Their careful movements through the Neo-Eclipse base were cut short. A piercing siren suddenly wailed through the pristine corridors, a jarring sound that echoed off the cold walls. "They know we're here!" Elena cried, her eyes wide. "They must have found Koval." Footsteps, heavy and fast, pounded down the hallway behind them. Lux was back, and this time, she brought an army.
"Subject 07! You will not escape this time! The Eclipse Codex belongs to Neo-Eclipse!" Lux's voice, amplified by hidden speakers, boomed through the base. She appeared at the far end of the corridor, her fractal duplication already active, multiplying into dozens of shimmering copies. With her were hulking figures, the armored 'Brutes' like Subject 05, their weapons humming with dark energy.
"Go! I'll create a diversion!" Kiran yelled to Elena, pushing her towards a maintenance hatch. He clutched the heavy Eclipse Codex book in one hand, its weight oddly comforting. He spun, facing the incoming wave of enemies, his body humming with a new, strange energy from the "seed." He moved, not just with his time-stutter, but with a sudden, raw burst of speed that seemed to warp the air around him. He met the charging Brutes head-on, his hand-to-hand combat skills sharper than ever. He dodged a powerful swing from Subject 05, then used the Brute's own momentum to throw him into a wall with shocking force. The Brute crumpled.
Lux's copies flooded the corridor, firing energy blasts. Kiran wove through them, a deadly dance. The cracks on his skin glowed brighter, and he felt a strange warmth spread from his chest, where the "seed" lay. He unleashed a wild punch, and for a moment, the air around his fist shimmered, a small, localized temporal distortion that sent a shockwave through the corridor, making Lux's copies flicker and momentarily disappear. It was a raw, uncontrolled power, something new that he hadn't fully understood, something tied to the "seed."
Elena scrambled through the hatch, looking back just as Kiran launched himself into the main fight, a single, determined figure against a growing tide of enemies. She could hear the sounds of combat fading behind her as she moved through the hidden tunnels. She would escape. She would protect the Eclipse Codex book. And she would find a way to understand its secrets, to use it against Neo-Eclipse. The Great Eclipse was still coming, and now, they carried the ultimate weapon—and the ultimate mystery—with them. The fight for the world had just begun, and this was only the end of the first chapter of their long, dangerous story.