Chapter 3 — Sword Age

The sirens were still screaming when Sword Age arrived.The street was engulfed in flames.Three banks torn apart. Storefronts melted like wax. The asphalt blackened and cracked from the heat. In the middle of the chaos, two superheroes lay unconscious on the ground, their costumes burned and charred. One was barely breathing. The other wasn’t moving at all.And at the center… him.— Too slow, too weak, Pyroclast sneered, raising his arms.Flames erupted from his palms, twisting around him like hungry serpents. The fire didn’t just burn—it devoured the air, driving back anyone who tried to approach.Sword Age watched.One second.No more.She locked her emotions behind a mask of absolute calm.— Three banks, two heroes down… she sighed. You’re making quite a lot of noise for someone who’s about to fall in silence.Pyroclast burst into laughter and unleashed a wave of fire straight at her.Sword Age moved.Not quickly.Instantly.She slipped to the side, so close to the flames that the scorching air brushed against her cheek. The asphalt exploded behind her. She was already advancing, step by step, measuring every breath, every turbulence created by the fire.Pyroclast frowned.— You think you can get close to me?He slammed his fist into the ground.A pillar of flames erupted, splitting the street in two.Sword Age stopped dead…Then disappeared.— What—?She reappeared behind the pillar, her coat floating for a moment in the heat. She was running now, crossing the areas where the fire had just passed, where the temperature dropped by a fraction of a second.Pyroclast unleashed everything.A deluge.Flames spiraled through the street, striking walls, cars, and sidewalks. Sword Age took a burn to the shoulder. Another to the thigh. She clenched her teeth.She kept going.Ten meters.Five.— DIE! Pyroclast roared, concentrating all his power.The fire turned white.Sword Age disappeared again.One step.Two steps.A flash of steel.Pyroclast felt something…Then nothing.He blinked.The flames around him went out, as if suddenly stripped of their command.He looked down.His gloves fell apart in two pieces.His armor slid off.Then his body collapsed.Sword Age slowly sheathed her sword.— You were already cut before you even realized it, she said calmly.She turned toward the fallen heroes, activated her communicator, and transmitted their medical coordinates.Then she disappeared, leaving behind a still-smoking street…And a clear warning.FILE — IDENTIFIED THREATS (TO COME)These names will spread.Some will attack Sword Age.Others will cross paths with Kael.Pyroclast — Criminal pyromancer (neutralized)Gravecoil — Gravity manipulator, former military engineerNulla — Woman capable of nullifying powers within a variable radiusBlack Siren — Sound manipulation, mental attacksIron Maw — Cybernetic body, jaws and heavy weaponryRed Pulse — Unstable energy waves, urban destroyerFrost Warden — Tactical cryokinesis, former fallen heroMirrorkill — Optical duplication and lethal illusionsAsh Father — Dark pyrokinesis, Pyroclast’s mentorThe Archivist — Collector of artifacts and “anomalous” childrenWhile Sword Age fought the fire, elsewhere, a baby was sleeping peacefully.Kael.Without crying.Without knowing.But something, within existence itself, had just taken notice.