A small smile spread across Cel's face - the first genuine one in longer than he could remember.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIgfDV9tbVQ
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The blessing. Finally.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSl8KqGkIh
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After everything he'd endured, every nightmare survived, every wound that should have killed him - he was about to receive what he'd earned. What he'd bled for.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDApcApl8WO
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The moon hung full and radiant above, its pale light washing over the cracked earth of his soul's landscape.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkilgyJWLFU
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"Please follow me, Chosen One." Selina’s voice carried gentle warmth as she gestured toward the mist with graceful fingers.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMFGC3ymlOw
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Cel's breath steadied, though his heart quickened with something that might have been anticipation. He nodded once, that small smile still tugging at his lips.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9BSyJKE7D
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She turned, white robes trailing across broken ground as she moved toward the mist with unhurried elegance. Cel followed, his bare feet padding softly against fractured stone.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJ3ApIdswF
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They walked in silence through the transformed landscape. Small flowers with bluish-white petals bloomed from the deepest cracks, reaching toward moonlight. Jagged stones jutted up at irregular intervals - ruins carved into the depths of who he'd become.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy0lFXaX5Z
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Cel's mind drifted toward what awaited him.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEozjoz1Yr
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A blessing.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9qF9zj62fR
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Soon the goddess's power would be woven into his very being.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtytms2u4A2
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This power had always been a part of his world - expected, almost mundane among nobles. Divine gifts granted to those called by the gods, transforming the Chosen into something more than human.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpajqt6AUf
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But he'd never truly considered what they were. What it meant to be bound to a deity.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ5hkjHHB8
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Three factors shaped every blessing - the foundation that determined what a Chosen One could become.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡltZuq4IwLS
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First: the nature of the god.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHkbkhndzH
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The Mountain God granted strength and endurance. The Storm Goddess gave lightning and wind.The Sun God's blessed were always strong, proud, radiant. Warriors who commanded fire and light.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOt5zXPCAUc
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He'd spent his entire life studying them, memorizing their achievements, listening to endless sermons about their legendary deeds.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYV3HrDnTPp
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But the Moon Goddess?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmYBAlS4DT
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She was different.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBPzqBKKIm
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Unlike other gods, each with an entire Clan devoted to them, the Moon Goddess had none. No bloodlines carried her favor. No buildings bore her name. She'd had few Chosen throughout history, and even fewer records of what they'd accomplished.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLkpTmFG1P
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The reason was simple.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLiK6sSgW8B
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They had been weak.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzCfpsLCzz
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Where other Chosen reshaped the world - commanding tides, healing mortal wounds, razing plains with fire - those who served the Moon Goddess had left no mark. Their abilities - whatever they'd been - hadn't shaken the world. Hadn't carved legacies worth remembering.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazpNwNeodk
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They'd lived and died as footnotes.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ3niU7ensS
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The irony might have made him laugh if it didn't make him so angry. Cast out by the people who raised him. Saved instead by the only deity he knew nothing about.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu51LzHqk9L
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Selina's figure moved steadily ahead. The mist parted for her as though bowing in deference.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vjmWZVyKc
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Cel watched her for a moment before his thoughts moved to the second factor: 135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9kPaP7Yrin
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The rank of the priest.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsJIAiAO7ao
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Unlike the rigid hierarchies found in most hierarchies, priestly ranks held no special titles, no formal order. A servant of the gods could be rank 1 or rank 100 - the number itself was all that mattered.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKekVTzyvw
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But that number meant everything.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTHGlITZGt
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The rank indicated proximity to their deity. How close they stood to the divine.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8jUSCy2i0N
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And which priest was sent to a Chosen One revealed how much the god valued them.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqWuzmw480T
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The gods dispatched their most trusted servants only to those they deemed worthy. A newly Called receiving a high-ranked guide? That was a declaration of divine favor - a promise of investment and expectation.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLO3zeSN8B
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Conversely, someone of lower standing suggested... less. Not rejection, but neither was it embrace.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROqmT615rZ
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And this hierarchy directly influenced the quality of blessings bestowed.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSUejUnGnF
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At lower ranks, the paragons and artifacts granted were functional but limited - straightforward abilities within the deity's domain. Useful, certainly. Yet unremarkable.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI7FpY9zxBG
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Higher ranks yielded far more. Through a rank 40 priestess, a god might grant paragons that reshaped battlefields. Through a rank 10, they could forge legends whose names echoed through history.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWGUo1sZgg
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At the pinnacle, the gods held nothing back. Paragons of devastating power. Artifacts of impossible grace. Blessings worthy of those they deemed truly exceptional.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWKphkB9A3
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Cel studied Selina's back as they walked. What rank did she hold? Her presence carried weight - certainty that suggested she wasn't newly appointed. But beyond that, he couldn't guess.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJIJw6a4ES
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Priests only revealed such information after the first blessing - a rule dictated by the gods themselves for reasons mortals couldn't grasp.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcT7xcdCNN4
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His fingers curled at his sides.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcW6pTzF5V3
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And the third factor:135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLDqz7TjeXH
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The compatibility between the deity and their Chosen One.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWdSbE8tEU
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This was the part no one understood. Even the royal family, with their vast library and generations of recorded history, had no answer to why certain people were chosen.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡklynXUuIxO
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Some claimed personality - that gods selected those who reflected their own nature. Others insisted on fate, predetermined and inescapable. And then there were those who believed it was arbitrary. That mortals were nothing but playthings for forces beyond comprehension.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfCgQRJRdrF
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Cel wasn't sure what he believed. Maybe all those theories were wrong. Maybe they were all right.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMobPEJ7qsd
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In the end, gods remained an enigma. Everything humanity claimed to know was guesswork dressed as certainty. Fragments stitched together over centuries.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86BE5TLLyd
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Only the priests could claim true connection to the divine. And even they spoke in riddles, revealing only what lay within their god-given authority.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUB7LPMJqG
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This secrecy made divine knowledge one of the world's most valuable commodities. Kings, warlords, scholars would pay fortunes for even the faintest whisper of celestial truth.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r8nC3JjLk
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Everyone wanted answers. Few existed. And in that desperation, lies flourished.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpe004ijfR5
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His stomach churned with familiar revulsion.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofR4mXV1OP
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False doctrines. Fabricated revelations. Entire faiths built on deliberate misinformation. Humanity had drowned itself in deception.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZGUNOKXHw
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And every level of society fed the rot.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpMOknV0PP
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The nobles controlled access to knowledge, yes - they dictated who was worthy and silenced threatening voices. Their monopoly turned belief into power, worship into currency, gods themselves into weapons.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGxkbUtwD4
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But the common people?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiAFqi0r1Mh
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They weren't innocent victims.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvHSV02KDAA
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False prophets rose from peasant villages, claiming divine visions for coins. Sects multiplied like weeds, each convinced they alone understood divine will - demanding obedience in exchange for salvation. Merchants sold 'artifacts’ to the desperate - splinters of 'sacred' wood, water from 'blessed' springs, all fabricated for profit. 135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGsorJI8zKN
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Faith twisted by greed became poison that seeped through the entire kingdom.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ0euUEPX8W
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That was why understanding had stagnated. Why humanity, despite centuries of devotion, still grasped blindly at truth's edges. Because no one wanted truth - they wanted comfort, wealth, power, whatever lie served their needs.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNNR16eBKnJ
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Almost laughable. People begged gods for salvation while ensuring their own downfall.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5rFaN1wxF3
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And through it all, the gods remained silent.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yHDtQIQCp
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Did they care? Or were they simply indifferent?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpTRoJexS3J
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That question haunted him more than any other.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQMGN6ZIDX
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What if the gods saw exactly what he did? 135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7cOXdLdchK
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Every lie, every corruption, every twisted doctrine - and remained silent because humanity had earned its ignorance. Not punishment. Just... consequences. 135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfa3lw8uKp
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And Cel, no matter how much he wished otherwise, was part of that same corrupted race.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA3ufzcWCk
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Would he be any different?135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AJAjtAlDx
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A bitter smirk pulled at his lips. He wanted to believe so.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI8GNYIqLie
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But he knew better.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfmlk9NxtrY
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Lies weren't just tools of the powerful. Sometimes they were the only way to survive. If he returned to civilization, he'd wield deception as readily as those he despised.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1SC77KnA2a
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He had to.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUydIe1bfiv
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Ahead, Selina stopped.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWIiqlSIYJ
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Cel nearly collided with her before catching himself.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZw385xVaQ
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She turned to face him, white robes trailing through the mist like they were woven from it.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ECVwKQGna
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"We are nearly there, Chosen One."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGBlz0BdqE
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Selina gestured forward into the mist, but Cel remained still.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2tz4fKGiJ
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She paused, waiting.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoO1prED1ZW
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"I have questions," he said. "About the trial."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8XedIN8hd1
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After a moment, she lowered her hand and faced him fully. "Of course. Please, ask."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuennbIm0cE
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Cel studied her masked face. "When I was dying in that cavern, I heard a voice. Female. Sharp and commanding - telling me to get up." He paused. "At first, I thought it was you. But the tone was different. Harsher."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8bS0KHF4v
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Silence stretched between them.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ763dxfDUng
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"Who was it?"135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCI0xGmKj1O
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"I am sorry, Chosen One. This does not lie within my authority."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGYqVTUMPUS
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He was silent for a moment, then moved on. "The moon appeared right as I was dying. No trigger I could see - unless dying itself was the trigger. Was the trial simply to survive long enough? Or was there something else I was supposed to do?"135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp05JQUynLW
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"That, too, does not lie within my authority," Selina said, her tone carrying something that might have been regret.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItV1hH0vzx
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Cel hummed softly - half-amused, half-resigned. "Can you tell me anything about what I just went through?"135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ7igYXbRdt
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"Only what you experienced yourself. The trial's purpose belongs to the goddess alone."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnI9mVM4hEX
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He let out a quiet breath. 135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNf4ntyot6L
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He expected as much, and he didn't really care. The trial was over. He'd survived. Whatever secrets it held, whatever meanings he'd missed - none of that mattered anymore.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWZUYRXrAG
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"Alright," he said finally. "I'm ready."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ87OZJiqy1m
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Selina turned, gesturing forward once more. "Then let us continue."135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcey5jB3LrE
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They walked in silence, moonlight breaking through the mist in shifting rays. The air grew colder. Thinner. Each step felt lighter, as if the ground beneath his feet was becoming less real, less solid.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEta4oRvKst
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Then the mist parted.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpCWKCESPx
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Cel stopped.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5YZZ0X71W
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The ground was carpeted in bluish-white flowers that swayed gently through the mist, their petals drawing in moonlight and releasing it in steady pulses. At the center, a focused beam of moonlight descended - so strong and concentrated it almost seemed tangible.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TwcVphmP4
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At first sight, he knew that this was a sacred place.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBxgwJeq2V
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Selina stepped forward.135Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WqQj0zVmH
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"We have arrived, Chosen One."1234 copyright protection131ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8YnEZSul8 尼

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