Months earlier, the Liberators finally stepped out of the dark.
They did not reveal themselves everywhere at once.
They chose the East Continent first.
The Extinction-grade existence guarding the Evershade Exchange in the East had still not returned, and the absence of that pressure created the first true gap in the Exchange's hold.
Once the cures were mass-produced, the Liberators began to move.
At first, they moved quietly through healer networks, merchant caravans, and trusted intermediaries long buried beneath the Exchange's influence. They chose their points carefully, beginning where oversight was weakest and need was greatest.
Then the cure appeared.
And the East Continent trembled.
It did not become liberation overnight.
That would have been too simple.
It became uncertainty first.
And that was the true beginning of collapse.
For years, the Evershade Exchange had ruled through dependency.
Their miracle drugs had done exactly what made them so dangerous.
