Chapter 179

She turned back to the forest, to the presence that felt like an old scar finally reopening. Her breathing slowed—not because she wasn’t afraid, but because fear no longer owned her the way it once had.

“I won’t guard lies,” she said at last. Her voice was calm, but it carried weight. “I won’t protect a system that survives by sacrificing its own.”

The presence stirred.

The ground did not shake this time. Instead, the air warmed, just slightly, like the first sign ...