Heaven did not answer the failed siege with anger.
It answered with design.
The night after the battle was unnervingly quiet—too quiet for a world that had just bled by the thousands. No retaliation storms tore the sky. No divine edicts thundered through dreams. Even Seris did not return.
Silence was never mercy.
It was recalibration.
By dawn, the first symptoms surfaced.
Three unbound sentries failed to wake.
Not dead.
Not injured.
Simply… empty.
Their bodies breathed. Hearts beat steadily. But their eyes stared without recognition. No wolf stirred within them. No soul responded when healers called their names.
“They’re… disconnected,” Myra whispered, her hands shaking as she examined one of them.
The shadow spoke with immediate clarity.
Heaven has deployed soul-isolation pro
