Sebastian's gaze sharpened as he locked eyes with the man who had just entered. His attention was drawn immediately to the scythe tattoo inked on the intruder's neck.
"Why is Black Row attacking Kingsleigh Corporation?" Sebastian demanded. "We have no animosity with each other."
The man gave a smirk before responding, "Let me introduce myself first. My name's Cain—a squad leader of Black Row."
A hush fell over the room, followed by a wave of murmurs. The title squad leader wasn't handed out lightly—Cain had to be at least on par with an awakened ranked in the global top 100 to 110.
Cain continued without flinching at the reaction, "We want Project Noctis, Sebastian. Give us the formula, every notes, documents—everything needed to make it. Do that, and no harm will come to anyone here."
Sebastian's eyes flared with fury. "We've spent years and millions developing Noctis. You think we're just going to hand it over to criminals like you?"
Cain threw his head back in laughter. "You think you can beat me, Sebastian? Just because you're the patriarch of the Kingsleigh family doesn't mean your power stacks up to the global top 100 awakened. And as for the Lancaster brat—" his gaze flicked to Celeste, "—her father is overseas. If her sister comes, we'll have handled our business long before that."
As Cain kept talking, Celeste discreetly pressed a hidden button on her phone—a silent emergency alert that pinged her parents, her sister Vivienne, and every combat-ready agent at Solari Consortium HQ.
Ren leaned toward Celeste. "We have no choice but to fight if we want to escape."
Celeste gave a curt nod. "I've alerted HQ. Reinforcements will be arriving soon."
She then glanced toward Christie. Catching the look, Christie gave a small, confident smile. "I can manage. I may not look it, but I've kept up with my training schedule."
Cain's voice cut back through the rising tension like a blade.
"And we want that Lancaster brat." His smile widened cruelly. "I wonder how much Alaric would be willing to pay for his precious daughter."
Celeste clenched her teeth, fury simmering in her eyes. "You fucker…"
Ren stepped in, calm but firm. "If he comes for you, I'll handle him myself."
Celeste snapped back, "I'm not a damsel in distress for you to handle my fights, Ren."
"But I'm your guard," Ren replied steadily. "Let me do my job. When the fighting starts, stay defensive until Solari agents arrive. Stick with Christie. Watch your surroundings. Don't take chances."
Celeste exhaled through her nose, the fire in her eyes banked but not extinguished. "Don't worry. I can handle these thugs."
Cain turned back to his squad and barked orders:
"You five—stall Sebastian. Watch out for his hygrokinesis. Unlike the agents we've wiped, he's trained—he knows how to use his power.
"You three—head to the laboratory. Find the formula. Burn everything else.
"The rest of you—kill everyone in sight.
"I'll handle the Lancaster girl personally.
Move out."
——————
The moment Cain gave the order, the five Black Row agents surged toward him, smoke curling from their bodies like living shadows. Their intent was clear: stall him, and contain him.
"Lucien! Liam!" Sebastian barked without turning. "Go now—protect the laboratory! We can't let them get their hands on Noctis!"
The two Kingsleigh sons sprinted toward the corridor. But the Black Row squad moved fast—too fast.
Three agents raised their hands, and black smoke solidified into jagged spikes, shooting toward the brothers like arrows from a cursed bow. Two others manipulated their smoke into tendrils, which lashed out to ensnare and immobilize. The squad members was composed of Typhokinesis users.
But Sebastian reacted before any of it could land.
He swept one arm forward. "Condense."
Mist exploded outward from his body, shimmering silver under the banquet lights. The water vapor in the air condensed in an instant, forming a shimmering wall that intercepted the smoke spikes midair—freezing them in their tracks, then shattering them like brittle glass.
Steam hissed violently where vapor met smoke, but Sebastian's voice cut through it: "Go! Now!"
Lucien and Liam obeyed without hesitation, disappearing down the hall.
Now unencumbered, Sebastian turned fully to face the five attackers. His eyes burned with fury.
The enemy wasted no time. They fanned out, encircling him.
One agent lunged forward first, stabbing with a condensed smoke spear. Sebastian twisted sideways, letting it pass, then swept his leg low. Mist surged from beneath his foot like a coiled snake and slammed the attacker off balance. Sebastian followed up with a mist hammer—a compacted blast of vapor with the force of a war hammer—that sent the man crashing through a pillar.
Two more agents attacked from opposite sides, smoke coiling around their arms, forming razor-thin blades. They slashed in tandem, aiming for Sebastian's neck and side.
Sebastian ducked, pivoted, and clapped his hands. The moisture around him obeyed immediately—a ring of pressurized vapor burst outward, forming a concussive wave that hurled both assailants off their feet and onto the banquet floor.
The fourth agent tried to bind him with smoke chains from a distance, attempting to immobilize his legs.
"Fool," Sebastian muttered. He snapped his fingers, and the air around his legs exploded into a column of superheated steam, melting the approaching tendrils mid-flight.
The fifth man—the most cautious—launched a smoke barrage from above, dark projectiles raining like obsidian arrows. But Sebastian didn't even flinch. He extended both hands skyward, palms open, and whispered:
"Atmospheric lock."
The ceiling above shimmered, and every bit of falling smoke slowed—then stopped, suspended in mid-air, caught in a compressed vapor field.
With a flick of his wrist, Sebastian turned their own attack against them. The vapor surrounding the suspended smoke twisted, forming piercing jets, and launched the captured smoke back at the attackers with twice the speed and force. They barely dodged, stumbling back.
"You're not fighting some unknown awakened," Sebastian growled, eyes narrowed. "You're fighting the patriarch of the Kingsleigh family."
The agents regrouped, visibly rattled. They moved more defensively now, switching from direct attacks to fogging the area, trying to blind him.
But the vapor was his element.
Sebastian inhaled deeply—then exhaled with intent.
His hygrokinesis flared, sweeping the room clear of smoke in a heartbeat. He surged forward with speed unexpected of someone his age, forming a vapor blade along his forearm.
He struck.
The blade carved through a smoke-formed shield, slicing into the shoulder of the first agent, who cried out in pain. Another tried to counterattack from behind, but Sebastian backhanded him with a column of steam, sending him tumbling across the floor.
Three down. Two staggering.
And Sebastian was barely winded.
"Is that all?" he hissed, steam curling from his fists. "You came barging into the Kingsleigh Corporation thinking you'd hold me off with parlor tricks?"
The remaining two Black Row members exchanged nervous glances.
They hadn't stalled him nearly enough.
And now—they were bleeding time.
⁰
⁰
⁰
Sebastian narrowed his eyes.
The two remaining Black Row agents had backed off—not in retreat, but in preparation. Their posture shifted. In its place, focused malice.
Then Sebastian smelled it.
Acrid. Metallic.
The smoke they now exhaled wasn't ordinary. It shimmered faintly green under the lights, thicker, heavier, moving with sluggish, oily tendrils.
Toxic.
Sebastian's gaze sharpened. "So, you're done playing games," he muttered.
The agents began to chant in low, guttural syllables—vocal triggers that awakened users sometimes used to enhance control. The black-green haze around them began to coil with purpose, forming a cloud that hovered and spun like a living storm.
The left one took the lead, smoke coiling into a vortex spear, the shaft made of thick, choking poison. The other created toxic fog bombs, spheres of smoke so dense they throbbed with internal pressure, ready to burst on impact.
"You think poison will stop me?" Sebastian spat.
But even he knew this changed the dynamic. Direct confrontation was dangerous now.
He moved quickly, vapor trailing in his wake as he shifted his strategy.
He feinted left, forcing the spear-wielder to commit. As expected, the agent lunged forward, thrusting the toxic weapon toward Sebastian's side.
Sebastian's eyes flashed. He dropped low, palm slamming the marble floor—releasing a horizontal wave of supercooled mist.
The spear passed above him, but the agent's legs froze at the calves, slowed by the sudden temperature drop. Before the man could react, Sebastian swept his leg out, tripping him, and slammed a vapor blade—not into the agent, but the floor beneath his weapon arm.
CRACK.
The toxic spear arm twisted unnaturally as the agent hit the ground, gasping in pain.
The second agent threw one of the fog bombs.
Sebastian didn't dodge.
Instead, he raised his hands and compressed a shield of hyper-condensed mist, held tight by his will. The moment the bomb hit, it exploded into a cloud of viscous smoke, but Sebastian's barrier held.
Inside the shield, he held his breath and mentally counted down: three… two… one— then burst outward with a pulse of steam so intense it cleared the air in a ten-meter radius, blowing out the toxic smoke like a pressure cannon.
As the second agent stumbled back, preparing another bomb, Sebastian moved like vapor itself.
He surged forward—vapor coiling around his arms into twin blades—and cut through the air.
The agent dropped the next bomb in panic. It hit the floor at their feet.
Too late.
Sebastian had already closed the distance. He slammed a vapor fist into the agent's gut, using condensed water to amplify the impact—the kind of internal strike that ruptured muscle and drove breath from lungs.
The agent crumpled.
The last one, on the ground with a broken arm, tried to crawl away—smoke trailing feebly in defense. But Sebastian wasn't done.
He approached, slow and cold, and raised a single finger.
"Condense."
The moisture in the agent's lungs turned to vapor—just briefly, just enough to make him choke and freeze, panic taking over.
"I could kill you here," Sebastian said calmly, towering over him. "But I want you conscious when you see what happens next."
Sebastian growled. "No one walks into my territory and makes threats without bleeding for it."
He stepped forward.
And the floor beneath his boots hissed with steam.