The purge wave spread faster than they expected.
By the time Ryker and Lira reached the old transit tunnels beneath the mid-Spires, entire blocks were going dark. Security drones fell from the sky like dead birds. Enforcer patrols dissolved into confusion as their spirit enhancements glitched and failed. The Code inside Ryker hummed with dark amusement at the chaos its own corruption now being turned against its creators.
But victory had a price.
Ryker could feel the Beast Code consolidating, retreating into deeper layers of his body and mind. It was no longer scattered and fractured. It was focused. And it had learned from every thrust, every moan, every shared o****m. The bond with Lira wasn’t weakening it. It was fueling something new.
They took shelter in an abandoned transit car,
