A thick fog rolled over the ruins of the subway entrance, curling like dead fingers around shattered concrete. The night was restless—static laced the air, the Veil pulsing like a second heartbeat in Ethan’s skull.

Then the silence broke.

The first body hit the ground in two pieces.

A resistance scout—one of their own—had been patrolling ahead when the Hunter struck. A grotesque Veil creature, its elongated limbs moving unnaturally fast, had cleaved through the man with a single, bone-chilling strike. The torso slammed against a rusted railing, spine dangling like a severed cord, while the rest of him was lost in the fog. His lifeless fingers twitched, a final, pointless spasm before stillness claimed him.

Lila’s breath hitched. “Damn it. A Hunter.”

Jax flicked his wrist, and his mechanical spider scurried into position. “That’s a bad omen.”

The creature turned toward them, empty eye sockets glowing with the unnatural light of the Veil. It exuded raw malice, its jagged claws scraping against the ground as it prepared to charge.

Then, a blur of motion.

A figure stepped from the shadows, and in a single, brutal arc, his jagged cleaver tore through the Hunter’s head. The monster barely had time to shriek before it crumpled, dissolving into nothingness.

The figure didn’t even watch it fall.

“They’re mine.”

Harbinger.

He was flanked by ten heavily armed enforcers in Veil-infused armor, their presence radiating cold menace. His own armor—a sleek obsidian laced with crimson veins—pulsed with something dark and ancient. The air around him warped, as if the Veil itself recoiled from his presence.

Ethan’s mark burned.

The squadron leader tilted his head, voice smooth but laced with cruel amusement. “The stray dog finally bites back.”

Lila’s grip tightened on her weapon. “Harbinger.”

Ethan rolled his shoulders. “We doing introductions now?”

Jax’s fingers danced along his belt, readying another grenade. “Squadron leader. One of five. Jarek’s personal reapers.”

Ethan exhaled sharply. “So where’s the rest of the circus?”

Harbinger chuckled. “You’re new, so I’ll be generous. There’s me, Wraith, Hollow, Revenant, and Aegis. Each of us commands a division. Jarek doesn’t fight battles himself.” His cleaver glinted under the sickly glow of the streetlights. “We do it for him.”

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One of the enforcers stepped forward, rifle raised. “We take them now?”

Ethan’s eyes narrowed as he tensed for a fight.

Harbinger didn’t even look at his subordinate. His cleaver blurred—one swing, a flash of red, a wet *crunch.*

The enforcer’s head rolled across the pavement, stopping at Ethan’s feet, mouth still frozen mid-command.

The body collapsed next, gushing dark arterial spray onto the cracked asphalt.

Harbinger sighed, shaking his weapon to dislodge the blood. “Don’t interrupt.”

The remaining enforcers didn’t flinch.

Ethan clenched his fists. “You kill your own men that easily?”

Harbinger’s gaze locked onto him, amused. “If they’re weak, they’re useless.”

Then the world detonated.

Jax’s grenade hit first, a pulse of Veil energy warping the air. Mara wrenched Ethan back as gunfire shredded the space where he had stood. Lila’s plasma rounds found their mark, punching through two enforcers, melting armor and flesh alike.

Ethan didn’t hesitate. His blade hummed in his grip, vibrating with raw energy. He lunged—

—and met Harbinger’s cleaver mid-strike.

The impact sent a shockwave through the ground, shattering the pavement beneath them. Sparks flew as steel scraped against steel. Ethan twisted, aiming low—

Too slow.

Harbinger’s knee slammed into his ribs. Something cracked.

Ethan hit the ground hard, bile rising in his throat.

Harbinger’s shadow loomed. “Too weak.”

A plasma bolt scorched past his head. Lila rushed forward, knife flashing—

Harbinger caught her wrist. With a sickening crunch, he twisted. Her scream echoed as her arm bent the wrong way.

Jax fired point-blank, shotgun roaring. Harbinger staggered, but his armor absorbed the blast. His retaliation was swift—his cleaver cleaved through Jax’s shoulder, splitting bone.

Mara’s voice cut through the chaos. “Ethan, NOW!”

Pain became fuel.

The Veil surged inside him. Black veins pulsed, feeding the fire beneath his skin. He pushed past agony, past doubt, past fear.

His blade ignited.

He moved faster than thought, his strike slicing clean through Harbinger’s armor.

The squadron leader jerked back, dark ichor spilling from the gash. His expression flickered—shock, then amusement. “Interesting.”

Then the fight truly began.

Harbinger twisted, his cleaver whistling through the air. Ethan barely dodged, the blade skimming past his ribs. He retaliated with a rapid flurry of slashes, each one crackling with Veil energy. Harbinger blocked two, dodged one—but the fourth carved across his shoulder, sending another burst of black ichor into the air.

Ethan gritted his teeth. He wasn’t fast enough. He had to be faster.

Harbinger lunged, the force behind his strike cracking the asphalt. Ethan barely sidestepped, but the sheer shockwave sent him skidding back.

Another enforcer charged in, blade raised—

Ethan pivoted and drove his sword through the man’s gut. The enforcer let out a strangled gasp before Ethan ripped the blade free, kicking the corpse aside.

Lila, despite her broken arm, had taken down another.

Jax, though bleeding heavily, had managed to shove an explosive charge into the chest of one of the armored enforcers before detonating it at point-blank range.

They were fighting back.

Harbinger exhaled sharply, glancing at his remaining men—now reduced to three.

He gave Ethan one last look, a slow smirk curling across his face. “We’ll meet again, sparky.”

Then, in a blur of motion, he and his remaining enforcers vanished into the darkness.

Ethan staggered, breathing hard. The pain was unbearable, but he wasn’t dead. Yet.

Jax groaned, clutching his bleeding shoulder. “I *really* hate those guys.”

Lila winced, cradling her broken arm. “Seconded.”

Mara knelt beside Ethan, fingers skimming the blackened veins creeping up his neck. Her face was grim. “This isn’t stopping.”

Ethan wiped blood from his mouth. “So tell me who I’m fighting for.”

Jax gave a humorless chuckle. “The Resistance. What’s left of it.”

Ethan flexed his fingers. His mark pulsed, whispering promises of power.

He met Mara’s gaze. “Then let’s stop surviving.”

The city lights flickered in the distance. The war had only begun.