The chamber pulsed with oppressive darkness, the suffocating aura of Erebus filling every corner like a tide of death. The wolf's crimson eyes glared down at the battered human lying before it, jaws parted, teeth gleaming with hunger. One more strike. That was all it would take to end Loren Vance.
The squad stood frozen.
Their breaths came uneven, hearts pounding under the weight of the choice no one dared to voice. Do they intervene and risk the devil's wrath? Or do they hold back and let Loren's fate play out as orchestrated?
The silence pressed harder than any roar.
Mia was the first to break it. "If we step in now, we're not just helping him," she said, her voice taut but controlled. "We're breaking the deal the devil proposed. You think he'll just let that slide?"
