Kent dropped to his knees. His hands trembled, unable to move, to save, to rewind time.
Behind Amelia stood the Kai family enforcers, holding the heads of the other women—those who had followed Kent, who had believed in his rise.
Behind them… on a throne of corpses, sat Emperor Kai.
His laughter rang like the sound of bells in a death ritual.
"Hahahahaha! Look at the great Kent Hall! The God-Child! The Hero! Watching his toys burn!"
Kai's finger pointed at Kent.
"Is this what your ascension bought? A new world without weight? Without ties? You climbed your ladder of heaven—and left your heart behind in the dirt!"
Kent couldn't even scream. The dream had robbed him of voice.
Amelia's dying hand touched his foot.
"I waited… and you never came."
A loud thud came from behind him. Kent turned in horror.
Fatty Ben was kneeling, bloodied and broken, his forehead pressed against Kent's foot.
"You left us, Master Kent," he whispered. "We left our world… for what?"
