Imperial Black Site
"All bulkheads to Level 6—lock them down. Now!"
THUD.
The first impact shook the barricades.
THUD. THUD.
A dent. Another.
Inside the Command Center, the tension was suffocating.
A younger officer—green as hell, barely old enough to grow a proper beard—watched the monitor with wide, horrified eyes. "That's six feet of iron composite," he whispered. "That thing can tank a fucking nuke—"
CRUNCH.
The first layer split. A jagged crack slithered down the reinforced fra like a lightning bolt.
Rinehart rolled her shoulders. "Yeah," she muttered. "Too bad Caspian doesn't give a shit about physics."
Krause shot her a look of pure venom. "Oh, you think this is fucking funny?"
Rinehart tilted her head. "I think it's predictable."
Another hit. This ti, the blast doors buckled outward, tal screaming in protest. Sothing on the other side exhaled—a low, guttural noise that didn't belong to anything human.
The room fell dead silent.
Many people looked like they wanted to crawl into a hole and fucking die.
"What the," soone breathed. "He's turning into a devil."
Rinehart smirked. "Took you long enough to notice."
LEVEL 6 – OUTER CORRIDOR
The last squad of ISSD operators—seven n, nerves wired so tight they were practically vibrating—stood in formation.
The squad leader clenched his jaw. His HUD showed the breach tir ticking down. 00:12. 00:11. 00:10.
"Hold your fire until you see sothing worth shooting," he muttered.
A second later, the tal exploded inward.
Not broken. Not pried open.
Just—gone.
A tidal wave of molten steel and shattered debris blasted through the corridor, vaporizing the first line of defense before they even had ti to scream.
The Captain threw himself back, landing hard, rolling, rifle swinging up—
And then they saw him.
Or—it.
The thing stepping through the breach was sothing evil, sothing that had crawled up from the blackest pits of the fucking abyss.
His eyes burned—His veins pulsed black, spreading like cracks in marble, his entire body shifting, warping into sothing too monstrous to be human.
And then he moved.
The squad opened fire. Bullets ripped through the air—high-velocity, armor-piercing, the kind of rounds that could tear through tanks like tissue paper.
They didn't do shit.
Caspian was already on them.
Blood splattered across the walls like a grotesque fucking mural.
Then ca the second. The third.
It wasn't a fight.
It was annihilation.
And the worst part?
Caspian was smiling.
Like he was enjoying this.
COMMAND CENTER – LEVEL 5
The caras went dark.
For a second, nobody spoke.
Then Krause slamd his fist onto the console. "We just lost !"
A pale-faced technician stamred, "Sir, there's nothing left to fight back with—"
"Shut the fuck up," Krause snarled. His pulse thundered in his ears.
Rinehart watched him.
Then she exhaled.
"Alright," she said, cracking her neck. "Ti to handle this personally."
Krause barked a laugh. "Oh yeah? And what the fuck are you gonna do, Rinehart? Seduce him?"
She smirked. "Tempting. But no."
Then the doors hissed open.
They turned.
It's Circe.
The officers straightened, stepping aside instinctively as the Head of the Imperial Magic Corps walked through. She didn't acknowledge them. She didn't have to.
Rinehart was the only one who didn't snap to attention. She simply pushed off the desk and t Circe's gaze with a slow, knowing smirk.
"Took your ti," Rinehart said.
Circe didn't stop walking. "I don't respond to every minor incident you botch, Rinehart."
Rinehart chuckled. "Oh, this is minor? Guess you really don't think much of your own work."
Circe ignored her. She ca to a stop beside Krause, who quickly pulled up the last footage they had before the caras died.
She watched in silence. The feed showed the last squad on Level 6—their final stand. The mont he tore through them like paper.
Caspian.
She exhaled, slow and even. "The transformation has accelerated," she said.
"No shit," Krause muttered. "He's a fucking devil now."
Circe's fingers tapped against her arm. "Not yet."
Krause turned, staring at her. "The hell do you an, 'not yet'?"
She finally looked at him, and for a second, there was sothing in her gaze that made him shut the hell up. "If he was fully transford, there wouldn't be a Level 6 left to recover."
Rinehart tilted her head. "You sound like you still think you can handle this."
Circe's violet eyes darkened. "I will handle this."
Krause exhaled, rubbing a hand down his face. "We don't have anything left to throw at him. Our best units are gone, the defenses failed, and if he gets past Level 6—"
"He won't." Circe turned. "I'll deal with him myself."
Krause hesitated. "Are you sure?"
"Of course. I am the strongest mage in the empire. But first I need so answers. You," she paused, a slight growl in her tone, "tell —how the hell did Caspian get out of his cell? He wasn't this strong when I locked him up. And you sure as hell didn't do anything to help him escape."
Krause's face went pale. "We—We don't know, Madam. He... he was locked down in the most secure cell. No one had access to him."
Circe's tone was lethal. "Then explain how he broke through every layer of security like it was tissue paper."
Krause swallowed hard, knowing he didn't have an answer.
Rinehart clicked her tongue, leaning back against the wall. "It's cute that you think Krause here has anything resembling answers. But Caspian was always more than a damn prisoner. We both know that."
Krause's jaw tightened. "Shut up, Rinehart."
Rinehart smirked. "Aw, co on, Krause, don't get all touchy. We both know you screwed up. At least Circe's here to clean up your ss."
Circe's expression remained cold.
Rinehart didn't back down. She smiled, ever so slightly. "You already know. He's evolving. Sothing's feeding him power, and it's not just from the magic you shoved into his cells."
Circe paused. "I'm well aware. But the power he's gained... it's not natural. I can feel pure evil energy even from here. He's getting stronger faster than we ever thought possible."
"Maybe that's the part you missed," Rinehart said, her smirk broadening. "I don't think it's a coincidence. From the information I gathered about him, I guess evil gods might be behind this."
Circe said after a mont of silence.
"Lock down the remaining corridors. Keep everyone out of Level 6."
Then, without another word, she vanished.
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