Chapter 1604: The Wounds of Victory

The barren wasteland before them slowly began to shift. The ground, once cracked and lifeless, now seemed to pulse with a quiet, steady rhythm. It was as though the very land itself was recovering, breathing again after the death of the Nexus's heart. Yet, even as the remnants of darkness faded, a deep unease lingered. The group stood in silence, surveying the landscape around them, their exhaustion palpable but their resolve unbroken.

Elara could feel it in her bones—the stillness was deceptive. The battle might have been won, but the war was far from over. The cost had been high, and she couldn't shake the feeling that something had changed within her, something not entirely for the better. She glanced down at her hands, now empty without the relic. The remnants of its shattered power still tingled in her skin, but the raw connection to the Nexus was gone.