The halo of Star Gate Square slowly dissipated behind him. As the familiar tide of magical power surged over him, washing away that suffocating, pulsating rhythm of flesh and blood, Allen felt like he had finally come back to life.
He had returned to Deep Blue Residence E-071.
Instead of immediately entering the Meditation Room, he stood quietly before the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the warm glow of the sun outside.
Survivor's relief? There was none.
His Mechanical Mind had long since compressed and packaged the terror and tension that had spiked to their thresholds during that deadly encounter, along with the exhilaration of his final winning gamble, archiving it all into a file named "Augustus Valentine Contact Report."
What he felt right now was absolute clarity about the path ahead.
