While the Inquisition's warrior began his divine hunt, a different, quieter battle was being waged. In the hallowed, terrified halls of Sunstone Academy.
The news of the Valerius estate's destruction and Edward's official branding as an "Enemy of the State" had ripped through the student body. It transformed the whispered, fearful rumors into a full-blown, hysterical panic. He was no longer just a campus legend. He was a national crisis. A boogeyman. A monster whose shadow now loomed over them all.
For Sarah, the news was a physical blow.
She sat in her small, neat dorm room. The academy's official news broadcast played on a holographic screen. Her hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles were white.
The announcer's voice was grave and somber. Detailing the "brutal, heretical assassination." The "demonic, reality-warping powers" of the fugitive, Edward Ross. They showed a stylized, menacing sketch of his face. His features twisted into a monstrous, inhuman snarl.
