[: 3rd POV :]

The entire command chamber of Silent Night fell into chaos the moment the readings spiked again.

Mana crystals flared crimson, the communication sigils trembled, and reports began flooding in from every direction.

Victor clenched his jaw, reading the new data.

"Energy signature confirmed... east sector, near the Helcryst Mountains," one of the officers reported breathlessly.

"It’s Her Majesty, Empress Melaria. She’s personally engaged another Zero Organisation base."

Victor’s blood ran cold.

"Patch me through to her, immediately!"

"Yes, Captain!"

But even before the link was fully established, Victor could already feel it, the sheer pressure of Melaria’s mana rippling through the continent like a storm-tide.

The communication crystal glowed violently, flickering from silver to violet.

"Your Majesty!" Victor spoke quickly, his voice trembling with a mix of respect and urgency.

"This is Victor of Silent Night. Forgive the intrusion, but there’s—"

"Victor," a calm, commanding voice cut him off.

"If this is not about the Zero Organisation, make it quick. I don’t have the patience for bureaucracy right now."

Through the flickering image, Victor could see her, Melaria Valenhardt, the Empress of the Human Continent. Her silver hair, tied into a braid, whipped wildly against the blizzard winds.

Her eyes glowed a deep amethyst, radiating divine fury.

Behind her, the mountains quaked, and a fortress carved into the cliffs burned with violet flame.

She was fighting, and she was winning.

Before Victor could answer, the transmission shook violently as an explosion roared behind her.

A dozen Zero Organisation soldiers screamed as a wave of pure destruction energy swept over them, erasing everything in a blinding storm.

The earth cracked open.

The sky itself warped under the pressure of her magic.

"Heavenrend Pulse," she whispered, her voice steady even amidst the chaos.

A blinding light burst from her palm, disintegrating an entire valley of enemy forces.

The mountain trembled as if bowing before her wrath.

Beside her stood another woman, tall, clad in radiant armour lined with sacred glyphs, her golden hair fluttering like a burning banner.

Maiya, leader of the Sacred Valkyries, and Melaria’s most trusted friend.

"Melaria!" Maiya shouted as the last explosion faded, shielding her eyes.

"That’s the 30th base this week. You’re pushing yourself too far!"

Melaria exhaled, the light fading from her eyes.

Her expression, however, was not one of satisfaction, only quiet sorrow.

"It’s still the same, no matter how many I hunt them," she murmured.

Her voice carried the weight of sixteen years of heartbreak.

Maiya lowered her sword, glancing at the crumbling ruins of the facility below.

"You were hoping for another lead, weren’t you?"

"Yes," Melaria whispered.

"Every single time, I think I’ll find something, a sign, a trace, anything. But they all end like this."

The snow began to fall again, softly blanketing the scorched ground.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Maiya took a step closer, her voice gentle.

"It’s been 3 years, Melaria’’

’’Ever since you tried breaking the barrier of that Forbidden Continent, you’ve been pushing yourself recklessly’’

’’You’ve destroyed more of their bases than anyone on the continent. You’ve saved thousands. But you can’t keep—"

Melaria’s gaze turned toward the horizon, cold and distant.

"You think I do this for them?"

Maiya fell silent.

Melaria clenched her fists, divine energy rippling through her aura.

"No, Maiya. I do this because I must’’

’’Because the Zero Organisation took everything from me, from him. I will not rest until I tear every single one of them apart’’

Her words were sharp, trembling at the edge of breaking.

Maiya frowned.

"You’re still holding onto that prophecy, aren’t you? What the Overseer, Empress Sylvene, told you back then, that your paths would cross again."

Melaria closed her eyes.

The name Sylvene echoed painfully in her mind, one of the oldest living beings.

3 years ago, when all hope seemed lost, Melaria had begged her for answers after she discovered that her son was alive.

Though Sylvene and the other rulers tried breaking the barrier for her son, it failed, however, Sylvene, out of nowhere, had given her a prophecy,

For Sylvene, a prophecy was something that wouldn’t come randomly.

The only prophecy she had ever obtained was when she and the first ancestors were still alive, and ever since that age, she had yet to receive another prophecy.

However, if there is a prophecy to come, that means a change that is so great is about to come.

And Sylvene’s cryptic words had burned themselves into her heart.

"The day your child returns, the world will tremble. The Zero Organisation will be the bridge between your despair and your reunion."

"Yes," Melaria said quietly, opening her eyes. "I remember every word."

Maiya sighed, looking away.

Maiya knew that it was difficult to stop Melaria; hence, she didn’t go any further.

The voice through the communication crystal cut through the frozen air like thunder.

Victor’s.

"Your Majesty, forgive me for interrupting, but this is urgent. I have news regarding the Zero Organisation... and your son."

Melaria froze.

For a moment, the world around her fell silent. Even the storm seemed to pause.

"...What did you say?"

"Your Majesty," Victor continued, his tone formal but trembling.

"Two weeks ago, reports began circulating about a young man saving victims from Zero Organisation facilities across the continent’’

’’Survivors describe him as a boy no older than twenty, with silvery white hair and violet eyes."

Maiya’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"Wait... silver hair and violet eyes?"

Victor continued, "He’s been eradicating the Zero bases one after another, sometimes hundreds of enemies vanishing in a single instant’’

’’The energy signatures recorded are unlike anything we’ve seen before. The survivors all say the same name..."

Victor paused, then spoke the words that shattered sixteen years of silence.

"Daniel."

Melaria’s hand trembled.

The crystal in her palm flickered violently as her mana spiked uncontrollably.

"Repeat that," she whispered.

"Daniel," Victor said again.

"There’s no mistake, Your Majesty. He’s alive."

The air exploded around her.

A wave of power surged outward, splitting the mountain in half. The snowstorm was instantly vaporised, and even Maiya stumbled back, eyes wide.

"Melaria!" she shouted, raising a barrier. "Get a hold of yourself!"

But Melaria didn’t hear her.

Her entire body trembled, her heart hammering in her chest.

The tears she had suppressed for sixteen years welled up, shimmering against the glow of her mana.

"Alive..." she breathed. "He’s alive..."

Maiya stepped forward cautiously. "Melaria, you...you’re sure it’s not..."

"It’s him!" Melaria shouted, her voice breaking.

"Silver hair, violet eyes, there’s no mistaking it! It’s him!"

She clutched her chest, feeling her knees weaken as years of grief crashed into her all at once.

Victor’s voice came through again, quieter now.

"We’ve been tracking his movements through void fluctuations. He’s systematically erasing the Zero Organisation across the north and east sectors’’

’’The rate, the precision, it’s not random. It’s... deliberate."

Melaria exhaled shakily, steadying herself.

"Then he knows about them," she said.

Maiya bit her lip, hesitating.

"What will you do now?"

Melaria turned her gaze toward the smouldering ruins of the Zero base below.

"What I must. I’ll continue the hunt, not just for vengeance anymore, but to find him. If the Zero Organisation is the link between us, then I’ll burn every last one of them until he stands before me."

Victor’s voice softened.

"Your Majesty, permission to continue monitoring his movements?"

Melaria nodded.

"Do it. And send all information you have about his locations directly to me."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The connection flickered, then faded.

For a long moment, neither woman spoke.

The mountain wind howled around them, carrying the scent of smoke and frost.

Maiya finally broke the silence.

"Melaria... after all these years, after everything you’ve done to survive that night... he’s really alive."

Melaria’s expression softened, though her eyes still burned with fierce resolve.

"I always knew. Deep down, I knew the world wouldn’t take him from me so easily."

She reached up, touching the pendant around her neck, a small crystal engraved with a child’s name: Daniel.

"I swore I’d protect him," she whispered.

"Even if he became something the world couldn’t understand."

Maiya smiled faintly. "Then let’s find him. Together."

Melaria glanced at her oldest friend, a small, bittersweet smile crossing her face for the first time in years.

"Together," she agreed.

She turned her gaze back to the horizon, where the remnants of her spell still glimmered faintly.

The stars were beginning to pierce through the clouds, distant, silent witnesses to a promise reborn.

"Daniel..." she whispered into the cold wind, her voice carrying across the snowfields.

"If you’re out there... I’ll find you. No matter what it takes."

The ground beneath her feet shimmered as her aura surged once more, forming a radiant circle of light.

With a motion of her hand, she summoned another spear of divine energy, her next target already in sight.

"Come on, Maiya," she said, her tone firm. "There’s another base to cleanse."

Maiya nodded, summoning her radiant wings.

"As you command, Your Majesty."

Together, the two of them rose into the night sky, their figures vanishing into streaks of light and flame.

Far away, across the continent, Daniel paused mid-step, standing atop a ruined facility drenched in silence.

For a brief, inexplicable moment, his heart tightened, as if someone, somewhere, had whispered his name through the void.

Then, without a word, he disappeared once more into darkness.

The mother and son, separated by sixteen years, bound by blood, fate, and the ruins of war, moved ever closer.

The storm had begun.