Mag-log inThe convoy heading back toward Blackstone moved slower than before because exhaustion had finally settled over everyone inside the vehicles.The surgery had lasted nearly nine hours.Nine hours of blood, collapsing vitals, microscopic reconstruction, and impossible precision while Althea fought to keep a stranger alive.She and Helena had also met with the family of the patient, who turned out to be the son of 5 Star General bac at their home country, who came to the country for a vacation.And now, with the operation finally over, her mind no longer had anything shielding it from fear.Dominic. The thought returned instantly, heavy and relentless, the moment she sat inside the armored SUV. He’s already probably deep inside the Axis Gate by now. Possibly already fighting Luca. Possibly wounded. Possibly—NO! Althea shouted through her thoughts, shutting down the unimaginable immediately.Althea knew that if she allowed herself to imagine Dominic dead beneath the mountain, she would br
Sebastian slowly lowered his weapon while the reinforcement collapsed motionless beneath him.Nobody spoke.Nobody even looked at the body long.There was no time anymore as the descent narrowed further.Suddenly, the tunnel opened and all of them froze.The Axis Core chamber stretched impossibly beneath the mountain like an underground cathedral buried beneath centuries.Massive.Ancient.Terrifying.Stone pillars rose upward into darkness beyond visibility while enormous circular pathways spiraled downward toward the center structure below.Old machinery.New technology.Ancient engineering fused with modern systems layered across centuries of occupation.And at the center is The Core.A massive circular mechanism embedded deep into the mountain itself.Metal.Stone.Rotating structures humming softly with impossible age.Enzo stared. “Oh.” He muttered, looking at what his eyes are seeing. “Oh, that’s deeply evil-looking.”The chamber wasn’t empty as dozens of armed figures already
The Axis Gate descended deeper than any of them imagined.Instead of expecting it to be tunnel or bunker what greeted them were layers being uncovered of the history itself, every step downward felt older and heavier.As though the mountain remembered every death that had occurred beneath it.Now, it will remember them too.Dominic’s group moved through the collapsing bypass corridor with brutal urgency while gunfire echoed endlessly behind and below them.The unknown operators continued pushing from the upper ridges while Luca’s men hunted from the lower descent.The Gate itself kept pressing against their minds with whispers, disorienting them and pressuring them as well as instilling fear.The deeper they descended, the less human the tunnels felt.The walls changed.Stone became smoother in some places, carved deliberately with markings older than modern language. Ancient symbols stretched across the surfaces in faded geometric sequences that seemed almost mathematical beneath the
“DOMINIC!” Luca’s voice roared through the tunnels. Another explosion shook the corridor violently. “You should’ve stayed at Blackstone!”Dominic advanced instead.“YOU F8CKING SHOULD’VE STAYED AWAY FROM MY FAMILY!” He yelled angrily.More blood and gunfire started to exchange again, the tunnel becoming war itself. The unknown operators attacked from the upper ridges again suddenly.This time, they are hitting Luca’s men directly where three men dropped instantly.Another tumbled screaming into the lower shaft below.“They’re everywhere!” Aurelio cursed sharply as he took a shot.“No, they’re not.” Reyes muttered grimly beside Dominic. He looked towards Luca and his men before staring towards the direction of the gunfire from the unknown operators. “They’re herding us.”Realization hit Dominic immediately on their every movement, every engagement and every tunnel split.The one Althea found. He thought hardly.The Axis Gate kept compressing all three groups toward the same convergence
The Axis Gate fought back with no mercy and Dominic understood it now.The Gate itself resisted intrusion like a living thing buried beneath centuries of stone and blood.The deeper they descended, the worse it became.Gunfire thundered endlessly through the tunnels.Muzzle flashes erupted violently against ancient walls while three separate forces collided beneath the earth in a storm of violence and confusion.Dominic’s men.The unknown operators.Luca’s network.Somewhere beneath all of it, the Axis Gate is manipulating them all.“LEFT!” Dominic shouted over the chaos while firing toward the advancing corridor ahead.One of Luca’s men dropped instantly, blood spraying against the stone before another rushed into position behind him.Explosions shook the tunnel violently and dust cascaded from above.The walls groaned like the mountain itself resented their presence.Michael moved beside Dominic with brutal precision, eliminating another approaching shooter before dragging one wound
The descent finally began slowly and the tunnels swallowed the sound almost immediately.Stone walls narrowed around them while overhead lights attached to tactical gear cast shifting shadows across ancient surfaces carved long before any of them were born.Water dripped steadily somewhere deeper below.The air started to smell metallic and old like buried history and rust.And worst of all, the tunnels felt wrong.Althea had warned them repeatedly.“Pressure manipulation.” She enumerated dozens of times. “Behavioral funneling. Instinctive directional control. You have to focus.”Now Dominic understood exactly what she meant.Every few minutes, his body would automatically want to turn right despite logic telling him otherwise.The tunnels subtly curved.Perspective shifted and the space started to compress unevenly.Psychological architecture. Dominic thought darkly.Sebastian muttered quietly behind him, “This place is engineered to make people panic.”“It’s working.” Enzo answered
Dominic did not wait for permission.He got out of his car and stormed towards the mansion, his striders angry and with purpose the following day. The staff barely had time to greet him or sent a notice towards the elders inside the chamber. Enzo and two of his men followed closely.
After saying goodnight to Michael, Althea closed the door behind her softly to her room, as if any sound louder than a breath might fracture what little steadiness she had left. She leaned on the door for a while.Michael’s footsteps retreated down the hall. He never followed her into this
The townhouse was quiet in the way only places fortified by money and intention could be.Althea walked towards the tall windows overlooking the river, city lights scattering across the glass like fractured stars. She stared out for a while in silence.Michael had insisted on closing the internal g
From the upper mezzanine overlooking the ballroom, Dominic watched as the Devereaux gala continued to unfold like a chessboard already mid-game.Crystal chandeliers spilled light over silk gowns and tailored suits, laughter rising and falling with practiced ease. Money moved easily here. Power even







