Cain's group was not the only one advancing through the Fourth Ring's Second Phase.
Another team was already pushing deeper—past the storm of falling stars that tested the body's ability to resist and redirect energy. They had reached the Third Phase, where each celestial fragment carried a trace of corruption within it. The stars no longer offered pure divine essence; their light had become tainted, twisted by echoes of chaos. To absorb them safely required near-perfect mastery of transmutation.
And yet, despite the growing difficulty, this second group advanced with speed and precision. Every movement was synchronized, every act deliberate.
At their head walked a man whose mere presence seemed to command the stars themselves—the Crimson Exarch.
