Kaizen turned away from Gieneno, the gaze that had once blazed with indignation now replaced by something deeper, a kind of somber contemplation.
The weight of Gieneno's revelation, his justifications, and the rigid structure that separated the Evolved from the mortals seemed to suffocate the air around them. The wind that swept across the battlefield carried with it the smell of scorched earth and the distant echo of the lamentations of those who had not survived.
The world around them, once alive with the life and energy of the combatants, was now silent. The trees, once tall and imposing, were reduced to charred rubble.
