CHAPTER 2: THE CURSED CYBORG

The ominous pillar of purple light shot from the valley behind Suzaku Castle was no magic—it was the kinetic pulse of a devastating technology.

Under the canopy of the dark, rain-drenched bamboo forest, a classified American Special Forces stealth chopper had just crashed. The burning wreckage hissed violently in the downpour, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the fog.

"Comms are dark. Protocol Zero is active," Special Agent Sarah Vance hissed through her teeth, wiping a streak of blood from her brow.

Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight tactical braid, her navy-blue combat bodysuit soaked by the storm. In her hands, a high-tech plasma rifle whined as it charged. Stepping out from the fiery debris of the chopper was the target of her mission: Project Alpha—an advanced cybernetic soldier hacked and infected by the Syndicate's malicious Corruption Virus.

The core embedded in the Cyborg's chest pulsed with the exact same violent purple plasma that Ryu and Ken had seen piercing the sky from the castle rooftop.

"Step away from the wreckage, scrap metal," Sarah ordered, her sharp American accent cutting through the thunder as she dropped into a lethal military CQC stance.

The Cyborg unleashed a distorted, metallic roar. The thrusters on its mechanical shoulders ignited, propelling its heavy chrome frame forward with a bone-crushing fist.

Relying on elite instinct, Sarah slid low beneath the sweeping metal arm, using her momentum to strike three rapid, precise sweep kicks into the machine's knee joints, sending brilliant blue electrical sparks flying into the mud.

CRAAA-BOOM!!!

The Cyborg slammed its heavy fists into the earth, unleashing a shocking wave of purple plasma energy that snapped the surrounding bamboo stalks clean in half. Sarah executed a flawless, gravity-defying backflip to evade the blast, her combat boots sticking a clean landing in the slick mud.

The moment her boots hit the ground, her hands blurred. Unholstering her dual plasma blasters, she unleashed a blinding, rapid-fire stream of laser beams. The shots slammed into the Cyborg’s energy barrier, erupting into a furious cascade of yellow hit-sparks beneath the tattered dark sky.

"Core overload imminent," the digital display inside her tactical visor flashed red.