Location: Elara Estate – Command Level
Alarms howled across the estate.
Red lights bathed the halls like bleeding veins. Omega sprinted through the control wing, fingers flying over the main console.
"We're under full-spectrum cyber attack! Defense protocols compromised! Hostile drones inbound—ETA ninety seconds!"
Rian's voice cut through the chaos. "We have explosive signatures near the generator core. It's coordinated."
Omega cursed. "Nyx planned this like a symphony."
And the symphony had begun its crescendo.
---
Location: Prague – Opera House
Alethea's chest tightened as she watched the holographic feed of her home under siege.
The Elara. Her sanctuary. Her battlefield. Her only safe place.
Burning.
She turned sharply to Nyx. "You never cared about beating me."
Nyx's smile was venom. "Correct. I only needed to bleed you where it hurts."
"You'll never get to the core."
"I already have."
BOOMMMMM—
An echo of detonation thundered through the hologram. The generator wing exploded in flames.
Alethea's knees nearly buckled.
Seren screamed, launching at Nyx again. But this time Nyx was ready. She sidestepped and stabbed Seren in the thigh.
Blood sprayed. Seren collapsed.
"You can't save everyone, sister," Nyx whispered. "Especially not yourself."
Marco rushed forward—but a sudden electrical barrier erupted, separating him from Alethea and Nyx. His fists slammed against it.
"Alethea!"
But she didn't look back.
She stepped toward Nyx, blade in hand, fire in her eyes.
---
Combat Phase II: Alethea vs. Nyx
Nyx struck first—fast and beautiful like a serpent's lunge.
Alethea blocked with a parry, twisted, and landed a slash across Nyx's arm.
They moved like mirrors, each anticipating the other's rhythm.
But Alethea fought with something Nyx couldn't replicate: love.
For Seren.
For Marco.
For the Elara.
And love, unlike programming, was unpredictable.
"You were created to win," Alethea spat, breathless. "But I was born to fight."
Nyx laughed through her teeth. "And you'll still die watching everything you love fall."
The battle raged across the cracked marble floor, blood trailing in their wake.
---
Location: Elara – Defense Deck
Omega shouted into the comms. "I need control back now or this whole estate turns to ash!"
A mysterious voice buzzed in.
"Try now."
It was Seren, patching in from a stolen data drive she had hidden in her boot—one containing override protocols Nyx didn't know she possessed.
Omega uploaded it.
The main firewall roared back online.
Drones dropped from the sky, disabled mid-air.
The estate held its breath.
Then…
The core stabilized.
The Elara survived.
Barely.
---
Location: Prague – Opera House
Nyx faltered, the hologram glitching behind her. Her plan collapsing.
"You underestimated her," Alethea said, blade raised.
Nyx chuckled, blood dripping from her lip. "And you... underestimated me."
She pressed a button on her belt—self-destruct timer. Thirty seconds.
"You'll die here with me."
Alethea stared her down. "I've died before. But not today."
Suddenly—Marco appeared, having shot out the barrier core manually. He sprinted forward, tackled Nyx, and injected her neck with a paralytic shot Omega had developed just in case.
Nyx gasped—then froze, collapsing to her knees.
Timer: 00:17... 00:16...
"Alethea, we need to move!" Marco shouted, scooping up Seren.
They ran.
Up through the old staircases.
Through collapsing ceilings.
Fire. Smoke. Screams.
00:04... 00:03...
They leapt out the side balcony—just as the opera house exploded behind them, raining down shattered chandeliers and bone-dust velvet.
---
Later: Elara Estate – Rooftop
Night.
Cool. Quiet. Whole again.
Alethea sat with Seren wrapped in a blanket, Marco standing guard nearby.
No one spoke for a long time.
Then Seren whispered, "Did we win?"
Alethea nodded. "We survived."
"That's not the same."
"No," Alethea said softly, "but sometimes, surviving is the victory."
Marco approached and slid his arm around Alethea's shoulders.
"You protected your kingdom," he said. "Even when they tried to burn your throne."
Alethea leaned her head on his chest.
"This isn't over," she whispered.
"No," he agreed. "It's just begun."
TBC..................