“And yes, I’m worried about the exact same thing. No amount of sorcery or meditation would keep a person’s heart beating for five centuries unless the hearts that beat in their chests now don’t belong to them, or there’s something else at play that we’re unaware of.” Teivel sighed. “Either way, history is repeating itself—what happened five centuries ago is happening again now.”

Darius bit his lip and frowned deeply. Then, he said, “What should we do to prevent the situation from worsening? I h