The city had changed overnight.
The barracks m******e spread like wildfire through every alley, every tavern, every market stall. Soldiers had been slain where they were strongest. Their own walls bore the Devil’s Mark, glowing faintly even after the guards tried to scrub it clean.
“No one is safe,” people whispered.
“They walked into the barracks and left alive.”
“Even the guards tremble now.”
Mothers refused to send children into the streets. Merchants sold only in hushed voices, always with one eye on the shadows. Drunks muttered prayers before passing through alleys, clutching talismans like lifelines.
Fear was no longer smoke. Fear had teeth.
And Kael knew it was time to take more than blood. It was time to take loyalty.
---
In the orphanage hall, the Devil’s court gathered o
