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I. The Blood That Sleeps
The stars above Sector 9 hung strangely still, as if even the sky had paused to witness what had just occurred. The air was scorched, and silence reigned where once there was battle.
Ares stood alone in the courtyard.
The cracked ground beneath him still steamed. His breathing was heavy, chest rising and falling, but he hadn’t fallen. Not once.
Not even when the Warden—the ancient specter of judgment—unleashed Neva enough to level a battalion.
His eyes were dull now. No longer glowing. But behind them, a sea churned.
He heard a whisper.
“You didn’t break. That’s all that matters.”
The voice of the Sword Holder… quieter now. Less invasive. More like a breath at the back of his mind.
But it hadn’t left.
It had… nested.
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II. Watching Shadows
From the
