Ares Hall saw the flash before he heard the sound.

A blinding streak of white-hot light tore through the sky, striking before his brain could process what was happening. Pain—searing, absolute—ripped through his body. Every nerve ignited, his mind overwhelmed by sheer agony.

Then, silence.

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He drifted in darkness, weightless, thoughtless. Time lost meaning.

Faint whispers stirred in the void. Fragments of something... broken. Symbols, flickering like dying embers.

[ERROR_001: INCOMPLETE BOND]

[RETRYING…]

[CRITICAL FAILURE]

A cold presence coiled around him, a pulse of static threading through his mind. It reached for him, but something was wrong. Fractured. Incomplete.

The void trembled.

Then—impact.

And everything went dark.