The sea howled around the Emberfang as the skies above Viremont darkened like a storm made of secrets. Lightning traced the horizon in jagged arcs, illuminating the silhouette of the island prison. It looked like a fortress built from nightmares — spiked walls, towering gates, and watchtowers like eyes that never blinked.
Raizen stood on the bow, his coat snapping in the wind. His mark pulsed on his chest, responding to the prison's presence like a tuning fork to a cursed melody.
"This is where tyrants cage those they fear," he muttered. "Today, I shatter their locks."
Inside Viremont Prison
High in the solitary wing, in a cell labeled C-99, a man with scars shaped like talons sat cross-legged, meditating through the screams echoing from other cells.
"You smell that?" whispered the inmate in the next cell — a thin, wiry woman with steel-threaded hair. "That's the scent of freedom… or blood. I'll take either."
The meditating man opened one eye, revealing an iris shaped like a flame. "It's war. Someone's come to break the bones of the world."
Back on the Emberfang
Zhara tightened her grip on the harpoon strapped across her back. "They say the inmates of Viremont never return to sea. If we're caught…"
Raizen didn't answer. He walked toward the gangplank, his voice calm and terrifyingly assured.
"Then we kill whoever tries to stop us."
Silco emerged from below deck, lugging a box marked "Highly Unstable" in red paint. "If this doesn't explode, I'll be very disappointed."
Vex simply vanished into smoke, leaving only the faint sound of whispering wind behind him.
The Infiltration
They didn't sneak. They announced themselves.
Raizen marched up to the front gates, placed his palm against the steel, and whispered a phrase no living soul should know. The shadow beneath his feet swirled, climbed the walls, and split the gate down the middle like a blade through parchment.
Inside, sirens shrieked and soldiers scrambled.
Prisoners began to scream — not in fear, but in recognition.
"A breakout? Here?!"
"Who's mad enough to attack Viremont head-on?"
"They say he's the one with the mark… the boy with the cursed flame..."
Cells Open
Zhara and Silco split off, destroying control panels and cutting down automated sentries. Alarms blared, smoke filled the corridors, and chaos reigned.
The first person they freed was a giant — seven feet tall, chained from neck to toe — his name was Grinder, a former revolutionary who ripped a steel door off its hinges like it was parchment.
Next was Lasska, a mute assassin with claws instead of fingers and a body covered in ritual tattoos. She nodded once to Raizen and followed silently.
Then came Calder Vale, a silver-tongued sniper who had been locked up for "rewriting history books using bullets." He tossed Raizen a rifle with a grin. "You're not subtle, kid. I like that."
The Core of Viremont
As they pushed deeper, the ground itself began to tremble. The prison's final vault — The Maw — was about to be opened.
Raizen, flanked by his new recruits, approached the core lock. But before they could break through, they were ambushed by a new squad — The Iron Crows, elite marine agents designed for one purpose: execution without trial.
Led by Captain Ryze Morian, a man who wore a crimson mask and wielded electrified chains, the Iron Crows stood between Raizen and the prison's deadliest inmates.
"I don't know who you think you are, boy," Ryze said, crackling with power. "But this is the end of your story."
Raizen stepped forward, not a trace of fear in his voice.
"No... this is where mine begins."
Their clash lit up the entire eastern wing — shadows against lightning, harpoons against steel, explosions ringing like bells of revolution. Raizen and Ryze's battle tore through the walls, their powers colliding in a spectacle no prisoner would ever forget.
And when the dust cleared… Raizen stood.
Ryze was gone.
The Rise of the Black Ashes
By dawn, Viremont was ash. The inmates were free. The Emberfang sailed with over two dozen new outlaws aboard, every one of them bearing scars and stories the world tried to bury.
Raizen stood at the helm.
"We aren't a crew anymore," he said to them. "We're a nation. We don't sail for treasure. We sail for domination."
He looked toward the horizon, where the flags of World Government ships already gathered, chasing rumors of his name.
"Let them come. The world is theirs... for now."
End of Chapter 9: Viremont Breakout