The night air was still as Sebastian and Asher stood outside a quiet, distant residence hidden beyond the city's edge.
A simple house.
No guards.
No defenses visible.
"This is it," Sebastian said quietly.
Asher looked at him. "You said he left after one mission."
Sebastian's eyes darkened.
"It wasn't just a mission."
And the past returned.
Years Ago
It was Sebastian's first real battlefield operation.
He was younger.
Less hardened.
Still proving himself.
The mission was classified high-risk. A hostile faction had seized a gravity-core reactor facility. If it detonated, an entire district would collapse into itself.
Sebastian stood beside two elites.
Wang Wei.
And Helena.
Helena was precise and fearless — her ability allowed her to manipulate kinetic flow, redirecting force and accelerating her movements beyond normal limits. She moved like flowing light.
Wang Wei stood calm.
Silent.
Even back then, the air around him felt heavier.
The enemies attacked in waves.
Explosions tore through the facility.
Steel collapsed.
Sebastian charged forward, blade in hand.
He fought well.
Until he didn't.
A shockwave from an enemy blast hit him mid-air.
His ribs cracked.
He slammed into a broken column.
Blood filled his mouth.
He tried to stand—
His leg failed.
Across the battlefield, Helena was overwhelmed.
Three enhanced operatives cornered her near the unstable reactor core.
She redirected their strikes—
Countered—
Moved faster than sight—
But she was tiring.
"Sebastian!" she shouted.
He tried to rise again.
He couldn't breathe.
Wang Wei saw her.
He moved instantly.
The air distorted around him.
Gravity bent.
The ground beneath his feet fractured as he launched forward.
But—
An energy barrier activated between him and Helena.
A containment wall.
Transparent.
Unbreakable from his side.
Helena turned.
For a brief second, their eyes met.
Not fear.
Not regret.
Just understanding.
The enemies attacked simultaneously.
One blade pierced her side.
Another struck her shoulder.
The third—
Drove through her chest.
Time slowed.
Sebastian screamed.
Wang Wei slammed his hand against the barrier.
The structure warped under gravitational pressure.
Cracked—
But not fast enough.
Helena collapsed.
Blood spread across the metal floor.
The barrier finally shattered.
Too late.
Wang Wei caught her before she hit the ground.
She tried to speak.
Her hand trembled as it touched his face.
And then—
Nothing.
The reactor alarms screamed.
The building trembled.
Wang Wei knelt there for three full seconds.
Silent.
Then something changed.
The air became impossibly heavy.
The gravity field across the entire facility inverted.
Enemies were crushed into the floor.
Steel beams bent like paper.
The reactor stabilized under pure spatial compression.
The battlefield ended in less than ten seconds.
But victory meant nothing.
Wang Wei stood, carrying Helena's body.
His expression was empty.
Not rage.
Not sorrow.
Just absence.
The next morning—
He resigned.
No speech.
No explanation.
Only one sentence.
"I will not fight for a world that takes everything."
And he disappeared.
Present
Sebastian finished speaking.
Silence surrounded them.
Asher felt the weight of it.
"So he lost her… because he couldn't reach her."
Sebastian nodded.
"He was the strongest person on that battlefield."
"But strength wasn't enough."
Asher looked at the quiet house before them.
A man who could bend gravity.
Who could compress space.
Who could crush armies.
And yet—
Couldn't save the one person he loved.
Sebastian stepped forward.
"He won't welcome us."
Asher clenched his fist.
"We don't need him to welcome us."
A faint wind moved through the trees.
The door to the house stood ahead.
And beyond it—
The man who moved like a god.
But fell like a human.
Sebastian raised his hand.
And knocked.