The man stopped ten metres away. His eyes tracked across the seven bodies, the cooling blood, the dissipating residue of the Shells. His expression didn't change.
'You killed my cell,' he said. His voice was calm. The calm of someone who had seen everything and filed none of it under interesting. 'Lisen Vaal. Harkan Vell. The duelist. The striker.' He tilted his head. 'And now the gate team. I spent years assembling them.'
Cael forced himself to stand. The pressure was immense, a constant crushing weight that made every movement feel like pushing through deep water. His ribs screamed. His left hand was numb. But he was standing, the first Hollow's sword still in his grip, the mask still cool on his face.
'They were trying to wake something,' he said. 'I stopped them.'
'You delayed them
