The battlefield was already a graveyard. Smoke strangled the sky, fires ate the bones of fallen towers, and the screams of Hosts and civilians alike cut through the air like knives. Ethan’s storm surged restlessly around him, arcs of lightning snapping against fractured stone, as if the storm itself was straining for release.And then she appeared.Lena stepped through the ruin like a queen returning to her court, clad in blackened armor traced with crimson veins of the System. Her posture was regal, her hair loose and wild in the firelight. The chaos around her seemed to shrink, to bend, until all eyes were drawn to her.Maya tensed at Ethan’s side, blades drawn, her chest heaving. “So it’s true,” she muttered. “You’ve sold yourself completely.”Lena’s lips curved into a cold smile. “Sold? No. Elevated. Ragnar offered me what none of you ever could: acknowledgment. A throne in the world that’s coming.”Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “A throne built on bones.”“And yet,” Lena said softly, til