✨ CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN — THE MARCH TOWARD THE CITADEL ✨
The wind howled across the skeletal remains of the city as Aiden, Maya, and Dara advanced toward the Citadel. The massive tower loomed in the distance like a spear stabbing the sky, wrapped in pulsing crimson veins.
Aiden walked ahead of the others, wings trailing faint golden-white sparks that hissed as they touched the broken pavement. Every step he took left a soft ripple of light behind—like reality itself was trying to reconfigure around his Ascension.
Maya jogged to catch up, scanning the horizon. "Dominion drones are retreating. They're clearing the airspace."
Dara adjusted the scrap-metal armor he'd looted from a wreck. "Why do I feel like that's not a good thing?"
Maya didn't look away from her visor display. "It's not.
If they're pulling back… they're preparing for something bigger."
Aiden stopped.
He didn't need a visor.
He felt it.
A wave.
A pulse.
A vibration through the air like the heartbeat of a giant.
"The Hunters," Aiden said quietly. "They're coming."
---
THE SKY BREAKS OPEN
The clouds split.
Six streaks of red light tore through the sky, descending in perfect formation. They landed in a semicircle around the trio, each impact crater spraying debris in all directions.
When the dust settled—
Six Hunters stood silently, towering figures in obsidian armor, each with glowing crimson visors shaped like jagged slashes.
Dara gulped. "Nope. Nope. Nope. I take everything back. Can we go home?"
Maya stepped protectively beside Aiden. "These aren't Executors. These are the Dominion's elite ground enforcers. They specialize in hunting Ascended humans."
Aiden's wings flexed, golden-white energy humming in response.
"They're not here to hunt," he said. "They're here to delay."
One of the Hunters took a step forward, voice metallic and deep:
"Subject Aiden Kai.
Vessel signature: unstable.
Ascended status: unauthorized.
Your advance toward the Citadel is prohibited."
Dara muttered, "It's always the same speech with these guys…"
Aiden didn't respond to the Hunter.
Instead, he raised a hand—palm glowing with a contained storm of energy.
"You're in my way."
---
THE FIRST STRIKE
The lead Hunter exploded forward.
But Aiden was faster.
In a single motion, he caught the Hunter's fist mid-swing. The impact cracked the ground beneath them, sending a shockwave of rubble outward.
Aiden clenched tighter.
The Hunter staggered.
Golden flames erupted around Aiden's grip—controlled, precise, burning through layers of the armored gauntlet.
Maya's eyes widened. "Aiden… your control—"
"I'm adapting," he said calmly.
He twisted—
—and flung the Hunter across an entire block.
It crashed through two buildings before skidding to a halt in a spiral of smoke.
Dara froze, mouth open. "Bro… you just yeeted a skyscraper bouncer across the map."
---
THE FORMATION BREAKS
The remaining Hunters moved simultaneously.
Two flanked from above.
Two rushed from ground level.
One burrowed underground, seismic tremors shaking the street.
Aiden lifted a hand.
Maya understood instantly.
She leapt, weaving silver threads into the air, forming floating platforms, barriers, angles of attack.
"Aiden—left side incoming!" she shouted.
Dara spun his metal pipe like a baton. "I GOT THE UNDERGROUND ONE—NO I DON'T—OH MY GOD IT'S FAST—"
The street burst open as the burrowing Hunter erupted upward.
Before it could strike Dara—
Aiden appeared above it, heel dropping like a meteor.
BOOM!
The Hunter slammed back into the hole it came from.
Maya used her threads to restrain another, binding its arms with gravitational pressure points.
Three still circled above, wings glowing crimson.
Aiden rose into the air, golden energy spiraling.
"You don't understand," he said softly. "I'm not fighting you."
His aura expanded—shifting, warping the air like molten glass.
"You're fighting what I've become."
---
VESSEL ASCENSION — PHASE TWO
The world dimmed.
Aiden's wings doubled in size, each feather glowing with layered sigils. His eyes burned brighter, no longer just golden—now threaded with pure white energy.
The sky responded with a thunderous echo.
The Hunters all paused simultaneously.
Their visors flickered.
"Warning:
Vessel output…
Exceeding Dominion thresholds…"
Aiden vanished.
A streak of golden-white light.
He reappeared between the airborne Hunters.
One punch.
One explosion.
One falling titan.
Second punch.
Crimson armor shattered.
Third—he didn't even strike. His aura alone blasted the last Hunter out of the sky.
They fell like meteorites, crashing into distant structures.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even the wind seemed to pause in fear.
Dara stepped out from behind a dumpster. "…Hey, uh… did we win?"
Maya stared at Aiden—awed, unsettled, proud.
"Aiden… your Vessel isn't destabilizing. It's synchronizing."
Aiden slowly descended, wings folding softly.
"That's why the Dominion is afraid," he said. "Because they're losing control."
He turned toward the Citadel.
Its crimson veins pulsed faster—like a heart preparing for war.
"Hunters won't stop us. Executors won't stop us. Nothing will."
He looked at Maya and Dara.
"Because we're done playing defense."
---
THE MARCH CONTINUES
The trio resumed walking—no hesitation this time.
Each step brought them closer to the tower.
And with each step, the Citadel reacted—lights shifting, alarms echoing, entire districts powering on.
The Dominion knew he was coming.
Aiden whispered:
"Good. Let them know."