Victor stood at the edge of his castle’s balcony, gazing at the somber horizon with mixed feelings. The cold night wind blew, rustling his long black cloak. Before him, the once-grand city now looked grim after the loss of Seraphine, one of the primary executives who had fought on the front lines. Yet, it wasn’t sadness that dominated Victor’s thoughts. Instead, anger and frustration boiled within him. Seraphine, although the weakest of the seven primary executives, was still a part of his power. Her death was a severe blow to his reputation and authority. What troubled him most wasn’t the loss of Seraphine’s life, but how the remaining six executives had reacted to her death. In a dark, aura-filled meeting room, the six remaining executives were gathered. Their faces, usually cold and cruel, now carried something else—a subtle derision. They showed no signs of mourning or loss. Instead, some of them even chuckled quietly, discussing Seraphine’s defeat as if it were a mere bad joke.

Evan stood before his father, his expression calm but his heart full of resolve. After the division of the Ironfist family, he felt the need to return to where everything began.“Father? I want to go back to our old house,” Evan said as his father, Daniel, was instructing his younger sister, Lily.Daniel asked Lily to leave, giving him and Evan a moment alone. “What do you mean? You want to go back to that slum district?”Evan nodded. “Yes, Father.”Daniel was silent for a moment. He no longer saw Evan as a mere teenager. Evan was now capable of protecting himself. Although it was dangerous, Daniel eventually gave his permission. “I will allow you to go, but Aria must accompany you.”Evan did not object to his father’s condition. He nodded and went to meet Aria.***In the small training field where they used to practice, Aria was pushing herself hard, determined not to let more lives be lost. The many lives lost during Seraphine’s attack made Aria feel the need to improve her skills.

In his grand private room, surrounded by dark wood-paneled walls and shelves filled with old books that created a serene atmosphere, Victor sat behind a large mahogany desk. Scattered before him were various papers, world maps, and strategic notes he had meticulously prepared over the years. However, his mind couldn't focus. The defeat he suffered when trying to confront Evan and Aria was still fresh in his memory, burning the ego that had always been shielded by his extraordinary power.Victor sighed softly, his eyes drawn to an object on his desk—a relic, ancient and emanating a mystical aura. It was one of the five he had successfully collected, artifacts with unimaginable power from another world. With these five relics, Victor knew he could summon an inconceivable power, a force capable of altering the fate of this world. Yet, there was one nagging thought—this power was not enough to summon the shadow army, the final strength that would make him the king of the shadows, an unriv

Evan, Aria, and Riley were still basking in the euphoria of successfully breaching Victor Draken's company system. This success felt like a major victory in an otherwise seemingly impossible battle. However, their joy was abruptly overshadowed when a message appeared on Riley’s screen:“You are being watched.”The words felt like a harsh slap in the face. Riley froze momentarily, his mind racing to grasp the implications. “It’s a trap,” he murmured, his voice trembling as the horrifying realization sank in.Aria looked at the screen with growing anxiety. “What does it mean, Riley? Do they know where we are?”“More than that,” Riley replied, his face pale. “They not only know we’re here, but they’re also tracking our location. They might have known we were coming from the start.”Evan sensed the sudden escalation in tension within the room. “What should we do?”Without wasting a moment, Riley began typing a new series of commands, trying to break free from the clutches of a system that

Darius arrived at the location, standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down with a look of fury. All the metal he had dropped earlier had piled up around the riverbank, creating a visual barrier that made it difficult for him to track where his prey had escaped. A flash of impatience appeared on his face as he realized his targets had eluded him, at least for the moment.In an authoritative tone, Darius called his subordinates, who immediately assembled around him. "Keep searching!" he ordered coldly. "They can't be far. The entire area around the river needs to be thoroughly checked."His subordinates nodded, quickly spreading out in every direction to comply with the order. Darius remained standing there, his eyes scanning every corner that might be a hiding spot. His anger burned even fiercer. Although he was confident in his abilities, he knew that his prey this time was not an easy opponent to deal with.***Meanwhile, in the dark and dense forest surrounding the river, Aria