?The silence in the Kyrie mansion was not peace; it was the surface tension of a bomb about to detonate.

  ?BOOM!?The hydrodynamic detonation didn’t just break the silence; it tore the reality of the courtyard apart. The water in the Olympic-sized pool, previously a crystalline mirror, exploded into a colossal, ten-meter-high column. The impact sent tile shards and a torrential rain of liquid hail onto the marble deck.

  ?From the center of the mist and chaos, the silhouette emerged.

  ?Kallos.

  ?He carried Nova in his arms, shielding her against his chest like a treasure snatched from the claws of a god. But something had changed. Kallos’s eyes, once empty, gray spheres—the gaze of an automaton—were now crackling. A conscious, electric fury danced in his pupils, the black Lumen oscillating in visible shockwaves.

  ?"There! The traitor!" shouted one of the elite guards, leveling an energy spear.

  ?Kallos didn’t even slow his pace. With a sharp flick of his free hand, he released a pulse of Kinetic Destruction.

  ?The atmospheric pressure doubled in a millisecond. The air groaned. The guards were thrown against the marble columns like discarded ragdolls. The sound was horrific: the dry crack of breaking ribs and the snap of ancient pillars fracturing under the impact of the bodies.

  ? Kallos thought, his mind finally clear of Vantus’s static.

  ?With a superhuman leap that caused the stone pavement to explode into a circular crater, he cleared the five-meter wall. The wind howled in his ears as he plunged into the alleyways of Caelum, disappearing where the steam of the boilers and the misery of the lower districts fused.

  ?Hours later.

  ?The smell of mold, ancient dust, and cheap candle wax.

  ?Nova felt her consciousness return in painful waves. Her ribs burned as if they had been branded with a hot iron. She opened her eyes slowly, staring at arches of ancient stone that seemed to bear the weight of centuries of secrets.

  ?"Where... where are we?" Her voice was a thread of silk, almost inaudible.

  ?"In a church. Or the corpse of one," Kallos’s voice came from the darkness.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  ?He sat in a corner where the candlelight didn’t dare touch. The rhythmic sound of metal against stone echoed through the hall: He was sharpening a black dagger with hypnotic precision.

  ?"We are in the back, where Vantus’s sound doesn't reach easily," he continued, his voice hoarse, laden with a new weight. "The city’s low frequencies filter out his signal. Here, we are ghosts."

  ?Nova reached for her chest, feeling the tight bandage over her wound. The last image she held was the blinding glow of the crystals.

  ?"So the crystals... they worked? You’re... yourself?"

  ?The motion of the dagger stopped. Kallos looked up. For a brief second, the armor of ice in his expression cracked. A slight flush rose to his cheekbones at the memory of the whirlwind Nova’s proximity had caused. It wasn't just magic; it was the warmth of childhood, the scent of damp earth, the raw pain of loss—everything Vantus had tried to delete.

  ?"Yes," he admitted, his voice failing for a moment. "The crystals broke his harmony. I reclaimed the helm of my own existence."

  ?Nova forced a pale but victorious smile.

  ?"I saved you."

  ?"And now?" The intensity in Kallos’s gaze was almost physical. "Do you have as much desire to fly at Vantus’s throat as I do?"

  ?Kallos let out a dry laugh. A dangerous sound.

  ?"Who doesn't? I would spend the rest of eternity tearing that arrogant smile off that tyrant’s face, tooth by tooth."

  ?Nova reached out a trembling hand. Kallos grasped it. The contrast was a living metaphor: her skin still emanated residual stellar warmth, while his vibrated with the cold density of the abyss.

  ?"Light and Destruction," Nova whispered.

  ?"Like a star and a black hole," Kallos completed. "A combination that will devour this world."

  ?"She’s awake? Finally..."

  ?A man in worn robes with tired eyes, Father Luizo, approached with a tray. The steam from the hot broth brought a comfort that seemed out of place in that scene of impending war.

  ?"You two are either brave or mad," said the old man, serving them. "Do you really intend to face the Nine Symphonies?"

  ?Nova stared fixedly at Kallos. The fear was still there, but the determination was greater.

  ?"Yes, Father. We are. Aren't we, Kallos?"

  ?"Certainly," Kallos replied, his fingers gripping the hilt of the dagger until his knuckles turned white. "But before Vantus, I have to have a conversation with my brother."

  ?Nova froze, her soup spoon halfway to her mouth.

  ?"Vantus is your brother?!"

  ?"What? No!" Kallos grimaced in pure disgust. "Just thinking about that turns my stomach. I’m talking about my blood brother, Kael. He’ll likely assume the post of the Ninth Symphony now that I’m no longer Kyrie’s guard dog."

  ?The silence that followed was heavy. Nova felt a pang of empathy that hurt more than the wound in her ribs.

  ?"Facing your own brother... Kallos, won’t that be difficult for you?"

  ?Kallos picked up a piece of bread, but didn't eat it. His fingers crushed it until it turned into fine crumbs, which fell to the floor like ash.

  ?"It won't be difficult. Because that idiot doesn't deserve a shred of hesitation."

  ?"How can you say that?" Nova asked, shocked by his bitterness.

  ?Kallos stood up, his shadow projected against the church walls like a winged monster.

  ?"I served Vantus because I was branded. I was turned into a slave by the Soul Frequency, Nova. I had no choice." He turned to her, his eyes shining with an ancestral hatred. "But Kael... Kael is different. He accepted the position for glory. For vanity. He chose to be Vantus’s executioner of his own free will while I rotted under mind control."

  ?He took a step toward the exit, the black aura of his Lumen causing the nearby candles to flicker and die.

  ?"And that, Nova... that is unforgivable."