"Kill the man, and you kill a body. Kill the idea, and you kill a future."
Midnight blanketed Brimvale in silver shadows.
Zayden stood atop CoreMed's rooftop, watching stars shimmer over the hills. Below, music echoed from the village square—laughter, drums, the pulse of a reborn people.
Behind him… silence.
A flicker of movement.
A glint of silver.
Then—
TWHIP.
An arrow sliced through the night air, aimed straight for his heart. It was no ordinary shaft—its tip glistened with a poison drawn from midnight roots, brewed to paralyze gods.
M.A.I.A.'s voice cracked in his ear.
"DANGER: High-velocity projectile inbound!"
He turned. Not fast enough to dodge—just enough to shift.
The arrow sank deep into his shoulder.
Pain ignited.
He dropped, rolled behind a solar vent. Gritting his teeth. Breathing in sparks. Blood seeping into the steel floor.
Across the rooftop, a figure landed without sound. Cloaked in black feathers. Masked in runes shaped like a bird's skull.
"You should've stayed in your time, boy," she said.
Zayden's vision blurred. The poison surged through him like fire. His hand shook as he raised it.
"M.A.I.A… counteragent… now."
"Synthesizing. Twenty-two seconds."
Twenty-two seconds.
An eternity when death stood ten feet away.
—
In the village square, the stage came alive with flickering lights.
The crowd gathered. Expectant.
G-Rock stepped forward, mic-staff in hand, electric lute strapped across his back like a weapon. He touched the soundpad. A low hum built beneath his boots.
"This one goes out to the man who cured our kids, fed our people, and dropped beats harder than anvils."
The first beat hit.
Lights spun. Smoke danced.
And the anthem erupted.
🎶
From sky he came, with light and flame,
The crown may rule, but we rename.
We are the fire, we are the fight —
We follow Core into the night.
🎶
The village roared.
They didn't know it yet, but that song would spark revolutions in three kingdoms. It would be banned in the capital within days. And still—it would spread.
G-Rock held up a hand as the final note echoed like a war cry.
"Zayden Core ain't just the future. He's our future."
—
The assassin drew another arrow.
Zayden leaned against the vent, pale, sweating, clutching the shaft in his shoulder. Yet even now, he smiled.
"You know… most assassins talk too much. You? You're efficient. I respect that."
She didn't reply.
"Counteragent ready," M.A.I.A. said.
A small injector slid from his wrist. He jammed it into his neck.
Relief washed over him like ice water. The poison's grip loosened.
The assassin lunged.
Zayden grabbed a dropped glow-spanner, twisted, and slammed it into her mask.
CLANG.
She staggered back.
He reached forward and ripped the mask off.
She was young. Pale. A scar split her brow. Her eyes—calculated one second ago—now flickered with something else.
Confusion.
Doubt.
"You don't believe in the kill anymore, do you?" he said, panting.
She vanished into smoke, leaping into the shadows. But she left something behind.
A black iron emblem, still warm.
M.A.I.A. scanned it.
"Assassin Order: The Black Feathers. Contract signed by… Royal Hand of Velgarde."
Zayden's jaw tightened.
"So the prince made it personal."
—
The anthem echoed beyond Brimvale.
It reached towns that had never seen a burger, never heard a bot, never dared dream of change. Travelers hummed it. Children painted Core's emblem on alley walls.
In one distant tavern, a noble tore down a Zayden poster.
Only to find his own daughter wearing a hand-painted Core pin.
In underground chambers, rebels gathered and whispered.
"He heals. He feeds. He inspires. The kings hoard. He gives."
And in the capital, Prince Thalon hurled a crystal orb at the wall. It shattered in a storm of blue light.
"This future man sings louder than our laws."
Lady Serrin stepped forward, calm as ever.
"Then perhaps it's time we stop dancing around him."
—
At sunrise, Zayden stood before the town, shoulder bandaged, pain buried beneath steel resolve.
He looked out at the people. Farmers. Soldiers. Mothers. Bards. Survivors.
"Last night, someone tried to end this enterprise. To silence our sound. To stop our healing."
He held up the broken arrow.
"This… this is what fear looks like."
He let it fall.
"But we're not scared. We're building. Feeding. Singing. Healing. If that terrifies the kings and cowards…"
He stepped forward.
"Then let them be terrified."
The square exploded with thunderous cheers.
G-Rock hit the anthem again.
Core soldiers slammed their shields to the beat.
Juno loosed an arrow straight into the rising sun.
And Zayden?
He raised his fist high.
Because this wasn't just a business anymore.
It was a movement.
---
📘 END OF CHAPTER 6
Next up:
Chapter 7 – "The Royal Counterstrike"