Sure enough, the whispers returned, louder than before. This time, it wore new voices—the men it had just killed, screaming for mercy, crying for mothers, begging for gods. The zealots faltered, some breaking formation, swinging wildly at air.
Kael’s gut twisted. The Penitent didn’t just kill. It collected.
"Hold the line!" the zealot captain roared. But even he sounded shaken.
Kael’s team didn’t break. They couldn’t afford to.
"Lyra!"
She already knew. Her decoy drones flared brighter, vines splitting into dozens more tendrils, each carrying her mocking laughter, drowning out the whispers with their own noise.
"Crimora—now!"
Black flame poured across the field, burning high walls that penned the monster in.
Selvara leapt, claws flashing, ripping into shadow-spawn that tried to fla
