressing down on Igaris, making the very air heavy with power.
"You’re telling ... after all these years of sacrifice... all the pain and loss... it was for nothing?"
His voice cracked. Not from weakness, but from the force of fury barely contained.
"That, I have been a fool all along?"
Crack. Crack.
The suppression chains binding his body began to splinter. Tiny fissures spread across their glowing surface.
"Yes, Father." Igaris didn’t flinch. "But now you need to get out of here alive. They need you more than ever. They’re going to kill them."
A rumble echoed through the cell. The runes etched into the floor flickered, losing strength.
"They dare..." Vireon growled, eyes glowing with barely contained power.
And then—
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion ripped through the estate, splitting the grand mansion in half with a force that shook the very foundation of the inner district.
But this was no ordinary explosion of fire and smoke.
From the shattered earth, a giant mushroom erupted—twisting, churning, and expanding like a monstrous bloom rising from the depths. Its stem cracked through stone and steel, while its cap stretched wide, covering the sky like a fungal do.
Shockwaves pulsed outward in rhythmic blasts, forcing the chs stationed nearby to stagger and recalibrate. Dust and debris clouded the area, and alarms blared in panicked chorus.
Amidst the chaos, Igaris and Vireon were gone. Vanished. Not a trace remained.
Only the stunned mbers of House Calamity stood around the edge of the blast site, eyes wide with disbelief.
Anger quickly followed.
"What... what is this madness?" one elder growled, drawing his weapon instinctively.
"Elder, that spirit had escaped and many of us were killed!" A man inford, bloodied and deford.
"Dam that spirit. This wasn’t just a breakout... this was an act of war!" another snapped.
The Elder stepped forward, his face twisted with rage. His voice thundered across the courtyard:
"Find them. I want every Shadow Tracker, every Sensor Unit, and every Spirit Beast Tracer deployed! I don’t care if we have to tear this city apart brick by brick!"
He paused, then added coldly, "I want them brought back. Dead or alive."
The mushroom’s spore-laced mist settled over the mansion’s ruins like a shroud, hiding whatever secrets had just unfolded beneath.
And far below, under the layers of tal and mory, a new path had opened.
---
Far outside the city walls, on the jagged ridgeline overlooking Oracle, Roxanne stood frozen in place, her eyes locked on the heart of the tropolis.
A blinding flash lit up the city’s core, followed by a mushroom-like eruption that blood skyward violently. The shockwave rolled over the mountains seconds later, rustling her clothes and sending a tremor through the ground beneath her feet.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Igaris," she whispered.
Beside her, Isadora clung to her hand, face pale, lips trembling. "What was that, Mother? It... it ca from the Inner District, right? That’s where brother went..."
Roxanne narrowed her eyes, focusing on the unnatural spore-cloud rising over the city like a monunt to chaos.
"That... that was your father’s Spirit Magic," Roxanne said, eyes locked on the distant glow still lingering in the skyline.
Her voice trembled, both in awe and dread.
"That ans your brother completed the task. Your father... he’s free."
She paused, her jaw tightening.
"But it also ans the Calamities will be coming after them."
Just then—
"Hmph..."
A sudden cold scoff echoed from behind them.
Roxanne spun around, instinctively placing Isadora behind her.
From the shadows of the rocky slope, a man stepped forward.
He was tall, muscular, with long golden-blonde hair that glead under the pale moonlight. His pale blue eyes shimred with disdain.
Behind him, a squadron of chas marched into formation, their heavy tallic limbs thudding into the earth with ominous rhythm.
"Vireon may have escaped," the man sneered, folding his arms, "but now we have you two. Your foolish husband will surely co crawling back once he hears his wife and daughter are in our hands."
"Rodrigo... Do you want to die?" Roxanne hissed through clenched teeth, hatred thick in her voice.
"You’re still naive, little sister," Rodrigo continued, tilting his head mockingly. "Did you think you could hide forever in the Forsaken Lands? That pathetic battlefield of death and destruction? Tch..."
Roxanne didn’t waste another second.
She grabbed Isadora and launched into Dorothy, her white S-Rank Lightning ch, its core pulsing to life with a loud hum and a flash of blue energy.
"You’ll have to catch us first, dear brother."
Dorothy’s plates shifted, locking into battle mode. Electric arcs danced across its fra like living serpents.
"Ready to battle, Roxy?"
"Yes!"
Rodrigo chuckled darkly. "You’re outnumbered. Three S-Ranks. Half a battalion of A-Rank units. And no backup. Amd yet, you are still planning to fight us?"
Around her, the opposing chs ford a tight periter. Roxanne and Isadora were completely surrounded.
But Roxanne’s voice ca calm and steady through Dorothy’s speakers:
"Dear brother... it seems you’ve forgotten why they once called the Lightning Valkyrie."
Her lips curled into a smile.
"Let remind you again."
A sharp chi echoed from Dorothy’s fra as its right arm transford with a tallic shift.
From the hilt extended a crackling blade of pure lightning, arcs of electric energy dancing wildly along its length like serpents hungry for war.
Dorothy’s chassis pulsed with light. Static surged around its feet, distorting the ground. Thunder roared across the skies in response—like the heavens themselves recognized her return to battle.
Rodrigo’s smirk faltered just slightly. But, he gave the command nonetheless:
"Capture her!"
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