Lucien did not remain in the mine.
He let the Lithrens settle first.
Food was gathered. Watch rotations were established and the freed elders began reorganizing the flow of people.
Riri's voice carried through the aurora-lit halls, giving structure where chaos might have returned.
Only when he was certain no immediate danger remained did Lucien rise above the mountain.
He stood at its peak and looked down upon a world that had just tasted freedom.
Victory had been won.
But safety had not.
Lucien's eyes narrowed slightly.
They had succeeded only because the truly strong were absent.
The Celestial Realm experts who oversaw this world were gone. The Eternal Realm beings who treated planets like resources had not returned yet. That window had allowed him to move freely.
When they came back, they would notice.
They would see the silence in the mine. The missing Alloykins.
And when they did, this world would be harvested again.
Worse.
It would be erased.
Lucien exhaled.
