Night fell over Ho Chi Minh City beneath the stench of burning steel.

  Four—no, five industrial warehouses were already engulfed in fire.

  Columns of black smoke clawed their way into the sky.

  More than two hundred Vietnamese police officers formed a wide perimeter.

  None dared step closer.

  Because at the center of the inferno stood a red demon.

  A woman with short hair.

  Eyes glowing like molten embers.

  Skin etched with living flames that crawled across her body.

  Sylvie.

  A Perfect.

  She stood atop a cargo truck as its metal frame melted beneath her feet.

  Fire billowed behind her like demonic wings.

  Hundreds of civilians watched from a distance—

  afraid… yet hopeful.

  Sylvie screamed into the burning night.

  “Kai! Honoka! Emily! Xin! Sol!”

  “My friends… are all dead!”

  Fire erupted around her fists, roaring like a volcanic eruption.

  “If Vietnam does nothing—”

  “I WILL!”

  “I will bring Marcus down with my own hands!”

  Her voice shook windows across the district.

  Anger spread through the crowd.

  Whispers turned into chants.

  Fear turned into rage.

  Vietnam had begun to burn.

  And the world followed.

  TevaTech Command Room — Bangkok

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  A holographic projection hovered before the room.

  Sylvie—surrounded by flames—filled the display.

  Vapor spoke calmly, though tension edged his voice.

  “She’s inciting the population,” he reported.

  “Three industrial zones destroyed. Public sentiment is turning.”

  “They believe Thailand murdered her fellow Perfects.”

  Marcus sat with one leg crossed over the other.

  His fingers tapped the table in slow, deliberate rhythm.

  His face was blank.

  Annoyed.

  “Fire?” Marcus muttered.

  “That looks more like a child playing with matches.”

  Vapor hesitated.

  “Should we deploy military assets?”

  Marcus raised one hand.

  “No.”

  He stood and walked toward the glass wall overlooking Bangkok.

  “Vietnam will handle this themselves.”

  His voice sharpened—cold as a blade.

  “Get me the Vietnamese Prime Minister.”

  “Now.”

  Hanoi — Government House

  The Vietnamese Prime Minister answered with trembling hands.

  Advisors stood rigid behind him.

  A translator waited, pale.

  “…Good evening, Mr. Marcus.”

  Marcus’s voice came through smooth.

  Polite.

  Threatening in every syllable.

  “I’ll be direct,” Marcus said.

  “Deliver Sylvie to me. Immediately.”

  The Prime Minister froze.

  Sylvie was Vietnam’s strongest Perfect.

  Their national symbol.

  “That’s… impossible,” he replied.

  “She is a national asset—”

  Marcus cut him off.

  “Then I’ll come take her myself.”

  The room fell silent.

  Advisors went pale.

  “If you cross our border,” the Prime Minister raised his voice in panic,

  “Vietnam will consider it an act of war—!”

  Marcus laughed softly.

  A laugh colder than ice.

  “I won’t come just to take Sylvie,” he said.

  The camera zoomed in on Marcus’s face.

  His eyes flared crimson.

  “I will take your entire country.”

  Silence.

  Then—

  “You have twenty-four hours,” Marcus concluded.

  “Send her.”

  “Or prepare to disappear from the map.”

  Click.

  The line went dead.

  The emergency council erupted.

  “He’s insane!”

  “He wiped out six nations’ fleets in twenty seconds!”

  “What choice do we have?!”

  “But she’s our hero!”

  “We can’t just hand her over!”

  A security advisor spoke quietly—voice shaking.

  “Or… we sacrifice one… to save millions.”

  No one replied.

  Because everyone knew—

  Marcus could do it.

  Sylvie stood atop a burning skyscraper.

  Flames spiraled around her as concrete softened beneath her feet.

  A government officer ran toward her, breathless.

  “Sylvie! Thailand demands your surrender!”

  “The government may have no choice!”

  Her fist clenched.

  Heat poured from her skin.

  “Marcus…” she whispered.

  Fire exploded outward—

  a storm ignited by grief and fury.

  “I will not be delivered like cargo!”

  She launched skyward.

  Flames erupted from her feet as she shot into the air like a meteor.

  The camera followed—

  A streak of orange fire tearing across Vietnam’s night sky.

  “My friends died because of you!” she screamed.

  “If I have to die—”

  “I’ll drag you into hell with me!”

  Marcus stood alone beneath Thailand’s night sky.

  A faint smile curved his lips.

  He could already feel it.

  The fire.

  He murmured softly.

  “Come then, Sylvie…”

  “I’ve been wanting to play with fire.”

  High above—

  A distant line of orange light raced toward Thailand.

  The clash was inevitable.

  Fade out.