I didn’t do anything. I swear.

After a long and exhausting day of battle, Ares drifted toward his clan, looking more battered than a beggar—no, even worse.

Dried blood clung to his hair, and wounds marked every inch of skin visible through the ragged remains of his clothes.

"I almost became someone's meal."

He muttered, recalling how the voidspawn had tried to swallow him whole just before it finally died. Fortunately, his instincts had kicked in at just the right time to save him.

The Celestials he had gathered from the other clans to help save Cassian and Kyle trailed behind him, looking far more worn and drained from their sudden clash with the voidspawn, a Celestial beast of myth.

Unlike someone—who had spent most of the battle running around and asking them to do something—they had actually fought.

Their dark, solemn gazes were like sharp daggers aimed at Clan Leader Ares' back—because this bastard was that someone.