"Run…"
The word barely escaped Lia's lips.
Faint.
Fragile.
Like something already fading away.
Adam didn't move.
He couldn't.
Not while she was breaking right in front of him.
Not while whatever remained of her was still fighting.
"No," he said quietly.
Firm.
Final.
Above them, the man watched in silence.
Not intervening.
Not rushing.
Just observing.
As if this moment… mattered.
"Still refusing to leave," he said calmly.
Adam's gaze snapped upward.
Cold.
Focused.
"This ends now."
The man's lips curved slightly.
"No," he replied.
A pause.
"It begins now."
The sound came first.
Footsteps.
Multiple.
Fast.
Precise.
Closing in from every direction.
Adam turned instantly.
Too late.
They were already there.
Figures emerged from the shadows—black uniforms, masked faces, moving with unnatural coordination.
Silent.
Efficient.
Surrounding them.
Lia tried to stand.
Her body failed.
She collapsed again, her breathing uneven, fingers digging into the ground as if she could hold herself together by force.
"…Adam…" she whispered.
Weak.
Distant.
One of the masked figures stepped forward.
No hesitation.
No fear.
He raised a small device.
A sharp pulse cut through the air—
And struck Lia directly.
Her body stiffened instantly.
Every muscle locked.
Then—
Stillness.
"LIA!"
Adam moved.
Exploded forward.
But something intercepted him.
Fast.
A strike from the side.
He blocked—barely.
Pain shot through his arm.
Another attacker followed.
Then another.
They moved like a system.
Like they had done this before.
Too many times.
Adam fought back.
Not carefully.
Not strategically.
Violently.
He grabbed one of them mid-motion—too fast, too strong—and slammed him into the ground hard enough to crack the pavement.
Another came from behind.
Adam turned, striking without hesitation.
His movements were sharper now.
Cleaner.
Something inside him was changing again.
Adapting.
Above—
The man watched.
Silent.
Interested.
Adam broke through two more attackers.
His breathing heavy.
His vision narrowing.
Everything felt slower.
Clearer.
He could see it now—
Their patterns.
Their timing.
Their mistakes.
Then—
A sound.
Behind him.
Too late.
Adam turned—
And froze.
Two of them had already reached Lia.
One restrained her.
The other injected something into her neck.
Dark.
Thick.
Wrong.
Her body reacted instantly.
Violently.
A silent scream caught in her throat.
Then—
Nothing.
Complete stillness.
"No…"
The word slipped from Adam's mouth.
Then louder—
"NO!"
He moved again.
Faster.
Harder.
Desperate.
But this time—
He didn't even get close.
A force hit him.
Not a strike.
Not a punch.
Something heavier.
Something absolute.
Adam crashed into the ground.
The impact knocked the breath out of him.
For a second—
Everything went silent.
Then he felt it.
That presence.
He looked up slowly.
And saw him.
The man.
Standing between him… and Lia.
Untouched.
Unmoved.
As if none of this had required effort.
"You're improving," he said calmly.
Adam forced himself up.
His body shaking.
His breath uneven.
"You're not taking her."
The man looked at him.
Not with anger.
Not with threat.
With certainty.
"Yes," he said.
"We are."
Behind him, Lia's unconscious body was lifted.
Carried away like something valuable.
Something owned.
Adam stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Every movement heavier than the last.
But he didn't stop.
"Stop…" he said.
Low.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
The man tilted his head slightly.
"Or what?"
Silence.
Heavy.
Adam's fists tightened slowly.
Blood dripped from his knuckles.
"I'll destroy everything you built."
A pause.
His voice dropped lower.
"I swear it."
For the first time—
The man smiled.
Not amused.
Not mocking.
Interested.
"I hope you do," he said quietly.
Then he stepped back.
Into the darkness.
And disappeared.
The others followed.
One by one.
Gone.
Like they were never there.
Silence returned.
But it felt different now.
Empty.
Cold.
Adam stood alone in the street.
Breathing heavily.
The space where Lia had been…
Now empty.
His body trembled.
Not from pain.
From something else.
Something colder.
Deeper.
Slowly—
He looked down at his hands.
Then closed them tightly.
"They took you…"
A pause.
His voice turned quiet.
Sharp.
Unrecognizable.
"…so now I come for them."
And for the first time…
Adam wasn't trying to survive.
He was preparing for war.