A small smile spread across Cel's face - the first genuine one in longer than he could remember.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6BemlFlCH
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The blessing. Finally.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpd1lKwj5T
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxene3QQqM
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The moon hung full and radiant above, its pale light washing over the cracked earth of his soul's landscape.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr1ez7kJGkq
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"Please follow me, Chosen One." Selina’s voice carried gentle warmth as she gestured toward the mist with graceful fingers.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcbey9oy3H
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCvI5EFhx3
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2Pt0NmNsM
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWXhPFvZrK
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Cel's mind drifted toward what awaited him.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXih4Yaexac
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A blessing.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYG44HgzSrG
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Soon the goddess's power would be woven into his very being.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHUDpnzbdV
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOujDCTvXDZ
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But he'd never truly considered what they were. What it meant to be bound to a deity.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5gj5MnIhC
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Three factors shaped every blessing - the foundation that determined what a Chosen One could become.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡszxmKwD5ho
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First: the nature of the god.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EqLds1znO
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrDBHT4uvB
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He'd spent his entire life studying them, memorizing their achievements, listening to endless sermons about their legendary deeds.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBrt6j0iNzn
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But the Moon Goddess?149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1cOT1Qgm7C
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She was different.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDw4g65vWP
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefKKhcUkzT
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The reason was simple.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsnn8iwEPfD
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They had been weak.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eNLjmEX7X
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9FX9rSmHb
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They'd lived and died as footnotes.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICdAtC91IU
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbpqfUBP2vV
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Selina's figure moved steadily ahead. The mist parted for her as though bowing in deference.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeePOfakuDl
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Cel watched her for a moment before his thoughts moved to the second factor: 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtdtRsB2BHO
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The rank of the priest.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJI2lsgBZIp
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYHcM31jcM5
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But that number meant everything.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWukNyjlJ2U
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The rank indicated proximity to their deity. How close they stood to the divine.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvS66Rb6sf
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And which priest was sent to a Chosen One revealed how much the god valued them.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN8wQVSxTXj
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpwURQzP6Na
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Conversely, someone of lower standing suggested... less. Not rejection, but neither was it embrace.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcJEcZNVh2
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And this hierarchy directly influenced the quality of blessings bestowed.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcehcmPDf02
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzV4x4kijz
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmvM3DkBD60
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBlX8BDz0ZC
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iy4Qjk6BQ
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQA49zWPi6G
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His fingers curled at his sides.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCBdL6HuFX
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And the third factor:149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwidFJU9g8E
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The compatibility between the deity and their Chosen One.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9tdoqlC6SC
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmzhzZSCI4Q
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIpAeyVMsX
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Cel wasn't sure what he believed. Maybe all those theories were wrong. Maybe they were all right.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhaeDHPxzxU
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfre6mHznRl
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmh6ce28Hj
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3GQ8TneCk2
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Everyone wanted answers. Few existed. And in that desperation, lies flourished.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmigTPalfe0
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His stomach churned with familiar revulsion.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6EYazamty
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False doctrines. Fabricated revelations. Entire faiths built on deliberate misinformation. Humanity had drowned itself in deception.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyO3p0zyi2
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And every level of society fed the rot.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKpX6ykdb3H
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMMHkeLnlf
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But the common people?149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8ZCywEeRe
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They weren't innocent victims.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmINaMNDqg
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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. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMH71q7JwjV
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Faith twisted by greed became poison that seeped through the entire kingdom.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1ukaSraWH
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj85lDNhQTV
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Almost laughable. People begged gods for salvation while ensuring their own downfall.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMKuYHtWkp
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And through it all, the gods remained silent.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzRDCPjIa8P
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Did they care? Or were they simply indifferent?149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGmgHxPygg
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That question haunted him more than any other.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkPWYxrDE8
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What if the gods saw exactly what he did? 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1IDu0kIdI6
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Every lie, every corruption, every twisted doctrine - and remained silent because humanity had earned its ignorance. Not punishment. Just... consequences. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQo7fouhzLZ
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And Cel, no matter how much he wished otherwise, was part of that same corrupted race.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgI2BMcWpLh
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Would he be any different?149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5zXhEECM5
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A bitter smirk pulled at his lips. He wanted to believe so.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2uBv9391a
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But he knew better.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wcwzvCzxo
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtSEEnkSaIK
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He had to.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNSs7tL3BGW
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Ahead, Selina stopped.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqWoNp8J2C
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Cel nearly collided with her before catching himself.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡamxo6CKxQ1
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She turned to face him, white robes trailing through the mist like they were woven from it.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBqA4aJZPMJ
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"We are nearly there, Chosen One."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1BuhJJTs5
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Selina gestured forward into the mist, but Cel remained still.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUt7R5cnrE
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She paused, waiting.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEjmd5BUvRO
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"I have questions," he said. "About the trial."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqMY9qVKD0
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After a moment, she lowered her hand and faced him fully. "Of course. Please, ask."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcNFpZqAmu
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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."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEze5LS6r2
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Silence stretched between them.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35kZkZVAtJ
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"Who was it?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4SEikxIrf
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"I am sorry, Chosen One. This does not lie within my authority."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DlGMh8MvG
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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?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJigV8xqSpY
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"That, too, does not lie within my authority," Selina said, her tone carrying something that might have been regret.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtQUhWvOAdz
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Cel hummed softly - half-amused, half-resigned. "Can you tell me anything about what I just went through?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQ1LDqkjVX
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"Only what you experienced yourself. The trial's purpose belongs to the goddess alone."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB05NWEfGIv
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He let out a quiet breath. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKsyAe2VnQD
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLtmG4Pg3L
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"Alright," he said finally. "I'm ready."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLFcmjp2gkO
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Selina turned, gesturing forward once more. "Then let us continue."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGgzF9vGQON
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSya6OaMGUm
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Then the mist parted.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9iphohBp30
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Cel stopped.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4Tf0j3Gej
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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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZBEY639Ut3
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At first sight, he knew that this was a sacred place.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuAdqn1xxcS
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Selina stepped forward.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdC6QropPy
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"We have arrived, Chosen One."1234 copyright protection145ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgzCDuOMp7 尼

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