The decision was made. The war would now be fought on two fronts.

In the Synthesis Loom, Jonah and Vanessa began their impossible task. They were the builders, and their job to create a miracle.

Seraph and Draven were the hunters. Their job was to face the monster.

In a secure military outpost deep under the Academy, they stood in front of a holographic map of Cinderfall City. The newly formed "Ghost Hunter" task force, a small team of the toughest soldiers the Academy had, was ready for action.

"You have your orders," Seraph said, her voice sharp and clear. "We are hunting a ghost. She can phase through walls and moves faster than you can blink. Do not engage alone. Do not hesitate. Our job is to find her and pin her down."

Draven stood beside her with his arms crossed. "Listen to the Captain," he said. "This isn't a training session. This thing is real, and it is dangerous."

A PING from a nearby console got their attention. Vanessa's face appeared on the screen, looking tired. "I've got something," she said. "A huge, unusual power drain in the corporate district. The energy signature is wrong. It has the same feel as the tech Silas uses."

A red dot appeared on the city map. "It's a Runic Engineering lab, hidden inside a finance company's main office," Vanessa continued. "Sterling is getting bolder. He's hiding his labs right under our noses."

Seraph's eyes narrowed. "That's our target. He's upgrading her."

"Then let's go break his new toy," Draven said with a grim smile.

The office building was a huge structure made of glass and steel. It reflected the city lights, a clear representation of business power. Inside the building, it was quiet. The cleaning crews had already left for the night. The only sound that could be heard was the quiet buzz of servers from behind locked doors.

Seraph, Draven, and their team moved through the lobby. They had studied the building's layout. They knew where the secret lab was.

They took up defensive positions in a circular space on the thirtieth floor. This was the only way in or out of the lab area.

"All teams in position," Seraph whispered into her comms. "Remember the plan. We draw her out, we trap her, we end this."

Draven stood in the middle of the open space. He was the bait. He held a simple energy shield, its golden light making long shadows across the polished floor.

They waited quietly.

Then, the air grew cold.

Without a sound, a figure appeared out of a marble wall. It was Silas.

She was different. Shiny black metal was attached to her arms and spine, looking like a skeleton. She looked less like a human and more like a high-tech weapon.

A shadow separated itself from her and formed into the shape of her panther Progeny. It moved with a strange, unnatural speed, its head twitching from side to side like a broken cartoon.

Silas didn't say anything. She didn't need to. Her cold eyes locked onto Draven, and she gave him one small nod.

WHOOSH!

The panther vanished, moving very fast. Draven roared loudly, raising his shield just in time.

CLANG!

He was hit by an impact like a cannonball, sending a deep shake through his whole body. He slid back a few feet. He was strong, but the panther was faster and hit much harder than it used to.

From the shadows, Seraph and her team opened fire. Blue energy bolts crossed the room in all directions, aiming for Silas.

But she was already moving. She moved smoothly across the floor, dodging the blasts. Her movements were perfect, efficient, without a single wasted step.

Draven pushed forward, his shield glowing brightly, as he was trying to corner Silas. "She's a machine!" he yelled, blocking another extremely fast strike from the panther. "There's no pattern!"

"Then we break the machine!" Seraph yelled back.

The battle was a violent explosion of light and noise. Draven moved like a powerful storm of golden energy, his fierce attacks breaking the marble floor into pieces. But Silas and her panther were always one step ahead. They worked together perfectly. The panther would attack from the right, forcing Draven to block, while Silas would strike from the left with a blade of dark energy.

It was a perfect, coordinated attack. Draven, despite all his strength, was being pushed back.

He roared in anger and slammed his shield onto the floor. A wave of golden energy exploded, forcing Silas and her panther to leap back for a second.

It was the opening he needed. He charged forward, aiming a powerful punch directly at Silas.

But he was too slow.

The panther moved too fast to see clearly. It moved with that strange, unnatural speed, slipping past his attack. Draven felt a flash of sharp pain in his side. He looked down. Three deep cuts were torn into his armor and the skin under it.

But it wasn't just a cut. The wound felt… wrong. A strange energy spread from the cuts, making the magic in his body feel weak and slow. It felt like his own power was being stopped.

He stumbled, a grunt of pain escaping his lips.

The trap had failed. They had underestimated how much stronger she had become.

Seeing Draven lose balance, Silas stopped. Her mission was likely to test her new abilities, and the test was now complete. She simply turned and started to walk toward the wall she had come from.

"No, you don't!" Seraph shouted, firing another round of shots.

But it was too late. Silas and her panther dissolved back into the wall, vanishing as if they were never there.

The open space became silent. The only noises were the crackling of broken electronics and Draven's heavy breathing.

Seraph rushed to his side. "Draven, are you alright?"

He was down on one knee, holding his side tightly. When he took his hand off, his glove was covered with blood. The wound was worse than it looked. Black, glitchy lines of energy sparked around the edges of the cuts.

"She's stronger," Draven grunted, his face pale with pain. "Much stronger. The claws… they don't just cut. They… erase."

Seraph stared at the strange, corrupted wound and a chilling sense of fear came over her. Their trap hadn't just failed. It had revealed a scary truth.

Julian Sterling's factory was working harder than ever, and the heroes on ground were already finding it difficult to keep up.

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