Chapter 74: The Messenger at the Gate
The spatial fold tore open above Eden’s receiving platform.
Glen stepped through first.
Ash fell from his coat in black flakes. Blood had dried along the side of his jaw. His sword was still in his hand, but the blade hung low, loose, like he had forgotten to put it away.
Isla came through behind him, Frostbreaker dim on her arm. Caleb followed with his gravity focus held close to his chest, eyes sharp despite the exhaustion on his face.
The fold closed.
Mary was not there.
For a moment, the platform only hummed.
Drones floated above them. Scholars watched from behind glass. Eden operatives stood at the edge of the steel circle with rifles lowered but ready.
Vane waited near the observation rail.
Malachi stood beside him, white mask angled toward Glen.
Vane looked once at Glen.
Then at Isla.
Then at Caleb.
Then at the empty space where Mary should have appeared.
"Where is she?"
Glen walked forward.
"Gone."
Vane’s fingers paused over his tablet. "Dead?"
Glen stopped.
The closest operative shifted his grip on his rifle.
Isla’s eyes moved to him.
The operative froze.
Glen looked at Vane. "Try again."
Vane held his stare for a second too long.
Then he lowered the tablet slightly. "Did she leave on her own?"
Glen did not answer.
That was answer enough.
Malachi stepped forward. "What happened outside?"
Glen’s jaw flexed. "Johannesburg is worse."
"How much worse?"
"Bad enough that your drones should have seen it already."
One of the scholars in the control pit swallowed and looked away too quickly.
Glen noticed.
So did Vane.
Before the silence could sharpen, an alarm cut through the platform.
Not the normal warning pulse.
A harsh amber shriek.
The lights along the receiving chamber shifted. Holographic walls opened above the control pit, throwing live surveillance feeds into the air.
An operator leaned over his console. "South-east perimeter. Movement near the sealed access road."
Vane turned. "Show it."
The main feed expanded.
Static.
Ash.
A broken service road hidden beneath collapsed highways and dead machinery.
Then someone stumbled into view.
Fraser Lennox slammed into a concrete barrier shoulder-first, nearly falling before he caught himself. His armor was cracked open at the ribs. One side of his face was covered in blood. His blond hair was filthy with ash, and the hand pressed to his stomach trembled so badly the data shard inside his grip almost slipped free.
Glen stared at him.
Fraser Lennox.
The name tasted old.
Academy halls. Gold-trimmed uniforms. That smug mouth. That fire in his hands and contempt in his eyes.
Now Fraser could barely stand.
He hit the barrier again with the side of his fist.
"Open it!" His voice came through the drone audio, broken by static. "Open the damn gate! I have a sealed message for Doctor Vane!"
The operator’s fingers flew over the console.
"Signal confirmed. Black-and-gold Valor seal. Origin signature belongs to Elias Vance."
Vane’s expression changed.
Only a little.
Enough.
Fraser turned suddenly.
The ash behind him moved.
Something crawled over the roof of a crushed armored truck.
A mutated ash fiend dragged itself into the road, too large for the narrow space between the ruined vehicles. Its body bulged with corrupted cores half-buried beneath black flesh. Four arms scraped across the concrete. Its head was split open from crown to jaw, red light burning inside like a furnace.
Fraser raised one hand.
Fire gathered around his fingers.
Small.
Weak.
He fired anyway.
The burst struck the fiend’s shoulder and blew a chunk from its body.
The hole filled itself before the creature finished its next step.
Fraser backed away.
"Open the gate!" he shouted again.
The fiend charged.
Glen moved toward the exit.
Malachi’s hand lifted. "The perimeter route is sealed."
Glen did not stop. "Then unseal it."
"There is no time."
On the feed, the fiend reached Fraser.
Then the sky above the service road went dark.
A roar ripped through the speakers so hard the audio cracked.
The mutated fiend stopped.
Something dropped from the ash cloud and struck the road between Fraser and the monster.
A black-scaled drake landed hard enough to split the concrete beneath its claws. Its wings spread wide, throwing ash away in a violent wave. Red light burned deep in its throat.
Standing on its back was Evander Buchanan.
The S Rank Dragon Knight stepped down like he had arrived late to a lesson he did not respect.
His coat was torn at the edges. Black blood streaked one sleeve. A long spear rested in his hand, crimson mana burning along the blade with quiet pressure.
The fiend screamed at him.
Evander looked at it.
That was all.
One look.
Then he moved.
His spear pierced the creature’s forward shoulder and pinned the limb to the road. The drake’s tail smashed into the monster’s ribs with a crack that carried through the speakers. The fiend twisted, trying to tear itself free.
Evander pulled the spear out.
Spun once.
Drove the blade into the largest corrupted core in its chest.
The core flashed red.
The drake opened its jaws.
Crimson fire poured into the wound.
The fiend thrashed. Its claws tore trenches through concrete. The red light inside its skull flared brighter, then burst outward through every crack in its body.
The monster collapsed.
Less than ten seconds.
No speech.
No struggle.
No wasted motion.
The receiving platform went silent.
Glen watched the feed without blinking.
The academy arena flashed through his mind.
His back hitting the floor.
Blood in his mouth.
Evander standing over him with that same calm expression.
Not angry.
Not proud.
Just certain.
Fraser had mocked him because he thought Glen was beneath him.
Evander had beaten him because Glen had been beneath him.
There was a difference.
On the screen, Fraser sank to one knee, still clutching the data shard.
Evander turned toward him. "Stand."
Fraser tried.
Failed.
Evander looked toward the hidden drone.
"Eden," he said. "Your messenger is bleeding outside your door."
Vane stepped closer to the feed. "Evander Buchanan."
Evander’s gaze shifted slightly. "Doctor Vane."
"You are standing outside a restricted access road."
"I noticed."
"Why are you here?"
Evander glanced toward the ash behind him.
More shapes moved there.
Smaller first.
Then larger ones behind them.
"I followed the things chasing him."
A fiend shrieked from somewhere beyond the road.
Fraser flinched.
Evander did not.
Vane’s voice lowered. "What is Elias sending?"
Evander looked down at Fraser’s closed fist. "Open the gate and ask him."
"That is not how Eden works."
Evander’s spear lowered slightly.
The drake’s throat glowed.
"Then let me explain how outside works," Evander said. "The road behind me is filling with mutated fiends. The one I just killed was not the largest. If Elias Vance used Fraser Lennox as a messenger, then the message matters. If you leave him here while you think, he dies."
Fraser’s breathing crackled through the audio.
"Please," he rasped.
Glen looked at Vane.
"Open it."
Vane did not turn. "You do not command Eden."
Glen stepped closer.
"No. But I am standing in it."
The operatives shifted.
Isla’s hand moved near her coat.
Caleb’s focus gave a low hum.
Glen did not look at either of them.
He did not need to.
Malachi turned toward the control pit. "Partial opening. Retrieval team only."
The operators moved.
On the feed, the ruined road split.
Concrete plates hidden beneath the ash unlocked. Blue light spilled through the opening behind Fraser.
Two Eden operatives rushed out.
The fiends charged at the same time.
Evander turned away from the drone.
The first fiend leapt.
His spear cut upward.
The creature split from hip to shoulder before it touched the ground.
The second came low. The drake crushed it under one claw.
The third tried to slip past toward the gate.
Evander threw his spear.
The blade pierced its skull and nailed it to the side of a burned vehicle.
Then he lifted one hand.
The spear tore itself free and flew back to him in a streak of crimson mana.
Clean.
Fast.
Irritating.
Glen’s fingers tightened.
Not around his sword.
Around nothing.
Evander looked toward the drone again.
This time, Glen knew the look was for him.
"Mcdonald."
Glen stepped closer to the hologram. "Buchanan."
Fraser’s head snapped up at the sound of his voice.
His eyes widened.
Glen ignored him.
Evander studied him through the feed. His gaze moved over the ash on Glen’s coat, the blood on his jaw, the sword in his hand.
"You look terrible."
Glen’s mouth curved. "You always were bad at compliments."
Evander gave a faint smile.
The drake growled.
Evander touched its neck with two fingers, and the beast went quiet.
That single motion made half the room hold its breath.
"Still standing?" Evander asked.
Glen’s eyes cooled. "You taught me not to fall."
The smile faded from Evander’s face.
For a moment, the old arena sat between them again.
Then another roar came from the ash behind him.
Evander turned.
The Eden operatives dragged Fraser through the opening.
The gate began closing.
Evander took one step after them, then paused near the threshold and looked back at the road.
More red lights burned in the smoke.
Too many.
His expression hardened for the first time.
Not fear.
Calculation.
"Tell your people to listen to the message," he said.
The gate sealed.
The feed cut.
A second later, Fraser Lennox was dragged onto Eden’s receiving platform and dropped to his knees.
He looked up.
His eyes found Glen.
For a heartbeat, neither of them spoke.
The old Fraser would have sneered.
This one swallowed blood.
Then he lifted the data shard.
"For Vane," he said, voice rough.
Vane stepped forward.
Glen took the shard first.
Vane’s eyes turned blacker.
Fraser stared at Glen’s hand like he could not believe he had moved fast enough to intercept it.
Glen looked down at him. "Elias sent you?"
Fraser nodded once.
"He said... if Eden ignores this, Johannesburg falls."
Vane extended his hand. "The shard."
Glen held it away from him.
"Play it."
"It was sealed for me."
Glen looked at the blood dripping from Fraser’s chin onto the clean steel floor.
Then he looked at Vane.
"He nearly died bringing it. Evander nearly had to carve open your road to get him here. If you want privacy, build a braver facility."
Vane stared at him.
For a moment, it looked like he might refuse.
Then Malachi spoke.
"Play it."
Vane’s jaw tightened.
The shard activated.
A hologram rose above the platform.
Elias Vance appeared in blue-gold light.
He looked half-dead.
His armor was gone. His chest was wrapped in glowing surgical bindings. Tubes ran into one arm. His face was pale, but his eyes still had the same hard shine Glen remembered.
"Vane," Elias said. "If this reaches you, Sector Three is gone."
No one moved.
"The ash infection is spreading through monster cores. The fiends are mutating faster than Valor can contain. Every corpse left behind becomes material. Every core they consume makes the next wave worse."
The projection flickered.
Elias coughed, then kept speaking.
"The Wanderer is not burning Johannesburg down."
His eyes sharpened.
"He is building something inside it."
The room stayed silent.
Fraser lowered his head.
Elias continued, "Valor cannot hold the outer roads. The Association is lying to prevent panic. Astra has already started moving private assets out of the city."
Vane’s fingers curled once.
"I am sending you restricted core maps, armory locations, and the remaining safe routes under my seal. Use them or do not. But if Eden stays underground while this spreads, there will be no city left above you to hide beneath."
The hologram flickered again.
Elias leaned closer.
"And Glen Mcdonald."
Glen’s eyes narrowed.
"If you are there, do not mistake this for a request to save anyone. Johannesburg is full of monsters carrying cores that should not exist."
A bitter smile touched Elias’s mouth.
"You wanted power. There it is."
The projection died.
The platform remained quiet.
Glen looked at the empty space where Elias had been.
Then at Fraser, still kneeling.
Then at the sealed gate where Evander had entered from the ash.
For a moment, Mary’s voice returned.
Reach S Rank.
Glen looked at Vane.
"Maps."
Vane studied him carefully. "And what exactly do you plan to do with them?"
Glen smiled.
Small.
Ugly.
"Use them."
