Chapter 66
The air on this world was sharp—too clean, almost artificial.
Golden trees creaked softly in the wind like old bones. The blue grass swayed with ghostlike stillness. Even the sky, fractured by a dead moon, seemed to hold its breath.
Kiro stood at the edge of the newly formed crater, watching the last of the survivors catch their breath. He had given no speeches. No comfort. There was none to give.
The Gate was gone.
The Blood God was dead.
And now they were stranded on a nameless planet... again.
"System," he whispered under his breath, knuckles white around the hilt of his blade. "Is there a way off this world?"
The Blood System pulsed. A flicker of static buzzed through his veins, as if the god it came from were still trying to remember its own voice.
[CALCULATION: COMPLETE.][LOCAL INTERSTELLAR FLIGHT CAPACITY DETECTED – 502 MILES NORTH.][LOCATION: FERAL TRADE ZONE – CITY OF HUNGERS.][TARGET: DOCKED VESSEL – PIRATE WARSHIP DESIGNATION: "THE MAW."][WARNING: HIGH RISK. REGION CONTROLLED BY EXTREME HOSTILE FACTIONS.]