The General was still there.
Motionless. As if he had been planted in the rock alongside the Portal.
Mikhhail Morozov.
We had already seen him, but now his presence carried a different weight. He was a Blessed. You
could feel it in your bones. One of the real ones. He didn't speak much, yet everything around him
seemed to arrange itself. No one dared get too close. No one asked anything.
His voice, when it came, wiped out every thought.
"It's time."
Three words. That was enough.
"You will be called one by one. You will present yourselves before the Portal. No one will follow you.
No one will help you."
Silence. Pure. Sharp.
"Whoever receives a Blessing will enter. Whoever does not will be rejected. And will never be able
to try again."
Someone bit their lip. Another stared at the ground. I didn't move. Klaus clenched his fists.
Morozov never raised his voice, but every syllable sounded like an order carved in stone.
"Once inside, wait. The New World will receive you."
The New World.
That name had circulated forever in the Castle halls. The city built around the Portal. Where theBlessed lived. Where - they said - the King had built a new system. Not perfect. Not just. But at least
functional.
Many believed it was just propaganda.
I didn't.
A boy next to me stepped forward, voice hoarse.
"And if we get spit out? So be it. We go back to the Old World. We know how to survive."
"We grew up in the shit. Not much has changed," said another.
They laughed, but it was a broken laugh. Empty.
I listened. But inside, everything was still.
Then Klaus turned to Elena. His eyes were tense, as if he were searching for something he couldn't
say.
"If I don't make it in... I don't want to be away from you."
She didn't respond immediately. Then she barely touched him with her hand. The simplest and most
powerful gesture she had ever made. Klaus lowered his gaze. For the first time, he looked small.
I watched them. And I knew I would do anything not to end up like them.
Divided. Broken.
"I'll go in."
No anger. No pride. Just certainty.
Klaus gave me a glance. He said nothing. But he knew I wouldn't turn back. None of us three reallywould.
Then I locked eyes with Themdo.
He stood apart, as always. One step behind. But present, alert. Silent as smoke.
I'd known him for eleven years. I knew how he moved. How he thought. But I didn't know who he
really was.
And now... now something smelled off.
I stepped closer.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?"
He slightly raised his chin. "Tell you what?"
"That you're like me. Like Klaus. That you're an Angelus. A child thrown out of the Labyrinth."
He looked at me. That was it. No defense. No excuse.
"I thought we were friends."
It was the most honest thing I'd said in weeks.
Elena watched us. Klaus had stopped. Morozov hadn't: he was already walking toward the Portal.
The military order had never broken. Only us.
Then it happened.
The Portal... vibrated.
A low sound, like a deep breath. Like the heartbeat of a stone giant.The floating surface gave off a barely visible light.
One at a time. Never together.
They called them Blessed, but no one really knew what was left behind that threshold.
One thing was certain: whoever entered... changed.
Or never cane back.