Author's Note: Unedited Chapter
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"How did you stop them?" Gustav asked, though he already knew the answer would be grim.
Yuren shook his head slowly. "We didn't. At least, not completely. We fought them—every last one of them. We had no choice. But the more we fought, the worse it got. Each time one of them died, the dark energy spread further. We lost entire cities… entire regions to the darkness. We barely managed to defeat the ones who returned."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "But… it hasn't stopped. Even after we destroyed them all, the dark energy kept spreading. The cracks… the fissures… they're growing. Every day, they grow wider."
The silence that followed was suffocating. Gustav stood motionless, his eyes darkened with thought. He had seen many battles, many threats, but this… this was different.