Hollow-Cassius moves with a twisted parody of his former grace. His cultivation techniques are intact, muscle memory preserved even as consciousness was erased but now wielded with mindless hunger.He attacks the nearest Enforcers, his signature technique "Veil of Thousand Cuts" manifesting as silver blades that slice through three defenders before they can react."KILL IT!" Elder Yumei screams, horror and rage mixing in her voice. "Don't let it…"Too late.Hollow-Cassius touches a fallen Enforcer. Gray spreads from the contact point. Another Hollow rises."RETREAT!" Yumei's command is ABSOLUTE now. "FULL WITHDRAWAL! LEAVE THE DEAD!"The remaining Council forces scatter, abandoning equipment, wounded, everything, pure survival instinct overriding training.The Titan Sentinel moves to intercept Hollow-Cassius, but Kaelen's layered voice cuts through: "STOP. Let them go."The Sentinel freezes mid-strike."Kaelen, what…" Lira starts."If we kill Cassius, we're no better than the Council,

Dawn breaks over the Silverwood Grove, and something is different.The three trees Kaelen successfully anchored to yesterday are glowing faint silver-crimson light pulsing through their bark in rhythm with his heartbeat."It's beautiful," one of the younger defenders whispers, staring up at the luminescent branches."It's dangerous," Arcturus corrects, running calculations. "Every tree Kaelen connects to becomes a target. If someone damages those trees, they're damaging kaelen directly.""Then we guard them," Joren says simply. "Post Sentinels at each anchored tree. Any threat gets neutralized before it can strike.""That spreads our forces thin," Elder Yun observes."Then we get more forces." Joren grins. "I've been in contact with resistance cells across three provinces. Word of our victory spread fast. People want to join. We just need to decide do we accept them?"Everyone looks to Kaelen, who's meditating at the grove's heart, preparing for today's ritual attempt."That's not my

Kaelen wakes if you can call it waking when you're distributed consciousness to something different. There's a pull,subtle but persistent, coming from deep underground beneath the Heart Tree. Like a thread tugging at the center of his being. "Does anyone else feel that?" he asks the absorbed consciousnesses. "Feel what?" Wei Lin responds. "There's something... calling to me. From the roots." He extends his awareness downward, through soil and stone, following the sensation. And finds the seed. It's GLOWING with four colors silver, crimson, black, gold exactly matching Kaelen's energy signature. But there's something more a fifth color beginning to emerge. Pure white, representing something Kaelen hasn't embodied since his transformation Untainted life. Hope. humanity. “What is that?" Kaelen breathes. "That," a voice says not from the consciousnesses inside him, but from the grove itself “is your salvation. Or your doom. Depending on how you nurture it." ~~ Kaelen realizes

Joren watches Kaelen attempt basic sword forms,the same forms he used to execute flawlessly as a Void Guardian. Now, as a human, he's clumsy. Off-balance. The sword feels heavy. "You're thinking too much," Joren observes. "I used to be able to move at the speed of thought. Now I have to actually coordinate muscles, balance, breathing…" "Welcome to being human brother. It's inefficient and wonderful." Joren demonstrates a form. "Stop trying to be what you were. Learn to be what you are." Kaelen watches, then tries to copy. Better. Still not great, but better. "I forgot how much effort this takes," Kaelen admits. "That's what makes it matter. Anyone can be powerful if power is free. It takes character to be strong when strength is earned." ~~~ Lira regains consciousness six hours before Malakar's arrival. She's weak cultivation base at maybe 15% capacity but alive. First thing she ask "Where's Kaelen?" "Training," Shen reports. "And very bad at it. His human body doesn't reme

Grand Elder Theron stands before an assembly of hundreds, Council Elders, Grove defenders, neutral factions, even common citizens invited to witness. "For three centuries," Theron begins, "the Council has operated on a simple principle: power justifies authority. Those with cultivation strength rule. Those without obey." Murmurs of agreement and tension. "This principle created order. But it also created tyranny. We became what we swore to fight oppressors who justified cruelty as 'necessary.'" He holds up a document the NEW COMPACT. "Effective immediately, the Council undergoes fundamental restructuring: ARTICLE ONE: Cultivation ability does not grant automatic authority. Leadership requires consent of the governed. ARTICLE TWO: Non-cultivators receive equal representation in Council decisions affecting their lives. ARTICLE THREE: The Voidborn are recognized as a natural phenomenon, not an abomination. Research into Silent Veins continues but voluntarily, with full informed c