Chapter 79: echoes of the fallen
The night air was thick with tension. The ruins of Aethermoor, once a sanctuary of light and ancient power, now seemed to pulse with a low hum—alive and aware of the bloodlines within its stone.
Cain couldn't sleep. He sat with Selene still resting beside him, her breathing soft and rhythmic. She had exhausted herself completely, and even now her body trembled in her sleep from the aftershocks of the power she'd unleashed days ago. He gently wrapped his coat tighter around her and stood.
Leo was wide awake too, perched on a broken column, eyes scanning the distant tree line.
"Do you feel that?" Cain asked in a low voice.
"Yes," Leo murmured. "It's like... echoes. Voices. They're not here physically, but something is watching us."
Eren emerged from the shadows near the wall. "Our father."
The name hit the air like a dropped blade. Cain's hands curled into fists instinctively.
"He's calling to us," Eren added. "Not with words, but with presence."
Cain's voice was cold. "I don't care if he's bleeding in the next realm. He doesn't get to summon us."