Chapter 28: Virus in the System

  The Mainnd was quieter these days, but it wasn't safer. In the dead of night, an alleyway near a local convenience store became a stage for the new brand of wlessness that had filled the vacuum left by the Citadel’s colpse.

  "Yeah, come on! Put all the money in the bags—give me the other one!" the thief barked, his gun shaking with a mix of adrenaline and greed.

  The shopkeeper, trembling, tossed the bags. The two thieves stepped out into the cool night air, grinning. "Man, this has been easier ever since Flux fell," one chuckled, adjusting his grip on his weapon.

  They turned a corner and spotted a pale man shivering in the shadows.

  "Run," the thief sneered, a cruel glint in his eye. "Promise we won't shoot you."

  The man bolted, his boots spping against the wet pavement. The thief ughed and raised his gun, aiming for the man’s back.

  He was about to pull the trigger.

  Metallic chains hissed through the air like a striking viper, wrapping tightly around the thief’s wrist. With a violent jerk, he was yanked upward. From the darkness above, a figure in flowing bck robes descended.

  She hit the ground with the grace of a predator, driving her knee into the thief’s neck as they crashed into the concrete. The second thief froze as the woman looked up. Her mask didn't shine bronze, silver, or gold. It was Ptinum—a cold, brilliant white that seemed to absorb the dim streetlights.

  "No way..." the thief whispered. He fired wildly, but the woman was a blur of motion, dodging the bullets with an almost supernatural fluidity. Panicking, the man hurled his bag of money at her as a distraction and sprinted for the opposite end of the alley.

  The Ptinum Mask didn't hesitate. She caught the bag mid-air, tossed it back to the stunned shop owner, and vanished into the darkness after her prey.

  The chase was a frantic dance over garbage bins and rusted iron gates. The thief took a sharp, desperate turn into a dead-end alcove, and for a moment, the woman lost him. She slowed, her chest heaving slightly, her senses reaching out into the stagnant air.

  Ssh!

  The thief lunged from behind a dumpster, his pocketknife catching her across the forearm. She hissed in pain but reacted instantly. She parried his next strike, her hand cmping onto his wrist like a vice. The knife cttered to the floor. She drove a knee into his gut, retracted her chains to bind him in a suffocating coil, and ended the fight with a single, devastating punch to the jaw.

  When the police arrived minutes ter, they found two men chained to a street mp, unconscious and gift-wrapped for the w.

  "Is this Flux?" one officer asked, eyeing the intricate chain work.

  "No," the other replied, looking at the rooftops. "They said it's a shadow in a ptinum mask."

  The Next Day

  Inside the Sanctuary's makeshift headquarters, the morning sun was an enemy. Eunchae sat hunched over a desk, her eyes sunken and rimmed with red, her hands trembling as she clutched a mug of coffee like a lifeline.

  Rin walked past, stopping short when she noticed the jagged, fresh cut on Eunchae’s left arm. "Whoa, Eunchae. What happened there?"

  Eunchae swallowed hard, her throat feeling like it was full of sand. "Uhm... cut from training. I got careless with a dummy."

  Rin tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. "Training? At three in the morning?"

  BLAM!

  The heavy doors swung open, cutting off the conversation. The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Leeseo strode in, her white robes snapping around her boots. She looked every bit the warrior she had become, the Silver Mask hanging from her hand as she pulled it off to reveal a face that looked far older than her years.

  She didn't look at Rin. Her eyes were locked onto Eunchae, and they weren't friendly.

  "Eunchae," Leeseo said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, low register. "A word. Now."

  The heavy oak doors of the conference room muffled the sounds of the Sanctuary outside. Leeseo didn't sit. She pced her Silver Mask on the table with a sharp cck, its polished surface reflecting the flickering overhead lights.

  "Bronze, Silver, and Gold masks," Leeseo began, her voice weary but firm. "Those are the ranks of the Covenant. They represent the powers that watch over the reality of Mainnd. The symbols of order."

  Eunchae leaned back, trying to maintain her "cool" exterior despite the throbbing in her arm. She forced a lopsided smile. "Right. And you, twin... you look so cool as the Silver Mask. It suits you."

  "There is no such thing as Ptinum Mask," Leeseo said ftly.

  Eunchae’s heart skipped. "Ptinu—? Psh. What? Hehe... that sounds stu—pshh—what a load of—"

  "Eunchae." Leeseo’s gaze was like ice.

  The act crumbled. Eunchae stood up abruptly, her chair scraping harshly against the floor. "Leeseo, you look so cool as the Silver Mask! You have chaos powers now, and you’re clearly Xin’s badass nemesis. Everyone looks at you and sees a hero! And what do I get? Huh? Door duty? Guarding the back entrance while you save the world?"

  "What?" Leeseo shook her head, baffled. "Eunchae, this isn't about—"

  "I am the Ptinum Mask!" Eunchae decred, her voice cracking. "I am the protector of Mainnd!"

  Leeseo stepped closer, her expression softening into a mix of pity and frustration. "Eunchae... what are you even saying?"

  "I’m saying I want to be someone like you!" Eunchae shouted, looking away to hide the moisture in her eyes. "To have an upgrade. To show the world that I am here for them too. That I’m not just the girl who survived... I have a cool mask too."

  "Eunchae..." Leeseo’s voice dropped, turning dangerously quiet. "You think it’s fun to wear this mask? You think it’s COOL that my eyes glow purple because they’re full of chaos? You think it’s badass that I am being hunted right now by a literal god-demon who murdered the guy who used to wear this?"

  Eunchae’s eyes darted around the room, dodging Leeseo’s intense stare. "Well... if you put it that way..."

  "Listen," Leeseo sighed, rubbing her temples. "I know right now you want to py the kid in this team, but some of us are actually trying to be adults, okay? If you want to py the streets, go ahead. It’s actually good that you’re saving lives. But please... not with the Ptinum Mask. We don’t want to alert the Covenant with BS like this."

  Leeseo picked up her mask and walked toward the door, her cape fluttering behind her.

  Eunchae stood alone in the silence of the room. She looked at her bandaged arm, her shoulders slumped. "It’s not BS..." she whispered to the empty air.

  The lounge of the Sanctuary was a hollow shell of its former self. San and Seonho sat anchored to the couches, looking less like heroes and more like ghosts. Their hair was a nest of tangles, their uniforms were stained with the dust of the Outnds, and San’s face was still a roadmap of jagged scars from his near-fatal encounter with the Disc Mecha.

  Leeseo stepped into the center of the room, her Silver Mask still clutched in her hand. She looked between them, her heart sinking at the sight of the two most powerful men she knew looking so... small.

  "So..." she gnced left, then right. "How are... how are you guys?"

  "Great," Seonho said instantly, his head nodding in a jerky, mechanical rhythm. "I'm fine."

  San followed suit with a hollow echo. "Yeah. I’m doing great."

  Leeseo scanned their messy clothes, the smell of stale coffee and unwashed armor clinging to them. "Any reports?"

  "Just some demons by the... uh, Outnds," San said, gncing at Seonho for backup. "Right?"

  "Yeah. And uhm... my, duh, uhhh... demon blood? Very under control. I am totally... ssss... okay," Seonho said, forcing a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

  "Oh my god." Leeseo rubbed her face with her palm. "Everyone here is a baby. Come with me."

  As she turned to leave, both men stood up like soldiers on instinct.

  "No—just my boyfriend," Leeseo corrected, pointing a finger at San. "San, you have cheese powder on your lips."

  San awkwardly wiped his mouth, looking like a caught schoolboy.

  "Go talk to Rin. Guys, come on! Get yourself together!" Leeseo’s patience snapped. Her eyes fred a brilliant, chaotic blue. Before Seonho could protest, she used her telekinesis to lift him off the floor, floating him through the hall like a piece of luggage.

  She dropped him unceremoniously onto the bed in her room and crossed her arms. "Talk."

  "What?" Seonho fshed that same brittle smile.

  "I know you're not okay. You spent years believing your friend was gone. Then he came back, almost piercing your heart, only to give you a hug before actually dying this time—"

  "And I'm fine!" Seonho interrupted, giving her two thumbs up. It was a grotesque parody of his old self. "I am ready to hunt demons."

  "Babe..." Leeseo leaned in, her voice dropping the commander's edge. "I am worried about you."

  Seonho just nodded, his gaze drifting to the corner of the room.

  "We have the enemy somewhere out there recovering," Leeseo continued. "Hyeonseok warned us that when fully recovered, Xin is not only more powerful than when we encountered him, he also has an army. I have to do my job... I have to be ready."

  "Yeah... I get it," Seonho whispered.

  "Babe... do you want me to let go of the mask? Because I will. If this is too much—"

  "No," Seonho sighed, the mask of "okay" finally cracking just a little. "No, of course not. It's not that."

  His eyes nded on her katana. Dangling from the end of the hilt was a small cross—the same one he had given Sungmin years ago. It was a relic of a brotherhood that ended in a graveyard.

  Leeseo saw where he was looking and felt the weight of the Silver Mask grow heavier. She turned to leave. "You’re a loop, Seonho. I hate it."

  She reached for the door handle when Seonho’s voice stopped her. It wasn't shaky this time; it was sharp with a sudden, bitter edge.

  "Why did he choose you?"

  Leeseo froze. "What?"

  "Sungmin. He chose you to be the Silver Mask. Not me." Seonho shrugged, but his hands were trembling. "Why is that?"

  "Seonho... let's just talk when you can actually talk."

  "I am talking! I’m asking why my best friend chose a person he barely knew over me!"

  Leeseo whirled around, her own grief fring up like a match. "I don’t know! Maybe because he saw me topple a tower over!"

  Seonho’s eyes widened. The shock of the volume seemed to pull him out of his trance for a second. "Whoa... you’re bragging now?"

  "I am mourning too," she snapped, her eyes stinging. She didn't wait for his reply. She smmed the door, leaving Seonho alone with the cross and his questions.

  Seonho sat in the silence, rubbing his face until his skin turned red.

  Outside the conference room, the weight of the Silver Mask finally crushed Leeseo. She stumbled into the hallway, only to be blocked by Rin.

  "You okay?" Rin asked softly.

  Leeseo didn't even try to hide it. The tears tracked through the dust on her cheeks. "Why... why do I feel like I'm the only one trying to be strong here? Why is everyone falling apart on me?"

  Rin looked down at her empty sleeve, then back at Leeseo. "I only have one arm left to give," she said with a tired sigh, "but come here."

  Rin pulled her into a tight embrace. Leeseo colpsed against her, sobbing into her shoulder.

  "There, there," Rin giggled weakly, trying to lighten the heavy air. "The big, bad Silver Mask is crying."

  Around the corner, Eunchae stood frozen. She had been ready to argue more about her Ptinum Mask, but seeing Leeseo—the "badass nemesis of Xin"—sobbing like a child made her feel a sharp pang of guilt. The "coolness" she was chasing suddenly looked a lot like a death sentence.

  Ego: Pocket Dimension

  While the survivors wept in the Sanctuary, the true architects of reality met in a space between worlds. It was a vast, dark void, the floor a spiral of obsidian tiles. At the center sat a round table with three figures, their faces hidden behind masks of deep Red, Green, and Blue.

  Jaejin stepped into the spiral, his eyes glowing a predatory yellow.

  "It has been a while since all four of us assembled, huh? The bond of the Covenant," he giggled, his voice echoing in the nothingness.

  In the center of the table y a Yellow Crest, pulsing with a rhythmic, ancient light. It was a battery of pure reality. Jaejin pointed a finger at it. "Dibs on that!"

  "Jaejin," the Red Mask (Incheon) spoke, his voice booming. "Speak."

  "Well, as you can see, being me as the rep... the Gold Mask is dead. The Silver Mask is in Flux hands. And the Bronze Mask is nowhere to be found," Jaejin said, pacing the room. "Xin is loose, and Mainnd is in deep trouble."

  The dy with the oddly shaped, elongated arms—the Green Mask (Busan)—leaned forward. "And so? Is Xin supposed to be everyone’s problem? He just wants the Chaos and Soul energies back, right?"

  "He wants Earth, believe it or not," Jaejin countered. "And after Wonjung—my favorite girl—disrespectfully destroyed my pilrs to set him free, the three Crests used to lock him were released. They went from being a battery to being free loot. And I need them all back."

  "Two Crests now lie in the Outnds," the Blue Mask (North) added coldly.

  "Yup. And that st one is here. I want it," Jaejin said.

  "Jaejin... for years, the Mainnd has hogged the Crests. I think it’s time we borrow this one for the protection of other regions," the Red Mask stated.

  "Oh, please. Protection from what?" Jaejin shrugged. "We literally have demons."

  "It's not fair for you to hold all three Crests twice a decade," the Green Mask compined. "We deserve at least a taste of its power."

  "We can't just give it to you." the Blue Mask followed.

  Jaejin sighed, looking like a bored teacher. "Actually, you can. Like this: 'Jaejin, you need it to beat Xin, go take it.'"

  "You are an idiot," the Green Mask snapped.

  "Okay, fine. Before you all shatter me into stars to drift through the gaxy, I have a proposition," Jaejin said, closing his eyes with a confident smirk.

  "How do we decide who gets it?" the Blue Mask asked.

  Jaejin opened his eyes, the yellow glow intensifying. "A tournament. You bring your best representatives from your regions, and I’ll have mine. Whoever wins gets the Crest for their region. But—no killing. Just a brawl. Eh? What do you say?"

  The three masks fell silent, looking at each other through the void. The idea of a legal way to strip the Mainnd of its power was too tempting to ignore.

  ***

  The Outnds were a graveyard of silence, broken only by the wet crunch of three demons gnawing on sun-bleached bones.

  One demon paused, its nostrils fring as it caught a scent. It turned, squinting at a lone silhouette approaching from the grey mist. Before it could even snarl, the air around it shrieked.

  The demon was yanked across the dirt by an invisible force, smming face-to-face with the Silver Mask. Leeseo’s eyes were a terrifying swirl of Flux-blue and Chaos-purple.

  "Xin," she hissed, her voice vibrating with telekinetic pressure. "Where is he?"

  The demon didn't beg. It bared its bck teeth and shrieked, "Burn in oblivion!"

  Squelch.

  Leeseo didn't blink as she drove her bde through its heart. As it dissolved into ash, she didn't wait; she dashed forward, her powers fring to lift the remaining two demons into the air like ragdolls.

  "ANSWER ME!"

  The demons only groaned, their twisted bodies contorting under her grip. Leeseo dropped her stance, her hand trembling as it tightened around the hilt of the bde that used to belong to Sungmin. She closed her eyes, trying to tap into the void that lived inside her now.

  "Chaos..." she whispered, her lungs burning. "...Whisper!"

  She lunged, but the expected explosion of reality-warping power didn't come. Instead, a pathetic, jagged wave of purple energy sputtered out, merely searing the demon’s face.

  "Dammit!" Leeseo cursed, her frustration boiling over. "I can’t get that right!"

  In a fit of rage, she ended it the old-fashioned way, impaling the demon’s heart with raw force.

  The final demon tried to crawl away, but a shimmering golden nce erupted through its chest from behind. A Celestial Knight, glowing with an ethereal, holy light, stood over the creature as it faded into nothingness.

  Leeseo whirled around, her mask glistening with the residue of the fight. "You’ve been following me all night," she spat, her telekinesis humming around her. "Who are you?"

  The Celestial Knight didn't answer. It simply stepped aside, dissolving into light to reveal Jaejin standing there, hands in his pockets.

  "Hello," he said, that unsettling, pyful smile fixed on his face. "I’m from the Covenant, and I am here to talk to you."

  "I am not interested—"

  "It’s about killing Xin."

  Leeseo froze. The name hung in the air like a death sentence. Jaejin took a step closer, his yellow eyes reflecting the purple glow of her mask.

  Grief.