Aiden Knight's POV
The arena had emptied except for the three of us and Vincent's scattered remains. The silence felt heavy after the chaos of twenty thousand confused spectators filing out. I could still taste the metallic tang of blood in the air, though the crowd had somehow stopped noticing it entirely.
Bradley Orwell remained on his knees beside the platform. His expensive suit was stained with dirt and sweat. Mason Warren had fled the moment I dismissed him, probably racing to secure that Crimson Lotus Pill before I changed my mind about sparing his life.
"Stand up," I told Bradley.
He rose slowly, his movements careful and respectful. The terror in his eyes had settled into something deeper. Recognition. Fear mixed with a desperate kind of hope.
"You saw what happened here tonight," I continued, studying his face. "The power that was displayed. The... alteration of twenty thousand memories."
Bradley nodded carefully. "I witnessed the impossible, Master."
