Ethan exhaled slowly, wiping grime and blood from his cheek with the back of his sleeve. The
silence in the dungeon was suddenly oppressive, ringing in his ears after the chaos of battle.
Cracks snaked across the marble floor where Liora's final scream had echoed, and motes of dust
sparkled in narrow shafts of blood-red light.
Finally over… he thought, turning toward Daniel and Reyna to check on them.
But before he could take a step forward, a sharp electronic chime cut through the silence and he froze.
[System Notification]
[New Alert: Resurrection Protocol Detected.]
[Target: Liora Nightraven.]
[Status: Eligible for revival under Comrade Contract.]
Ethan froze. "…What the fuck?"
[System Notification]
[No need to worry, Boss. You can bring her back… as your comrade.]
He blinked several times, gripping Warlord's Fang as though it might help him physically grapple
with his own disbelief. "Wait. Hold up. The vampire woman? The one who literally tried to rip out
