London, Natural History Museum.
Sersi is standing in front of a display case, explaining the origin of an Bobby artifact to her new boyfriend, Dane.
"Honey, look at this plate, it..." Her smile froze halfway through her sentence.
A blood-red golden message traveled across the vast distance and crashed directly into her consciousness. It included a plea for help, a warning, and the lingering pain of Phastos before his death.
The color drained from Sersi's face quickly.
"Um, Sersi? What's wrong with this plate?"
Dane followed her gaze to the plates in the display case but found nothing unusual.
"Impossible..."
Phastos has been living in seclusion for many years. He has a husband, children, and rarely uses his abilities anymore, living like an ordinary person.
Who will kill him? Who can kill him?
On the other side of the crowd, the Sprite withdrew the small illusion spell covering the exhibits and strode over.
" Sersi, you received it too?"
Sersi nodded, grabbed her wrist, and led her toward the museum exit.
Dane took two steps after him.
"Wait, where are you going?"
"I'm sorry, Dane, I'll explain later."
Sersi didn't turn around; she needed to quickly confirm the situation.
Mumbai, a film set.
Dozens of dancers were surrounding Kingo as she completed the final movement, the music making the studio ceiling tremble slightly.
During the final stages of filming, as she looked at the camera, Kingo's smile suddenly froze.
Before the director could even call "cut," he had already raised his hand.
"Filming is paused."
The music stopped abruptly.
The assistant rushed over with the schedule.
"Sir, the next exclusive interview has already been postponed once, and representatives from the brand are still waiting for you outside."
Cancel all.
Kingo tore off her decorative shawl and strode toward the exit.
The assistant hesitated for a moment, then quickly chased after them.
"But, but we have to do a reshoot tomorrow! At least tell me where you're going so I can arrange the flight."
Kingo stopped in his tracks, turned around, and a golden light shone in his eyes.
I'm going to Chicago.
The initial shock of seeing the message had subsided, replaced by a burning anger within him.
The Australia outback.
The tableware was still on the long table outside the wooden house.
Thena stood in the center of the farm, a golden spear and shield forming simultaneously in her hands. Her breathing was rapid, her gaze passing over Gilgamesh and landing on the distant, empty wilderness.
"They're here! Prepare for battle!"
" Thena, look at me."
Gilgamesh stood in front of her, pressing his hands against her shoulders.
" Thena! Calm down."
Thena seemed not to hear, raising her spear and aiming the blade at Gilgamesh's chest.
He did not back down.
" Thena, don't do this."
Gilgamesh lowered his voice.
"No one will stop you, but you need to calm down first."
Thena's hand holding the spear trembled slightly. A few seconds later, the golden weapon turned into tiny specks of light and vanished from between her fingers, and she collapsed limply.
Gilgamesh helped her up and looked up to the north.
In a bar near a highway in South America.
Ikaris, who was chatting with a beautiful woman, suddenly narrowed his eyes.
The wine glass in his hand was crushed and shattered in an instant; the glass turned into powder in his palm and was then shaken off by the golden energy.
Several customers nearby looked over upon hearing the noise, and the bartender stopped wiping the glasses.
"Excuse me, everyone, I have to go for a moment. I have urgent business to attend to."
Ikaris bowed his head, placed a few banknotes down, and hurried away.
He walked into the alley behind the bar, and after confirming that no one was around, he slowly lifted his feet off the ground.
"No matter who you are, I will find you."
Golden light shot into the night sky, instantly shattering the clouds.
South Dakota.
Ajak sat alone outside the wooden house.
When Phastos's warning came, she simply closed her eyes and slowly tightened her grip.
That strange force devoured his life and stole the Cosmic Energy from his body.
What bothered her even more was the lingering fear in the warning.
Phastos is letting them escape.
Ajak opened his eyes but still did not get up.
Deep in the Amazon Rainforest.
The Druig pushed open the wooden door, and the damp air hit his face.
The villagers were still busy with their own things, and everything was going according to his plan.
He stood at the doorway, hesitant to take the next step.
Phastos is dead.
The clansmen, scattered for many years, will surely reunite, but the warning was too sudden, leaving no trace of the enemy.
Is this a plea for help, or a bait?
The Druig looked north, took a deep breath, and finally left the village.
Inside the Domo spaceship, underground in Iraq.
Makkari sat in the hall filled with books, a novel he had only read halfway through lying on his lap.
Beside the pages filled with annotations, there were also several small gifts prepared for the clansmen.
She had waited too long.
Once the mission is complete, once Ajak recalls everyone, once everyone ends their lives, let's board the Domo again and go home together.
Then came the news of Phastos's death.
Makkari looked up.
The book on my lap fell to the ground.
The next second, golden lightning pierced through the cabin. The underground exit was instantly opened, and years of accumulated dust exploded to both sides.
She had already dashed out of the wasteland in an instant.
Mountains, rivers, highways, and cities blended into a blurry band in the field of vision. The remaining energy of Phastos became the only clear direction, carrying her across the continent, all the way to Chicago.
Only a minute had passed, and the wind on the wasteland hadn't stopped.
Scattered throughout the deep pit were a few golden specks of light, the last traces Phastos left on the world.
A young man was standing at the edge of the pit.
He looked down at his palm, where fine, golden mechanical lines were moving across his skin. Makkari wouldn't mistake that Cosmic Energy.
That belongs to Phastos.
Buzz!
Golden light burst forth beneath Makkari's feet.
She didn't ask any questions, nor did she give him a chance to explain. Her figure circled around the deep pit, and she punched Chen Mo in the back of the head.
A layer of black and red armor appeared instantly, and as the fist landed, dark red ripples spread along the surface of the armor.
Chen Mo tilted his head and commented.
"That was fast."
Makkari, unable to hear anything and unwilling to talk to Chen Mo, threw punches wildly.
Chen Mo was relentlessly struck in a dense barrage of punches, his chest, right knee, throat, temple, and spine, the golden arcs crisscrossing and forming a net that completely enveloped him.
The dull thuds of impact blended together, making it almost impossible to distinguish which was which.
Chen Mo did not retaliate, but simply stood there observing.
Phastos's memories contain Makkari's fighting style, which can be witnessed firsthand, but this is ultimately different from reading memories.
She is indeed fast, but she lacks sufficient offensive capabilities; she's just a low-level Flash.
The wasteland could not withstand the continuous trampling, and cracks spread outwards in concentric circles. Soil was drawn into the airflow, forming a rising wall of dust around the deep pit.
Makkari accelerated again, rushing back from a hundred meters away, and simultaneously landing both fists on Chen Mo's chest.
Bang!
The dark red ripples spread violently.
Her body was propelled backward by the recoil, her feet sliding along the ground for over a hundred meters before she finally came to a stop.
Makkari looked down at her hands; her ten fingers trembled uncontrollably, and tiny cracks had appeared in her knuckles.
Chen Mo stood still, without even a dent in his chest armor.
The emotions that Phastos had last conveyed resurfaced.
So it turns out they weren't there to rescue him.
He was warning everyone to run.
Chen Mo raised his right hand, and golden energy shone along his arm.
The Cosmic Energy of the same origin transcends the limitations of sound, sending a sentence directly into the consciousness of the Makkari.
"Don't worry, the person you're waiting for has arrived."
Makkari suddenly looked up.
Two blinding golden lights shone in the sky above the wasteland.
Ikaris swooped down from the clouds, beams of energy shooting from his eyes tearing through the night, and landed right in front of Chen Mo.