Darkness never fully fell.

  The torn sky glowed faint crimson, casting the capital in perpetual dusk. Fires burned unchecked. Screams echoed from every quarter.

  Arin fought beside Kael in the streets.

  His blade cut through spirits more cleanly now, guided by instinct rather than fear. Yet each strike drained him. Each contact strengthened the burning mark on his wrist.

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  “You’re adapting,” Kael said between clashes.

  “I don’t feel stronger,” Arin replied.

  “You don’t need to feel it.”

  An enormous Atma descended, its body formed from dozens of fused spirits.

  Arin stepped forward first.

  He moved without hesitation.

  Steel pierced the entity’s core.

  Light burst outward, dissolving it entirely.

  For a brief moment, the surrounding Atmas paused.

  As if uncertain.

  As if waiting.

  Far away, Kael’Zareth felt the shift.

  “The Sealbreaker grows.”