Meanwhile, back in the ruins of what used to be Volkorye, Nadya stood in deep silence.

Now that things were over, a wave of emotions and thoughts struck her.

Eyes vacant. Lips trembling. Smoke and ash curled around her like ghosts refusing to move on. She stared at the blackened skeletons of what used to be and the scorched earth beneath her boots - what remained of the town she'd once called home.

Volkorye.

The town of wolves.

Legend said her family had protected it for generations, raising wolves, warding off beasts and bandits, surviving everything the world threw at them.

But now?

There was nothing left to protect.

Not a wall. Not a home. Not a howl in the distance.

Just silence.

And it wasn't the destruction that shook her most - it was the finality of it all.

This was where she'd grown up. Where she'd returned after the world fell to the Z Virus. Where she'd rebuilt something out of the ruins. A peaceful and safe town for the people.

All of it, gone.

Flattened in minutes. Torn apart by monsters and madness. Not time. Not decay. Just death.

Smoke still curled lazily into the sky, trailing up like spirits whispering goodbye.

Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Her breath caught in her throat.

Her knees buckled, and she collapsed into the dirt, silent tears cutting through the blood and grime on her face.

It didn't matter that she'd fought. That she'd saved who she could.

The ones she couldn't… haunted her.

Sven hovered nearby, fists clenched, jaw tight. He wanted to say something. Anything. But no words would ever be enough.

So he stood there.

Close enough to let her know she wasn't alone.

Far enough to respect the weight of her grief.

And still, even now, Nyx's voice echoed in her skull like a curse she couldn't shake. Like the world mocking her loss.

She never imagined this could happen in Volkorye - a place so remote it should've been secure. She'd kept it alive when the world collapsed, securing supplies, protection, and order, carving out peace where none should've existed.

But none of that mattered now.

Because the people who'd trusted her, who believed in her, had died screaming.

All she could do was kneel in the ashes they left behind and loathe the bastard behind it.

Nyx.

Even if this horror had been set off by Kai's presence, as hard as it was to admit, he wasn't the one to blame. If anything, she owed him both an apology and her thanks.

Still, the guilt gnawed at her.

She racked her brain for anything she could've done differently. Some way that she could've changed the outcome. But even with hindsight, everything still felt impossible.

The Mutant Outlaws were few and scattered across the world. They had their own problems and couldn't respond quickly, not without Shadow. But Shadow was unreachable and elusive. Always operating in the background with his own mysterious agenda.

Sven had been the only one close enough to help. And even he barely made it in time.

But even if they'd all shown up, would it have changed much? The truth hurt, but she couldn't deny it. In the end, this was her town. Her responsibility.

And the monsterfication? That never would've been stopped without Kai somehow tracking Phantom V. She was unsure of details, but he played a big role in saving the lives of the few that remained, as well as her own.

A war raged inside her - anger, guilt, helplessness - but eventually, Nadya blinked through the haze and forced herself to breathe. To think.

Because it was only a matter of time before the Association swarmed the area, using the tragedy as an excuse to expand their influence.

Few lawless zones remained across the world. And they were closing in fast.

The Association was growing rapidly. But they were also spread thin. That's how rogue mutants had managed to slip through the cracks, surviving under the radar in this new, broken age of mutants.

And that's why Nadya, despite the pain in her chest, made a decision.

One that went against everything she wanted.

One that hurt more than she could put into words.

But it had to be done.

-

Nadya was slowly coming to terms with things, and as much as it broke her inside, she had to leave them.

The people she'd sworn to protect.

The ones she'd fought for.

She and the other mutants had no choice now but to disappear, live under the radar until Shadow made contact again - whenever that might be. He always surfaced when he needed something or had information to pass on. Never before.

The town was a wasteland. And she knew it was only a matter of time before the Association descended like vultures. The authorities wouldn't ignore this. If Sven had seen the destruction from within the inner city, then so had many others. In just a few hours, the decimated town would be swarming with agents, soldiers, and reporters.

And when they came, they wouldn't see her as a saviour or hero.

They'd see a criminal. A rogue mutant. A woman who had run an illegal fight club and endangered innocent lives. An individual who claimed a town as her own without government approval.

It wouldn't take long before the incident was splashed across national headlines - hell, probably international ones too.

And the harshest truth?

The authorities and the Association would probably do a better job of taking care of and protecting the survivors than she ever could. Maybe even before all this happened.

But while she was hesitant to part from the few remaining townsfolk, they didn't seem to feel the same way...

-

The world had changed. For those untouched by the Z Virus, mutants had become either idols or monsters. Glorified superheroes worshipped by fans, or terrifying anomalies to be locked up, or worse.

There was no in-between.

And now, even the people of her town, once proud of what she'd built, seemed to be turning on her.

It only took one disaster.

Years of keeping them safe… erased in a single day.

She could already feel it. The blame in their eyes. The silent accusation. The way their gazes cut into her like knives.

They needed something to direct their grief at. And it was easier to hate her than to face the horror of what they'd lived through.

It hurt, to say the least, like a mother being turned on by the very children she raised. But Nadya merely sighed and stepped forward, her voice low but steady.

"We're leaving. Where we're going won't be safe for any of you, and… I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everyone you've lost. This happened because of me. I swear we'll make it right. We'll avenge them. That's all I can offer. I know it won't bring comfort. You've lost your families, your homes… your lives. I just hope, one day, you can move past this."

Her words hung in the air like smoke.

But no one replied.

The silence said everything.

They looked at her like a stranger. Like she was the one who'd destroyed everything, not the monsters. Her apology meant nothing. It couldn't bring anyone back. Couldn't rebuild their homes. Couldn't erase the trauma.

Even after risking their lives, Amina and Isaac found themselves lumped in with the monsters. The crowd backed away from them with fearful glances and hushed whispers.

But most of the hostility?

It was aimed at Kai.

Burned, bruised, and bloodstained - he stood still, unaffected by their hatred. As if he'd seen it all before...

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