The streets of District 4 shimmered with heat, the air rippling like a fever. Car husks melted into slag across the boulevard, their steel skeletons drooping toward the concrete like they were trying to escape what was coming next.
A woman screamed from a fire escape. A drone whirred past her, its camera lens focusing not on her — but on the figure below.
Ashvein walked slowly, flames leaking from the seams of his scorched black armor. Not a trail of fire — a pulse, like his heartbeat was magma. Every few seconds, he'd flick his hand toward a vehicle, and it would ignite, explode, or collapse into a glowing tomb.
But he hadn't touched a single human.
That was what made Hernan pause.
Beside him, Captain Virex — the lion of District 1, the golden star, the man whose hands once strangled Solaris — stood with arms folded, face carved from calm marble. His cape barely moved in the smoke-warped wind. The drones circled overhead, catching his best angle.
