Chapter Title: The Final Phase
Silence returned, but it was no longer empty.
It was heavy.
Waiting.
Azrael stood in the aftermath of the third trial, his chest rising and falling steadily despite the pain tearing through his body. Blood dripped slowly from his shoulder, staining the dark surface beneath his feet. The wound burned, not just from the strike itself, but from the lingering authority that the Executioner had carried.
He rolled his shoulder slightly.
Pain flared.
“Yeah… that’s staying for a while,” he muttered.
Quinn’s voice came low.
“It is not a normal wound. That strike carried conceptual weight. It may not heal easily.”
Azrael exhaled.
“Great. Just what I needed.”
The darkness around him shifted again.
Not violently.
Not suddenly.
But with purpose.
The ground
