The air in Tashi Village had changed.
The once-bright dawn now carried a faint metallic tang, the scent of blood and storm.
Clouds rolled low above the rooftops, trembling as if the heavens themselves hesitated to breathe.
From beyond the tree line, the ground began to rumble.
A surge of Voidborns, their shrieks like nails scraping across glass — flooded out from the mist.
Behind them walked two figures, pale and scorched by vengeance.
Alaric and Selene, the fallen twins of the Hollow Nine.
Their bodies still bore the ghostly burns from their last battle with Master Vince wounds that never healed, no matter how much Void they consumed.
Their armor, blackened and cracked, seemed to breathe with every step.
Khael, standing in front of the Tashi gates with Ceyla, Juno, Andromeda, and Matthew, tightened his grip on his sword.
The crimson aura of his Shinrei flickered alive, dragonfire whispering behind his eyes.
