Episode-952
Chapter : 1903
"And then we’re going to come back here and help you clean house."
Ben cracked his knuckles, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the quiet room. "I like the sound of that. Cleaning house is my specialty."
Eun-ha looked at them, her expression softening. "I know you will. But there is one more thing you need to know. One more variable in the equation."
She waved her hand, and the map changed again. This time, a new symbol appeared over the Lucifer territories. It wasn't a demonic rune. It was a geometric shape. A glowing green hexagon with a stylized insect inside.
Lloyd froze. His heart stopped. He knew that symbol. He had seen it on Earth. He had seen it on the sides of the tanks that destroyed his city. He had seen it on the drones that hunted his squad.
It was the logo of the Fire Fly Corporation.
"They aren't doing this alone," Eun-ha whispered, her voice filled with dread. "The Lucifer Faction didn't just 'evolve.' They had help. They have a partner."
Lloyd stared at the green symbol, his hands shaking with a mixture of rage and terror.
"Fire Fly," Lloyd breathed.
"Yes," Eun-ha said. "They are here, Evan. They have been here for a decade. They are the ones teaching the demons how to fight like soldiers. They are the ones providing the technology. They are the ones who want to turn this world into a battery."
She looked him in the eye.
"This isn't just a fantasy war anymore. It’s an interdimensional invasion. And we are the only ones who know the enemy’s playbook."
Lloyd looked at the map, then at his wife, then at his best friend. The scale of the threat was terrifying. But strangely, he didn't feel afraid. He felt focused.
He knew how to fight demons. And thanks to his past life, he knew how to fight corporations.
"Okay," Lloyd said, his voice cold and steady. "So we have to kill the Devil Kings, and we have to bankrupt an interstellar weapons manufacturer."
He looked at Eun-ha and smiled, a sharp, dangerous grin.
"Sounds like a target-rich environment."
Eun-ha smiled back. "That’s the spirit, Major General."
The briefing was over. The reality of the war had been laid bare. It wasn't just a battle for a kingdom; it was a battle for two worlds. And in the heart of the Abyss, the resistance had just begun.
________________________________________
The glowing red territories of the Lucifer Faction still dominated the map on the obsidian table. Lloyd stared at the green Fire Fly symbol, his mind racing with tactical plans. He was ready to fight an army. He was ready to fight a corporation. He knew the enemy’s playbook because he used to write it.
But Eun-ha didn’t deactivate the map. She swiped her hand through the air, zooming the display in closer. The red zones faded slightly, and a series of yellow markers appeared. They weren't troops. They were search grids.
"There is one more thing, Evan," Eun-ha said. Her voice had lost the sharp edge of the CEO. It was quieter now, more cautious. "The alliance between Lucifer and Fire Fly isn't just about territory or mana batteries. They are looking for something. Or rather, someone."
Lloyd looked up from the map. "A high-value target? Who? A resistance leader?"
"A anomaly," Eun-ha corrected. "Fire Fly’s technology is powerful, but it relies on sensors. It relies on heat signatures, mana density, and electromagnetic fields. Their entire war doctrine is based on seeing the enemy before the enemy sees them."
She tapped the table.
"But about six months ago, their sensors started picking up... static. There was a spike of energy in the North that didn't just jam their radars; it froze them. It was a frequency of mana so cold and so absolute that it cracked their surveillance lenses."
Lloyd felt a strange, cold weight settle in his stomach. He knew that description.
"Ice," Lloyd whispered.
"Not just ice," Eun-ha said. "Conceptual Ice. The kind that stops atoms from moving. To a machine, that is terrifying. Heat is easy to manage. But Absolute Zero? That stops electricity. That kills batteries. To Fire Fly, a being who can wield that kind of power isn't just a wizard. They are a walking EMP. They are a glitch in the system."
She looked Lloyd in the eye.
Chapter : 1904
"They have designated this target as a 'Young Sovereign.' A Priority One asset. They want to capture her, study her, and if they can't control her... dissect her."
Lloyd gripped the edge of the table. His metal gauntlets creaked under the pressure. He didn't need her to say the name. He already knew. But he needed to hear it.
"Who are they hunting?" Lloyd asked, his voice tight.
Eun-ha took a breath. "They are hunting Rosa Siddik."
The name hung in the air like a curse.
Ben, who had been checking his new arm, stopped moving. He looked at Lloyd with genuine concern. He knew the history. He knew about the fake death, the flight to the North, and the terrible guilt Lloyd carried.
"They know who she is?" Lloyd asked.
"They know she is a Siddik," Eun-ha said. "They know she was your wife. And they know she is the only thing on this continent that their computers can't predict."
She pointed to the yellow search grids on the map. They were focused heavily on the Northern Wastes, the frozen dead zones where humans rarely went.
"Lucifer wants her because she humiliated him in the past timeline," Eun-ha explained. "But Fire Fly? They are terrified of her. If she learns to control that Sovereign power, she could freeze their entire drone network with a thought. She is the hard counter to their technology."
Lloyd stared at the yellow lights blinking on the map. Thousands of drones. Thousands of demons. All of them combing the ice, looking for the woman he had broken.
"She’s alone out there," Lloyd muttered. "She thinks she’s a murderer. She thinks she killed me. And now she has an interdimensional corporation hunting her down like an animal."
He slammed his fist onto the obsidian table. The stone cracked.
"We have to get her," Lloyd said, turning to Eun-ha. "Forget the war. Forget the politics. If Fire Fly finds her first, they will tear her apart in a lab. We have to go North. Now."
Eun-ha didn't move. She didn't summon a portal. She just looked at him with sad, dark eyes.
"Evan," she said softly. "Look at the map again."
Lloyd looked. He saw the yellow search grids. But then he noticed something else. The grids were erratic. They were overlapping. They were searching the same areas over and over again.
"They haven't found her," Lloyd realized.
"No," Eun-ha said. "And neither have I."
________________________________________
Lloyd looked from the map to his wife’s face, looking for a lie. He didn't find one.
"You're the Queen of the Abyss," Lloyd said, desperation creeping into his voice. "You have spies everywhere. You said you were watching me. You must know where she is."
"I watched you, Evan," Eun-ha said gently. "Because you are loud. You build factories. You give speeches. You blow things up. You shine like a beacon on every magical radar."
She walked over to the map and swept her hand across the northern section, wiping away the yellow search grids to reveal the empty white space of the Northern Glaciers.
"But Rosa? Rosa has become a ghost."
Eun-ha tapped the white space.
"The Northern Wastes are a Dead Zone for mana. It’s a blizzard that never ends. It interferes with scrying spells. It freezes drones. My shadow-spies can't travel there because the shadows are frozen solid. Fire Fly’s thermal sensors can't find a heat signature because her body temperature is absolute zero."
She looked at Lloyd with a mixture of professional respect and deep sympathy.
"She has completely disappeared, Evan. For the last six months, every major power in the world—Lucifer, Fire Fly, the King, and me—has been looking for her. And we have found nothing. Zero. Null data."
Lloyd felt the strength go out of his legs. He slumped against the table.
He had expected a fight. He had expected Eun-ha to tell him where Rosa was being held, so he could storm the castle and save her. He was ready to be the hero. He was ready to pay his debt.
But he couldn't fight a ghost.
"She’s hiding," Lloyd whispered. "She’s hiding because she doesn't want to be found. She thinks she deserves to be alone."
"She is hiding well," Eun-ha admitted. "Too well. It suggests her power has grown. If she can mask herself from a satellite scan, she is already stronger than she was when she left Serrum Town."