Merlin's breath caught. His grip faltered. 'So it's real. Everything—Nathan, Elara, Morgana—it was nothing. Empty. All of it…'
The man didn't let him linger. His words cut in like scalpel to vein.
"But they left me."
Merlin blinked, staring. "…What?"
The man's gaze didn't shift. "This was their test. Their cage. Their amusement. But I do not belong to them."
The void shuddered. System text flickered at the edge of Merlin's vision—
[The Audience grows restless.]
[The Arbiter disapproves of the intrusion.]
[The Messenger is silent.]
The man ignored it all. His voice steady. "They wanted to see how you would break. How long you would cling to shadows, how long you would rage at their strings."
He stepped closer, stopping only an arm's length from Merlin. His hand, pale, steady, tapped the flat of Merlin's sword, lowering it.
"You did not break."
