Looking up, I let out a quiet breath and cleared my thoughts, my gaze drifting toward the cloudy night sky above.
The cold air nipped at my cheeks, but it felt… grounding.
Calming, even.
All things considered, the main storyline and its key scenarios were still on track.
Despite the small changes and deviations—some purposeful, others incidental—the overall flow remained intact.
As we moved toward the next semester, nothing particularly drastic seemed poised to disrupt Act 4.
Act 4 was always meant to be a breather.
A transitional phase in the grand scheme of things—a buildup arc designed to prepare the main protagonist, Lucas, for the true turning point in Act 5: the epilogue chapters where the real game began.
It was meant to be a slow burn, a time for development. For preparation. A quiet before the inevitable storm.
Sure, the deviation with the demon duke's rampage being cut short did shift some narrative weight.
