Caius let out a slow breath that carried weight before finally speaking.
"Unfortunately, after losing to you in battle, I lost my skill… and with it, my title as a Chosen," he said. "That also means I'm no longer the chief of the Crimson Bastion clan."
Oh… is that so?
I didn't react outwardly, but the pieces shifted slightly in my head as I took that in. It explained something, at least—his presence here, the lack of immediate hostility—but it didn't make it clean.
"My shaman took over," he continued, his tone steady, though there was a faint edge beneath it. "While the graveyard was doing its work… bringing me back."
That guy.
Raghul. That was his name.
I remembered him clearly now, standing there after I'd beaten Caius, his expression just a little too satisfied for someone who had supposedly lost their chief. At the time, it hadn't mattered enough to dwell on, but looking back now, it fit too well.
No wonder he looked pleased.
He'd been waiting for that moment.
