"I was never yours."
The world tilted. Just slightly. A breath held between one heartbeat and the next…
And then, someone laughed.
Not Olivier. Not Gabriel.
It came from the far end of the crumbling shard, where the mirrored corridors twisted in impossible shapes and the broken architecture of a dying illusion refused to fall completely. The laugh was slow, deliberate, and drawn out, like an old wound being exposed to air.
Dry. Amused. Unapologetically cruel.
Goliath stepped into view with the kind of casual elegance that didn't belong in a battlefield. One hand tucked behind his back, the other lightly brushing the edge of a ruined pillar as he passed, eyes gleaming like something that knew far too much and cared far too little.
"Oh, Olivier," Goliath drawled, the laugh still clinging to his tone. "You really thought Hadeon would last?"
Olivier turned, eyes wild.
