Zane exhaled a cloud of grey breath.
His skin felt harder, denser. His bones felt like steel.
Valdis's body fell sideways on the stage, looking like a discarded puppet.
The five hundred ghosts in the audience stopped screaming.
They looked at Zane.
They didn't bow. They just faded, their purpose gone.
The silence that followed was absolute.
Zane stood alone on the stage.
"Two," he said.
He checked the time on his UI.
TIME REMAINING UNTIL SUNRISE: 02:15:00
He had time.
He turned and jumped back up to the balcony, landing heavily beside Wren.
Wren stepped back, her eyes widening.
"You..." she started, then stopped. "You look different. Heavier."
"I feel heavier," Zane said. The weight of Valdis's regret was a physical load, but it made him feel immovable.
"Who's next?" Wre
