The scars above Yuno—the beautiful yet mysterious Aurora—shone bright, illuminating the desolate lands below as if a vast, celestial lamp had been lit.

  A group of figures rode hard on gravitational bikes, the vehicles humming just inches above the dust. Behind them, a pack of metallic creatures, resembling wolves, gained ground fast. They were machines of speed, spitting random, metallic rounds that whined as they tore through the air.

  "EVERYONE KEEP MOVING! DO NOT ENGAGE!" someone screamed, the voice thick with panic.

  The barren wasteland stretched around them. Everyone wore masks to filter the toxic fumes, their eyes darting past broken skeletal buildings that held the mystery of the distant past. There was no greenery, only dust and scrap—a vast, poisoned desert.

  The wolves closed in with terrifying speed, gaining on the bikes each second.

  "WHATEVER YOU DO, MAVIS, DON'T LET GO OF THE LEVEL 1 ARTIFACT!" The older man, Old Jax, who seemed to lead the group, yelled desperately to a younger person seated ahead of him. She was clutching something critical against her chest.

  Sitting just behind her was a figure who looked no older than seventeen. His hair was short, and he wore brownish, worn-out clothing of a medieval style.

  "Mavis," he said, his voice strained but steady, "Don't worry, they won't catch us!"

  "I'm scared, Kael! And our fuel is about to run out," she replied, desperation chilling her tone.

  "I know," Kael said, trying to comfort her. "But we are almost at the gates! Just two kilometers more—I can see the walls on the horizon!"

  In the next instant, their bike sputtered, the fuel spent. Both were instantly thrown off. Mavis was flung hard to the left, hitting the back of her head on a chunk of scrap metal before falling unconscious. Kael somehow managed to roll off the impact, landing several meters away on his feet.

  The metallic wolves screeched, surrounding both of them in a tense, silent ring.

  Kael stood rigid. Three of them. His dagger was gone, lost in the tumble. If I don't get out of here with Mavis and the Artifact, I'll die by Quota violation anyway. I won't let it be this way. He noticed one wolf whose optical sensor flickered, its movements a fraction slower. That's it. Focus on the weakest point first.

  A moment of pure, blinding rage washed over him. I don't care anymore. I will do what I must to save us.

  Kael’s hand shot out, yanking the Level 1 Artifact from Mavis's unconscious grip. The object—a smooth, heavy cylinder that shimmered with dormant, forbidden energy—was cold against his palm.

  He slammed the artifact against the scrap-littered ground. The cylinder fractured, releasing a sudden, contained burst of pale, vibrating energy. The shockwave was not violent, but precise. It hit the four metallic wolves surrounding them, not tearing them apart, but momentarily stunning their processing cores. Their red optical sensors flickered to black, and the mechanical pack froze mid-snarl.

  With desperate speed, Kael shoved Mavis behind the broken shell of a vehicle. He grabbed a jagged piece of metal from the ground and plunged it with all his strength into the flickering optical sensor of the wolf closest to him. He felt the sickening, grinding resistance of the machine before its entire frame collapsed, sparks spitting from its severed core.

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  The burst energy faded. The remaining three wolves rebooted instantly, their focus now solely on the desperate human. Kael barely registered the dull thud as one of the wolves stepped on the shattered remains of the Level 1 Artifact, crushing the device into useless dust.

  We won. The sudden realization was followed by an even heavier despair. But we have nothing.

  Just as the three wolves prepared to charge, the distant wail of a heavy-grade military siren cut through the air. A massive, black-armored troop transport from the Ascendric Kingdom—not a scavenger unit, but true Enforcement—appeared on the horizon, moving with frightening speed towards the conflict site.

  Kael knew the fight was not over. The Enforcement had arrived.

  The massive transport skidded to a halt in a cloud of dust. Its ramp hissed down, revealing a squad of Ascendric soldiers in pristine black armor, their faces hidden behind polished visors. They secured the area, their heavy boots crunching over the scrap, and systematically disabled the remaining metallic wolves.

  A commanding officer, Captain Valerius, stepped forward. His voice, amplified by his helmet, was calm, almost reassuring. "Alright, civilian. Where is the recovered Level 1 Artifact? And are the others accounted for?"

  Kael, still crouching protectively over Mavis, watched as the rest of their scavenging group slowly approached the soldiers, their faces etched with a mixture of fear and desperate hope. Old Jax stumbled forward, his mask askew. Lena, a younger woman, whimpered, clutching her arms.

  "Captain, sir, we—we managed to survive the attack," Jax stammered, his eyes darting to the broken bike, then to Kael and Mavis. "The artifact… Kael fought hard, sir."

  Valerius's gaze settled on Kael, then the crushed remains of the cylinder under the wolf's foot. The initial glimmer of polite professionalism vanished from his stance. His voice sharpened, though still unnervingly calm. "The artifact is destroyed. And the Quota for this sector has been catastrophically failed."

  A cold dread seeped into Kael’s bones. This was it. The price. He stood up, towering over Mavis, his chest burning. "It was my fault, Captain! I used the artifact. I broke it. The Quota is on me."

  Valerius's head tilted. "The Quota is on the sector, boy. And this sector has violated too many rules. Destroying an artifact, failing to meet requirements... someone has to pay the full price for that kind of 'noise'." His eyes flicked to Mavis, then back to Jax. "Who was designated handler for this artifact run?"

  Old Jax's shoulders slumped. He looked from Kael's defiant face to Mavis's bloodied, unconscious form. Then, his eyes met Valerius's visor. His voice was barely a whisper. "It was Mavis, sir. She was meant to protect it."

  Kael's world spun. No. He wouldn't.

  Valerius's hand moved with chilling speed. A soldier grabbed Kael, pinning his arms. Another roughly yanked Mavis up by her hair, her head lolling. The soldier's glove cracked against Mavis’s cheek, startling her awake with a gasp. Her eyes, wide and terrified, met Kael's.

  "No! STOP!" Kael roared, struggling against the soldier's iron grip. His body vibrated with a white-hot fury. "She did nothing! Let her go! I did it!" He lunged, desperate, but the soldier held fast.

  Valerius merely watched, impassive. "A lesson must be made. For the Silence."

  Kael could only scream Mavis's name as the soldier drew a short, gleaming blade. Mavis didn't even have time for a final word, only a single, choked cry as the blade flashed. Her body went limp, dropped unceremoniously into the dust.

  The world went silent. Kael felt his mind snap. The rage that had been a burning inferno suddenly became an empty, freezing void. He felt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing but a distant, agonizing hum. His body convulsed against the soldier’s grip, a silent scream tearing from his throat, though no sound escaped.

  Then, the humming intensified. The toxic air around him seemed to shimmer, and the harsh reality of the Cinderlands dissolved. Kael saw, not the dusty ground, but a rapid-fire succession of faces—faces he had never seen, smiling, laughing, crying. Figures moved with grace and impossible speed against backdrops of vibrant, impossible colors. He saw a hand, translucent and glowing, reach out as if to touch him, and then… darkness.

  Kael’s knees buckled. The soldier holding him let go, startled by his sudden collapse. Kael hit the ground, his body twitching uncontrollably, his eyes wide and unseeing, staring up at the distant, mocking glow of the Aurora.