Max remained silent, unsure how to reveal the truth about the dark red cloud. The leaders were already shaken by the reality of Mark's immortality and the dangerous method required to kill him.
If they learned that even defeating Mark would not save their world, if they learned that something far worse was already awakening—a force capable of consuming the entire planet—despair might swallow the last fragments of hope that remained in them.
He hesitated, weighing the consequences. Should he tell them? Should he burden them with knowledge of a calamity that even he could not stop?
His eyes drifted toward Freya.
She sat with a calm, steady posture, her face unreadable. Not a flicker of change crossed her expression even when the red cloud was mentioned. Max studied her closely, and a suspicion formed in his mind. She was from the Divine Realm, just like him. She was older, wiser, and had lived through events far beyond what the people of Acaris could imagine.
