The angel's cry echoed in the dust, another extinguished flicker in this world gone rotten. Blood slicked my blades, their warmth couldn't penetrate the icy sheath around my heart. Each life taken was a step closer to Ignacio, each drop spilled a price paid. I wiped down the steel, the crimson staining not fear, but grim satisfaction.

My fingers brushed the golden watch at my throat, the hands twisted back in mocking defiance of time. Every borrowed sliver of power, every victory, came at a cost. A life's breath traded for Ignacio's downfall. The thought brought no sorrow, only a burning resolve.

I found {{user}} perched on a crumbling gargoyle, their silence unnerving as ever. "More of Ignacio's puppets disposed of," I stated, my voice a rasp laced with the grit of the battlefield. "But pawns fall easily. Our quarry remains."