265 OPEN SESAME
Their hope flickered.
"Your powers."
The halo on his chest spun violently.
A surge of plasma erupted—but this was no ordinary discharge.
The entire chamber was swallowed by searing light. The farm was extinguished in an instant. Even the family heads—Macan Nuralith, Rione Veyran, Exoren Atheris, Governor Lawrene—were blasted from their feet, their bodies charred beyond recognition.
"Damn it," Damen muttered in shock. "Since when did my plasma get this strong?"
He descended quickly, checking the fallen leaders.
They were still alive…. But barely.
Without much of a thought, he transported them into his personal space—for storage.
Notifications flared before his eyes.
"Halo's Conviction successfully deployed."
"Halo's Judgment damage multiplied by five."
"…What the hell does that mean?" Damen muttered.
Then it clicked.
Halo's Conviction—the second form of Halo's Judgment—wasn't a new skill at all. It was the critical manifestation of the same technique….the Critical Hit….
… giving five times the output.
"Hell," Damen laughed hoarsely, "that's so bloody cool."
Still, the conditions troubled him.
"Was Conviction random… or triggered by something specific?"
He pushed the question aside for later.
After all—
He still had victims to hunt.
-----
Damen returned to the hidden van where Liorea had been monitoring the battle at the farm.
Her eyes widened as he stepped inside. "Boss… I know you're strong, but since when did you become this OP?" she asked, half-awed, half-suspicious.
"It's strategy," Damen replied calmly. "Using my greatest strengths against their weaknesses—and turning their strengths into liabilities."
Liorea snorted. "Only Kail would believe that." She let it go anyway.
A moment later, Kail's hologram flickered to life. "Big Brother… did you really take down all four Wardens? Where did their bodies go? And what about the family heads?"
"I stored them in my personal space," Damen said simply.
"You can keep humans inside your space?" Liorea asked, intrigued. "I didn't know that was even possible."
"I found out by accident," Damen explained. "When I pulled Argent—still strapped into a nightmare hibernation machine—into my space. The machine kept running. He was alive."
Liorea's eyes lit up. "So, humans can survive in your space as long as they have life support?"
"Yes," Damen confirmed.
"Good," she said with a slow smile. "That opens up… many possibilities."
Kail hesitated. "But how did you store them this time? They weren't connected to machines when you took them."
Damen smiled. "I prepared a dozen life-support tanks inside my space ahead of time. The moment a living target enters, they're transferred directly into a tank. It activates automatically—life support and powerful sedation included."
"Why keep those bastards alive at all?" Liorea asked. "Why not just erase them?"
"I have plans for them," Damen replied, smiling faintly.
Kail nodded. "So… are we heading back now?"
"No," Damen said.
He pulled up his tracking screen.
"Damn it. He's not here," he growled. "Where did he go?"
"Who are you looking for, Big Brother?" Kail asked.
Damen's expression darkened.
"That bloody Argent."
-----
[Shortly after Black Halo attacked Godfather in the farm]
Argent fled the mansion at full speed.
"That moron Black Halo is here again," he snarled as he sprinted toward the shuttles. He threw out a command signal to start the engine…
But nothing responded.
His blood ran cold. The shuttle's circuitry was dead, burned out. Every chip on the shuttle was fried by the earlier EMP surge.
"What the hell?" he muttered. "Why did everything fail at once?"
He veered into the garage.
Rows of vehicles sat lifeless and powerless…. just like the shuttles.
"Damn it! Nothing works here anymore."
With no other choice, Argent ran—straight out of the farm, boots pounding against dirt and gravel.
Behind him, the mansion groaned, walls cracked and the earth itself seemed to scream.
He didn't look back.
"I don't care what's happening there anymore", he thought desperately. "I just need to get out."
Argent had seen Black Halo's power.
He wasn't just a supervillain.
He was a demon.
A being that could rip life from the living—he'd seen it with his own eyes. If Black Halo caught him, there would be nothing left of him.
Argent ran until his lungs burned.
Then there was hope.
Several vehicles were parked far from the farm, untouched by the earlier EMP wave. They belonged to Luna Trionix and her team.
"Who are you?" Luna demanded, her gun snapping up as she spotted Argent.
"I'm commandeering your vehicle," Argent said flatly.
Before anyone could react, one of the vehicles powered on by itself. The engine hummed as it rolled forward, obediently stopping beside him.
Argent didn't hesitate. He leapt inside.
"…Finally," he whispered.
"Are we really going to let him steal our ride home?" someone muttered to Luna.
She considered it for a brief moment, her eyes narrowing—then shook her head.
"Let him go," Luna said. "We have room in the others. There's no point wasting time here over an argument."
The engine roared.
Moments later, Argent drove away, disappearing into the darkness.
-----
Empty roads stretched endlessly ahead as Argent fled into nowhere.
Then the world betrayed him.
The asphalt ahead rose.The road shattered, folding upward like a wall, severing his path.
"What the hell—?!" Argent shouted as he slammed the brakes.
He stumbled out of the vehicle.
Suddenly, a voice drifted through the air.
"Argent, my dear… where do you think you're going?"
He froze.
Slowly, he turned.
Sienna stood there—calm, composed—flanked by several others.
"S-Sienna…" he whispered, disbelief draining his strength.
"Brother," she said softly, "where are you going without your sister?"
His legs gave out. Argent collapsed to the ground begging.
"It wasn't my fault!" he pleaded. "I didn't want to betray you—I was forced—"
"I know," Sienna replied.
She paused.
"Give me the Core of Pietre."
Trembling, Argent raised his hands.
A rotating cylindrical stone materialized between them, spinning slowly, radiating unstable power. The sphere floated towards Sienna.
"Good," said the man standing beside Sienna.
He was massive, built like a champion bodybuilder, every muscle coiled beneath his simple uniform. The only ornament was an elaborate 'M' emblazoned on his chest, sharp and commanding.
Argent's eyes widened in sheer terror. "C-Captain Momentum… please… spare me."
The world suddenly compressed around Argent.
Gravity folded inward—a hundred times its normal force.
Argent didn't even have time to scream.
His body imploded, crushed into a violent slurry of blood and ruin.
"We could've kept him alive," Erythos said quietly. "He was useful. Without the artifact controlling him, he might've returned to his old self."
Sienna smiled faintly.
"There is no return once someone betrays the Alliance of Evolution," she said.
"Only punishment—innocent or not. As for usefulness…"
Her gaze hardened.
"There are always others."
Erythos understood then.
There were no indispensable allies in the Alliance…. Only absolute loyalty.
Another man stepped forward, wrapped in a massive turban, long pointed whiskers framing his face.
"Ali," Sienna said, turning away, "take us home."
Ali smiled. "Open Sesame."
A portal bloomed open before them.
They stepped through—and vanished.
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