BOOM.
The sound wasn't just noise; it was a physical force that rearranged the atoms in the room.
When Ethan shifted, the sheer release of Alpha energy combined with the volatile "Soul-Fire" he had borrowed from the bond created a shockwave that shattered every piece of glass in the vault. The display cases exploded. The ancient artifacts rattled and cracked.
And the wall—the three feet of reinforced concrete and star-metal alloy designed to hold back a nuclear blast—crumbled like wet chalk.
Ethan, now a massive wolf of shadow and violet fire, was thrown through the breach by the force of his own power. He tumbled through the air, debris raining around him, and plummeted twenty feet down into the dark, rushing water of the city’s main sewer line.
He hit the water with a splash that ec
