Elena Brightforge's response to Marcus's defeat came within hours, and it was everything I had expected from someone of her reputation for systematic thinking and long-term planning. Unlike Marcus's direct assault, Elena's strategy was subtle, comprehensive, and potentially devastating—if she had been facing a conventional opponent.
I stood before the central display in our command center, watching as energy distribution patterns across the continent shifted in ways that defied normal operational logic. Elena was implementing the most sophisticated grid manipulation in recorded history, demonstrating exactly why Luminalis had maintained its essential services monopoly for decades.
