The ruins of Avaloria smoldered beneath a fractured sky.
What had once been an empire was now a grave.
Mountains lay split open like broken ribs. Entire districts had vanished into yawning abysses. Rivers no longer flowed—they hung in the air, frozen mid-collapse, before raining down in muddy sheets.
Ash drifted through the wind like snow, carrying the echoes of countless lives that had ended in an instant.
Alex stood alone amidst the devastation.
His gaze swept over the destruction in silence.
'Was I responsible for this…?'
The answer came without hesitation.
'Yes.'
And yet—
He felt no remorse.
Not even a flicker.
As long as those close to him were safe, nothing else mattered.
Not empires.
Not civilizations.
Not the screams buried beneath the rubble.
Only one thought rose clearly in his mind.
'The world can burn… as long as my people live.'
A deep groan shattered the silence.
It was wet.
Ragged.
Filled with pain.
Alex turned toward the sound.
