Assassins cloaked in moonsteel struck in silence. Their daggers shimmered with poison that even Adrian’s flames struggled to burn. Selene shielded Kael, but one blade grazed her scar — and she screamed as if her soul were torn open.Kael’s shadow-self ripped free, taller, darker, more human than ever. It slaughtered Nysera’s blades without hesitation, whispering into Kael’s ear:“See how easily they fall. You don’t need him. You don’t need her. Only me.”Furious, Adrian raised a firestorm across the camp. Assassins burned, tents turned to ash. Rival kings shouted — some saw him as savior, others as a demon. By dawn, every throne had chosen a side.The wound on Selene’s scar spread, veins of black crawling across her chest. She gasped, whispering:“It’s not poison. It's a curseblade. They’re trying to *merge* me with the Master.”Adrian held her tighter. “Not while I breathe.”Captured mid-battle, Nysera spat blood and laughed.“You think I serve the Master? No — I serve myself. A worl