Jamin hesitated. The fury on his face cooled into reluctant calculation.

“Fine. But this isn’t over.”

“Understood.” Brooks exhaled. “I’ll arrange for his transport tonight.”

When Jamin left, Brooks stood at the tall window behind his desk, looking down at the city lights as they flickered beneath the evening mist.

“Axel…” he muttered. “Out of the Mirabelle Mountains, dragging the entire squad with you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “But you’ve made too much noise.”

Drakenfall, City Hotel.

Phoenix flung himself off the bed as soon as he saw the group walk in.

“Captain!”

“Phoenix!” Millers pulled him into a hug, thumping his back hard. “I heard you convinced Axel to go after us. That crazy bastard—and you’re just as nuts!”

Phoenix rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I didn’t think too much about it at the time…”

He had been the first to charge the Black-Scale Python. As the team’s tank, he thought he could buy time. He hadn’t expected to be whipped across the battlefield by the creature’s tail and sent flying into the city wall. After that, he’d blacked out, only to be rescued by patrolling defenders later.

He didn’t know what Cody had done in the aftermath.

But something felt off. He scanned their faces. None of them smiled.

“…What’s wrong?” Phoenix asked, his voice soft.

No one answered.

Rosaline stood up. “I’m going to get some air.”

She left with Vince. Kaia sighed, then sat down next to Phoenix and slowly began to explain everything—from the betrayal, to the locked gates, to Killian…

And the boy who never made it back.

......

Vince and Rosaline stepped quietly into Axel’s room.

He was sitting alone by the window, staring out into the fading twilight, the glow of the city wall casting faint shadows across his face. He said nothing, his profile motionless, distant.

Neither of them spoke of what had happened earlier—how Axel had nearly beaten Jude to death. It was a blatant breach of discipline, a dangerous defiance of military order. But both Vince and Rosaline remained silent.

“They’re going to military court tomorrow,” Rosaline said softly. “They won’t walk out alive.”

Then she turned and left.

Vince stood there a moment longer, looking at Axel’s back. He gave a firm pat to his shoulder, the quiet kind that says more than words, then followed Rosaline out.

Only Axel and Annabelle were left in the room.

Annabelle stayed quiet for a while. She didn’t know the full story, but she had never seen her brother like this. Finally, she asked in a soft voice, “Bro, what happened?”

Axel slowly pulled his gaze away from the window, still holding the clear container with the Energy Fruit in his hand. He looked down at it.

He forced a tired smile. “Nothing, really. Just… things didn’t go the way I imagined.”

He should’ve known better than to expect anything from people like them.

He could still picture Cody’s smug face, Jude’s sneering condescension.

When had he become so naïve?

Back when he and Annabelle were barely surviving in the slums, scraping by, hiding from mutant beasts and hostile scavengers—he hadn’t hoped for justice. He hadn’t believed in heroes. He’d just wanted to keep the two of them alive.

But after joining the Whisper Syndicate, that started to change. He saw people who believed in something bigger. When he was stationed in Shiverstone, he met teachers and students who were willing to die to protect Krythos. He started to think, maybe the line “when the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up” actually meant something.

He'd started to believe in it.

And then Jude and Cody brought him crashing back to reality.

Axel ran his thumb along the surface of the Energy Fruit. He thought of what Vince had said—that each fruit was worth a fortune, enough to buy chances at awakening. And yet Killian, the boy who’d collected them, had never used a single one for himself.

Axel remembered a quote he’d once seen online:

"If your load feels heavy, it’s because someone else is enjoying it."

He gave a faint, bitter smile and carefully placed the Energy Fruit back in his pack.

“I’m alright, Annabelle.”

His voice was calm now.

.........

Ten minutes later, a knock came at his door. Axel followed it to Phoenix’s room, where the entire squad had gathered.

The mood was somber. Vince stood at the center, his expression grim.

“We just got word,” Vince said. “Cody’s dead. Supposedly committed suicide. Left behind a note saying it was all his fault—that Jude was coerced and only stayed silent out of fear.”

The room went dead quiet.

Phoenix clenched his jaw. “Bullshit. Fuck that. They’re still playing games.”

Everyone knew what this really was—the Windsor family’s cleanup job.

All eyes turned to Axel.

He was the one who had wanted Jude to die the most. The one who needed it.

Axel’s voice was cold but calm. “What about Jude?”

Vince hesitated, then answered quietly. “He’s dead too. Same story. Suicide.”

“Let’s go see him.”

At the Drakenfall Detention Center, a refined-looking middle-aged man in glasses stood at the gate, speaking in low tones with the chief of the facility.

As soon as Vince and the others stepped out of the vehicle, the man approached and extended his hand.

“Mr. Vince,” he greeted with a polished smile, “I’m Felix, Secretary General of Mirabelle.”

Vince gave him a brief handshake, cool and perfunctory.

Felix’s expression didn’t waver even as Obsidian Squad exited the car one by one. It was clear he already knew who they were.

“This… was a tragic mishap on our part,” Felix said solemnly. “We didn’t expect them to commit suicide. Governor Brooks has been fully informed of the situation. He extends his deepest condolences for everything your team endured.”

He produced a small black box and offered it forward. “This is a token of appreciation from the Governor.”

Vince didn’t even glance at it. His eyes stayed locked on Felix’s.

“We want to see the body.”

Felix’s polite smile didn’t falter. He gave a quick nod and passed the box to a subordinate.

“This way.”

A covered body lay on a nearby stretcher under a white cloth. Without hesitation, Phoenix stepped forward and yanked the cloth off.

Several of Felix’s men flinched at the rough gesture, their expressions tightening.

Night had fallen, but even in the low light, the corpse was unmistakably Cody. Pale, stiff, and dead.

“And the other one?” Vince asked evenly.

Felix let out a quiet sigh. “Mr. Jude…. Despite his errors, the Windsor family claimed his remains privately before your arrival.”

The temperature around the Obsidian Squad dropped perceptibly. Their silence, full of pressure, pressed against Felix like a vice.

Feeling the weight of their stares, Felix gestured to a sleek black coffin placed off to the side. “He’s over there.”

The coffin gave off a faint scent of blood. Several solemn-faced men stood guard around it, their stance clearly defensive.

When Phoenix approached, one of them shifted his feet and braced.

“Move,” Phoenix growled, his presence flaring with a Level 4 Awakener’s raw power.

The men around the coffin hesitated, visibly shaken. Felix waved his hand. “Let them through.”

The coffin lid opened slowly, revealing a grotesque, broken face. Nearly unrecognizable. But the body, the hairstyle, the clothing—it was Jude.

“Is that enough?” one of the guards snapped. He was a sharp-featured man with silver-gray hair, his tone cold as ice. “He’s dead. What more do you want?”

Obsidian’s gazes lingered on the body.

The details all matched. Nothing seemed amiss.

But… Why did something still feel off?

Vince looked to Axel, wordlessly asking the question they were all thinking.

But Axel was already walking away, heading toward the detention center’s director.

“I want to see where they ‘committed suicide.’”

“Let him see,” Felix said mildly, and then offered the box again. “Mr. Vince, this isn’t a bribe. It’s just a gesture of goodwill. The Governor sends something to everyone who contributed to the defense of Drakenfall.”