"Knowing this, I could no longer remain silent. My best friend escaped hell. She found love. She can make enough money to escape the debt. My life will be ruined once this video is released. I bet Maximilian is already calling his contacts to punish me. But I don't care."
Her chest rose and fell with shuddering breaths. Her final words came out broken, yet they carried more weight than anything she had said before.
"Nyx Cosmos… my best friend… please, live life to the fullest for the both of us."
And just like that, the video cut out.
Truth be told, humans were fickle creatures. They had spent days drenched in terror, sleepless nights with the thought of claws and fangs tearing through their walls. They had wept over names on casualty lists, buried what remained of their dead—if anything—in mass graves, and clung to the cold comfort of government bunkers. But even fear had limits. Even anxiety exhausted itself.
