Re-entering Sunstone City was like slipping back into a past life. A ghost returning to haunt its own grave. The Crimson Syndicate's secret tunnels were a marvel of underworld engineering. A hidden network of ancient sewer lines and forgotten catacombs.

They allowed them to move beneath the city like blood in its veins. They emerged from a rusted grate. A foul-smelling, garbage-choked alley.

A world away from the manicured lawns of the academy.

The city was in a state of controlled, militarized chaos. The air was filled with the distant, blaring sound of containment sirens. The panicked shouts of civilians.

The monstrous roars of dungeon beasts. Squads of Royal Guards and grim-faced, black-robed Inquisitorial agents were a common sight.

Their movements were sharp and purposeful. They established a perimeter around the breach zone.

Selene, now in her element, took the lead. She was no longer the seductive manipulator of the Ashen Market. Here, in the field, she was a master of urban warfare.

"The breach is centered on Oakhaven Square, district seven," she murmured. Her voice was low. She consulted a holographic map on her wrist bracer. "That's three blocks east. The entire district is on lockdown. Inquisition patrols are sweeping the area.

Using the chaos as cover to search for… you." She glanced at Edward. "They're not just containing the breach; they're hunting."

"Sarah's dorm building is on the west side of the square," Edward said. His voice was a low, cold monotone. He didn't need a map. The geography of that place was etched into his memory. "The patrols will be thickest there. They'll be expecting me to come from that direction."

"Then we don't," Selene replied. A sharp glint in her eyes. "We circle north, through the old merchant's quarter. The streets are narrower. More shadows. We use their own cordon against them."

They moved. A silent, lethal ballet through the city's dark, forgotten corners. Edward, Selene, and Fenris were a perfect, three-person hunter-killer team.

Their first encounter was with a pair of Inquisitorial agents. They were guarding a key intersection. The agents were alert. Their consecrated daggers were drawn. Their holy auras a faint, abrasive presence.

Selene, a ghost in the twilight, slipped into the alley behind them. A flicker of motion. A flash of her twin curved daggers. A precise, non-lethal strike to the nerves at the base of their necks.

The two agents collapsed without a sound. A silent, elegant, and utterly terrifying display of her craft.

They continued. The sounds of battle grew louder. The monstrous roars echoed between the brick buildings. They turned a corner. Came face-to-face with a creature from the breach. A Gutter Hydra. A foul, sewer-dwelling beast with three snapping, serpentine heads. Its blubbery hide was covered in a slimy, corrosive ooze.

This was Fenris's turn.

Before the creature could roar, she was on it. She didn't bother with tactics. Or subtlety. She was a force of nature. A whirlwind of pure, brawling fury. She met the Hydra's charge head-on. Her new iron-headed axe was a blur of motion.

She sidestepped a snap from one head. Brought the axe down in a brutal, cleaving arc. Severing it cleanly. She ducked under a lunge from the second.

Her powerful shoulder slammed into the creature's chest. Staggering the massive beast. The Hydra was completely outmatched by her superior, focused rage.

While Fenris was the loud, brutal distraction, Edward was a whisper of death. He used the chaos of her assault as cover. His movements a silent, deadly counterpoint to her roaring fury.

He saw an Inquisitorial patrol. Four agents. Drawn by the sounds of Fenris's battle. They were sneaking up the alley. Preparing to ambush the "monster" they thought was fighting alone.

Edward melted into the shadows of a deep doorway. As the first agent passed, Edward struck. His arm shot out. His hand clamped over the agent's mouth. The Shadowfang Dagger slid between the man's ribs with a soft, final thunk. He lowered the body to the ground. Without a sound.

One down.

He flowed out of the doorway. A ghost at their backs. A second agent turned. Too late. Edward's dagger was already at his throat.

The last two agents spun around. Their eyes widened in horror. Edward moved between their clumsy, panicked slashes. His own blade was a blur. A parry. A twist. A thrust. It was over in less than a minute. Four trained, holy warriors, eliminated without a single shout.

A perfect, terrifying symphony of their three styles of violence. Selene was the scalpel. Precise and silent. Fenris was the hammer. Brutal and overwhelming. And Edward… Edward was the shadow. The silent, inevitable death that comes when you are not looking.

They finally reached the edge of Oakhaven Square. The scene was one of pure, apocalyptic chaos. The square was a battleground. Royal Guards were desperately trying to hold a line against a tide of grotesque horrors. Buildings were on fire. The air was thick with smoke. The screams of the trapped and the dying were a constant, horrifying chorus.

Sarah's apartment building was on the far side. A block of neat, middle-class homes that was now a warzone. And just as they had predicted, the area around it was crawling with Inquisition forces. They weren't fighting the monsters. They were forming a cordon. A net. Their attention was focused not on the breach, but on the building. They were waiting.

"There," Edward said. His voice was a low, cold whisper. His eyes were fixed on a ruined storefront across the street. Through a shattered window, he could see a small, huddled figure. Sarah.

She was not alone.

"It's an ambush," Selene stated. Her voice was grim. "She's not cornered by a monster. She's being held."

Edward saw it too. A squad of at least ten Inquisition knights was with her. Their silver-plate armor gleamed in the chaotic, flickering light. They were using her as bait. They knew he would come for her. They were counting on it.

His rage, a cold, controlled flame, now threatened to become an inferno. The sheer, cynical cruelty of the tactic. Using an innocent girl as a pawn in their holy war. A profound, personal violation.

He was about to move. To throw all caution to the wind and charge. A suicidal, one-man assault. When Fenris's heavy hand landed on his shoulder. A silent, steadying pressure.

"Wait," she growled. Her golden eyes narrowed. "They are not the only ones waiting."

Edward followed her gaze. Hiding in the shadows of a burned-out bakery was another figure. A tall, imposing silhouette. His presence was a beacon of pure, concentrated holy power. A familiar, agonizing pressure on his soul. He held a massive, starlight-forged longsword. His sapphire-blue eyes were fixed on the ruined storefront. A patient predator. Waiting for his true prey to reveal itself.

Daniel. The Champion of Purification had been here all along. A hidden, final trump card in their elaborate, despicable trap.

The situation had just gone from suicidal to impossible.

Edward looked at the scene. The raging battle. The Inquisitorial cordon. The innocent girl used as bait. The SS-Rank avenging angel waiting in the wings.

This was not a trap they could fight their way through. It was a perfectly constructed, multi-layered execution. And they had just walked right up to the gallows.

He was still trying to process this new, hopeless reality when the captain of the squad holding Sarah hostage lost his patience. He stepped out of the ruined storefront. His voice was magically amplified.

"We know you're out there, heretic!" the captain's voice boomed across the square. "Show yourself! Or the girl pays the price for your cowardice!"

He punctuated his threat by pressing the flat of his consecrated sword against Sarah's throat. She flinched. A small, terrified whimper escaped her lips.

It was a checkmate. A perfect, inescapable trap. And they had just played their final, brutal move.

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