Chapter 83 Shattered Loyalties

The extraction helicopter hovered above the destroyed summit site, rotors whipping dust into tornadoes of ash and metal. Damian stood at the edge of the rooftop helipad, the weight of the battle still coiled around his limbs like chains. His suit was torn, blood crusted on his temple, and one shoulder screamed with pain every time he moved. But none of it compared to the ache in his chest. They had won—or at least stopped the worst of it. Monarch’s AI was destroyed, the summit disrupted, and the worst secrets were now evidence in trusted hands. But something lingered. A void that the victory hadn’t filled.