Location: Mountain Descent – Eastern Tavara
The rumble of the collapsing facility shook the mountain to its roots.
Nora gripped Damien's hand tightly as they sprinted through the jagged escape tunnel, the walls shuddering with every aftershock. Behind them, a dull orange glow lit the darkness—Genesis wasn't just awake. He was rising.
"Keep moving!" Nora shouted, vaulting over a cracked beam.
Damien winced as his still-healing shoulder slammed against a stone outcrop. "He's not chasing us," he said, breathless. "He's clearing a path. Why?"
"He's not following," Reiss's voice crackled through the earpiece. "He's headed to surface coordinates—marked as Legacy Point."
Damien's blood ran cold.
Legacy Point. His mother's final resting site. The place of her exile. The location buried in the Kane family archives. Only three people ever knew its exact coordinates.
One of them… was Damien.
---
Location: Emergency Exfil Site – 12km from Valenridge
A black chopper hummed on standby as Reiss met them by the cliff's edge. His coat whipped in the wind, face grim, eyes locked on the plumes of smoke curling from the mountain's base.
"Genesis isn't a weapon anymore," he said. "He's searching for purpose. His memories—what little they gave him—are tied to you, Damien."
Damien sat heavily on a crate, blood smearing the sleeve of his tactical vest. "He said he recognized my voice… from his dreams."
"They grafted parts of your DNA into him," Reiss replied. "Ashfall wasn't about war. It was about cloning legacy. They wanted a version of you they could control."
"Then they failed," Nora said, handing Damien water. "Because Damien isn't someone you control."
Damien drank, then stared into the distance. "If he's headed to Legacy Point, he'll find more than a grave."
Reiss looked sharply at him. "What do you mean?"
"There's something buried there. A vault. My mother left it for me... but I was too afraid to open it after she died."
Nora's voice softened. "And now you think he'll open it for you?"
Damien didn't answer. His gaze was fixed—haunted and unreadable.
---
Location: Tavaran Eastern Border – Private Estate
Meanwhile, far across Tavara, a man in a silk robe stood on a veranda, watching the smoke trail in the distance. Beside him, a woman in midnight armor sipped wine, her lips curling into a smirk.
"So… Genesis has awakened."
The man nodded, placing a black knight chess piece on a velvet board. "And Damien Kane is exactly where we want him."
The woman chuckled. "Let the fire cleanse Tavara. But when the ashes settle, only one legacy shall remain."
---
Location: Legacy Point – Hours Later
The earth cracked beneath Genesis's feet as he stood atop the windswept ridge. His silver eyes flicked toward a gravestone etched in gold and moss:
> Evelyn S. Kane
"The flame that birthed a storm."
He knelt, placing his hand over the grave. "I remember your voice," he whispered. "You called me child… when no one else did."
The wind howled. Beneath the stone, a mechanism clicked.
A steel vault slowly opened.
Inside, a black case glowed faintly—DNA locked. For Damien. And now… for Genesis too.