Chapter 366: Outrage of a Nation
"Knowing this, I could no longer remain silent. My best friend escaped hell. She found love. She can make enough money to escape the debt. My life will be ruined once this video is released. I bet Maximilian is already calling his contacts to punish me. But I don’t care."
Her chest rose and fell with shuddering breaths. Her final words came out broken, yet they carried more weight than anything she had said before.
"Nyx Cosmos... my best friend... please, live life to the fullest for the both of us."
And just like that, the video cut out.
Truth be told, humans were fickle creatures. They had spent days drenched in terror, sleepless nights with the thought of claws and fangs tearing through their walls. They had wept over names on casualty lists, buried what remained of their dead—if anything—in mass graves, and clung to the cold comfort of government bunkers. But even fear had limits. Even anxiety exhausted itself.
Now that the monsters were pushed back, at least largely, the collective heart of America shifted. They were burned out on worry, sick of staring into the cold shadows of their rooms.
The President’s address had been a balm for their strained minds. They were not just watching the video for information, but for distraction. To hear words of control, of safety, of heroes rising from within their people. It gave them something else to think about, something other than empty chairs at dinner tables and ruined neighborhoods. For once, they could allow themselves to breathe.
And then Alexandra’s video hit.
The timing was perfect, almost cruel in its precision. The presidential conference was still ongoing, cameras still locked on the stage where Kaiden Grey and his women stood tall under the glow of national gratitude. But then, like a tremor moving under the earth, the new video spread.
The bunkers stirred first. Huddled families who had been half-dozing through the President’s speech sat up straighter, their eyes glued to the shaky recording. Wives gripped their husbands’ hands tighter. Sisters turned to brothers with tears in their eyes. Friends, strangers, and entire communities gathered around the same glowing screens.