An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

With Mulder leading the way, Warrick-disguised as a member of the City Defenders-walked openly through the streets.

Night had fallen, and the streets were eerily empty-not a single soul was in sight. Only heavily armed patrols moved through the city:

Every checkpoint along the main road was heavily guarded. Even the patrol squads had to show their emblems to pass.

Warrick walked at the back of the group. His hat was pulled low so that it covered half his face. In the darkness, it was nearly impossible to make out his features unless someone got close.

“Austin is more meticulous than I expected,” he muttered. “If it weren’t for the Hall of Gods’ undercover agents helping me, I’d never make it out of Celestria.”

Seeing sentries stationed openly on the streets and hidden in the alleys, Warrick felt a chill crawl down his spine. In less than two miles, they had already passed seven or eight checkpoints.

In addition to the heavily guarded checkpoints on the main roads, countless hidden sentries kept a constant watch on the streets. At the first sign of trouble, they’d move in immediately.

Warrick had initially planned to slip out of the city with his guards if he couldn’t make contact with his allies. With his level of cultivation, escaping Celestria should have been possible.

But now, he realized how naive that plan had been.

With the city under lockdown-guards stationed every ten steps and hidden sentries every hundred-sneaking out was nearly impossible.

If he were spotted, the entire city’s forces would descend on him. Even with his extraordinary abilities, breaking through such a tight encirclement would be a hopeless task.

The streets were silent, and no one in the group spoke. Even when they passed other patrols, there was no exchange of words-just a simple nod before moving along.

And just like that, Warrick blended seamlessly into the patrol team as they made their way toward the outer city.

were stopped at the final checkpoint just as they

passage between the inner and outer

had been prohibited from entering the

to get a ride was to reach

was heavily guarded, with troops stationed to prevent anyone from slipping

the inner city, their authority didn’t extend to the outer city. As Mulder led the group toward the checkpoint, the hundred or so elite guards on

The City Defenders are only responsible for inner city security. What are

fixed them with a razor-sharp gaze. His tone was firm and commanding. As he spoke, his hand rested on

mirrored his stance, their piercing gaze

frowned slightly and silently

this point. They’d passed through every checkpoint without issue. He hadn’t

Did someone notice something?

to me,” Mulder murmured before striding toward Colton with a friendly grin. “Mr. Dane,

“Mulder?”

him before his

“I remember your unit was assigned to patrol the

orders from above, Mr. Dane. I was told to take care of something in the outer city,” Mulder replied. Then, he asked

the rules. Right now, the

a

circumstances, bending the rules wasn’t a big deal.

was a manhunt going on. A single mistake could cost him his position-or

future and safety were on the line. There was no room