The Convergence Ground was a place of ancient power, carved from living rock in the shape of a natural amphitheater high in the Shadowpeaks Mountains. It was here, according to legend, that the first territorial Alphas had met to establish the principles of unified governance centuries ago. Now it would witness either the ultimate expression of those principles or their final destruction.
I stood at the edge of the combat circle, feeling the weight of history and expectation pressing down like the mountain air itself. Around the amphitheater, thousands of witnesses had gathered—representatives from every territory, refugees from Viktor's controlled regions, resistance fighters who had risked everything to attend this moment of truth.
"You don't have to do this," Darius said quietly, stan
