What wasn't manageable was the pressure still lingering in the air.
Gods had retreated, but they hadn't left.
Cain pulled Eidwyrm free and rested it across his knees. The blade responded sluggishly, like it was wading through thick water. That meant one thing: whatever had answered his challenge last night hadn't been a simple avatar or proxy. Something higher had leaned close enough to notice him personally.
He stood.
Movement flickered at the edge of the yard. Not hostile. Human.
The same survivors from before emerged cautiously, weapons lowered but ready. Their expressions shifted when they saw Cain standing instead of dead.
"You lived," the man with the mechanical arm said, disbelief edging his voice.
Cain nodded once. "Barely."
They approached more confidently now, stepping over warped metal and scorched ground. One of them—young, barely more than a kid—stared at the remains of a divine structure and whispered, "You killed it."
