The dust settled slow, as if even the air needed time to believe. Where shadow had ruled, light stretched across the ridge in clean gold, catching on stone, skin, and tears.
The villagers emerged from the caves first in cautious clusters, clutching one another's hands as if afraid the sky might betray them again. They stepped into the ruined field where silence had lived and now found only dawn. Their feet crunched over brittle husks that dissolved to ash with each step. Some wept openly, others laughed like broken bells.
One old woman knelt where the Corrupter had stood, her hands pressed flat to the earth. "It doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered, voice raw. "The ground doesn't hurt."
Children peeked out from behind mothers' skirts, wide-eyed not at the ruin, but at the figure who still stood in the middle of it — calm, steady, wings folded in quiet flame and scale.
Andy.
He lowered the Oathblade, letting its hum fade to a whisper before sliding it back into the Shared Inventory with a soft chime. No tremor marked his hand. No sweat shone on his brow. He exhaled once, and the ridge seemed to take that breath with him.
Nia staggered forward, her staff gone, silver runes still glowing faint around her wrists. Her eyes drank him in, the calm in his chest, the steady line of his shoulders. "You're… untouched." She sounded half relieved, half possessive.
Aurelia limped closer on the other side, a cut still drying across her temple, her daggers already dismissed. She smirked, exhausted but smug. "Not even a bead of sweat. You trying to make the rest of us look bad, Dragon?"
Andy turned his head toward her, expression unreadable but voice even. "I told you. This ends with me."
The villagers, overhearing, bowed their heads. Some sank to their knees. Others lifted hands as if in prayer, though none spoke words. They were too busy believing.
Aurelia let out a low whistle, then leaned toward Nia with that wolfish grin. "You hear that? He's not just ours. He's their saint now."
Nia's eyes narrowed, though her mouth softened. "Saints burn out. He won't. He's mine."
"Yours?" Aurelia teased, stepping just close enough to brush Andy's shoulder with her own. "You sure you want to share him with a whole village, then?"
Andy cut in before Nia's retort could sharpen. "Enough." He didn't raise his voice, but both women stilled. His calm held weight heavier than any Corrupter's silence. "There's no need to argue over what's already true."
Neither asked what he meant. Both, for a heartbeat, smiled.
The system chimed gently in his vision, as though careful not to disturb the peace.
[Constellation Sync — Orion]
Nia ⭐ 100% | Aurelia ⭐ 100%
Tier III Progress: 100%
Stage Status: Complete
A cheer finally broke from the villagers, ragged and desperate. They pressed forward, not to touch, but to be near. A boy ran up and dropped a carved wooden talisman at Andy's feet — a bird with outstretched wings. "So you remember us," the child said shyly before his mother pulled him back, bowing profusely.
Andy bent, picked up the talisman, and turned it once in his palm. He slid it into the Shared Inventory where it glowed as if it belonged.
Nia watched, her heart too full for words. Aurelia muttered, "Hells, even the system likes souvenirs now." But her smile said she was charmed anyway.
The sun lifted higher. Shadows retreated into nothing but memory. The ridge no longer trembled.
Andy stood at its center, wings folded, aura steady, no trace of fatigue. Cool. Unbowed. Victorious.
And for the first time in a long time, the dawn did not feel like survival. It felt like beginning.