The night rang with steel and fire, but it was not Wrath's chaos that consumed them now — it was choice.
Ambition's soldiers pressed forward with brutal precision, their discipline cutting through the weary survivors like a knife. Yet the sharper blade was his voice, rising above the clash. "See how he bleeds, how he falters? He would drag you into ruin. I will raise you to glory!"
And the weary listened.
Cyrus staggered beneath Ambition's relentless strikes. His sword felt heavier with each swing, his breath ragged. Hope tried to steady the camp with her faint light, but for every man who lifted his shield, two more lowered theirs, eyes drawn to Ambition's promise.
Love wept as she fought, torn between the exile she had betrayed and the conqueror who embodied passion unbound. Her shield wavered.
At last, Ambition's blade knocked Cyrus to the ground. Steel clattered from his hands, blood staining the dirt. Ambition did not strike the killing blow — he did not need to. He raised his sword high, his voice carrying through the stunned silence.
"Choose. Follow the exile into dust… or march with me into greatness."
The silence broke like glass. Dozens cast down their weapons at Cyrus' side and crossed the field, their eyes alight with hunger. Ambition welcomed them with open arms, his smile gleaming like a crown.
Cyrus pushed himself onto one knee, blood dripping from his lips. "They… are not yours," he rasped. But the words sounded hollow even to his own ears.
Hope rushed to his side, her trembling hands pulling him back from the front. "You can't fight him now," she whispered, her eyes wet with despair. Around them, only a handful remained loyal — battered, uncertain, but unwilling to abandon the exile.
Ambition lowered his blade, victory already his. "Then crawl, Cyrus. Crawl, and watch as I take the world you could not hold."
The conqueror turned, his new followers marching behind him. The camp that had bled together only hours before was split in two, unity shattered.
And for the first time, Cyrus tasted true defeat.