Cel turned slowly, already knowing what he’d find.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLE1AVUV6V6
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Kyros stood at the far end of the hallway, silhouetted against a window. No followers this time. Just him, fire-red hair catching the last rays of sunset, amber eyes fixed with an intensity that promised nothing good.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9UqgtmTCf
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“What is a noble of your standing doing in the commoner dormitory wing?” Cel kept his tone carefully neutral. “Surely the facilities in your own quarters are more suited to someone of House Solgrand’s stature.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5dD2YGQxTD
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Kyros’s lips curved into something that might have been a smile if smiles could draw blood. He took a step forward, then another, closing the distance with deliberate leisure. “Someone has to maintain proper hierarchy in this Academy.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjH4bes74tf
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Another step. His boots echoed against wood.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVpCyf9MqB
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That’s part of a noble’s duty, you know? Maintaining order. Punishing those who step out of line.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0sdtBTcO3
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Cel forced himself to remain still. “I haven’t stepped out of line.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDwvX9fW2au
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“Haven’t you?” Kyros smiled - cold and sharp. “That little performance in the dining hall. The false agreement. The mockery disguised as deference.” He stopped perhaps five steps away. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjf9cfHVzs
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Before Cel could respond, Kyros’s fist lashed out.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAe20xrHyXE
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The punch came fast, meant to connect with Cel’s face with enough force to break something.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwEKXlZowlq
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Cel leaned backward. The fist passed inches from his face, disturbing the air without connecting.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriPbioW1Xc
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He didn’t even think about it. His body just moved, instincts and divine enhancement working in harmony to avoid the threat.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSr2aBJ98F5
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Kyros’s eyes widened. He stumbled forward slightly from the missed impact, caught himself, spun back around with confusion already hardening into fury.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvmFxDgLZPZ
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“You—” His voice came strangled. “How did you—”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupdrFtbcfj
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Then the anger transformed. His expression shifted, rage giving way to something calculating. Something that recognized an opportunity.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFwCWsoLyQ
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His smile returned, wider this time.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqRBoU3PgA
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“I see.” The words came soft, almost gentle. “The Moon Chosen is afraid to even take a punch. Of course. Why am I surprised?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjvnIUpd0C2
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Cel said nothing. Just watched Kyros with the same flat assessment he’d give a coiled snake.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6R8c55uW62
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“You’d probably cry if I actually hit you, wouldn’t you?” Kyros’s tone gained a mocking lilt. “Run to your little priestess and sob in her arms while she tells you everything will be okay.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRtX4I1fAu
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The words landed with unexpected weight.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNRujZwSu1
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Because… that had actually happened. After the first blessing. He had cried in Selina’s robes, breaking down and letting her see the damage his father inflicted, the weight he carried, the exhaustion of constant survival.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJmU9k9XV1
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The memory was private. Sacred in its vulnerability. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDskNDpK4yl
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And Kyros had just weaponized it without even knowing he’d struck true.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUd0x7dcmI
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“Nothing to say? Or are you too busy thinking about running to her right now?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvX9grL1gtg
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Cel’s hands clenched at his sides. The anger that had been cold and controlled was starting to heat. Starting to push against the walls he’d constructed to contain it.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCMJZXqiS0
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“Tell me,” Kyros pressed forward, sensing blood in the water. “What’s it like having a priestess as your guide? Does she comfort you when you have nightmares? Pat your head and tell you that you’re special?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRS0weas7XU
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“Stop.” The word came out quiet. Dangerous.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzS2LDoZXhI
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Kyros didn’t stop.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MUiTbK8KC
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“Actually, now that I think about it...” He tilted his head, expression turning contemplative in a way that made it worse. “A priestess spending that much time with her Chosen. Alone. Comforting him.” A pause. “I wonder what that comfort looks like.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEUWwy7Odqy
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Heat flooded his veins. The hallway's edges blurred, leaving only Kyros's smile in focus. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD5Ehlhamuf
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“I bet she’s good at it.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshI6189fOr
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Cel moved.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlGaN2FVXG8
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His hand shot out faster than Kyros could process, fingers tangling in fire-red hair. Kyros’s eyes widened with sudden understanding  - but understanding came too late.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmsHChdHIC
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Cel yanked downward with the full force of his divinely forged body, slamming Kyros face-first into the wooden floor with a sound like thunder. The impact was immediate and catastrophic - planks splintered under the force, cracks spreading outward in a spider web pattern.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbQQmGLO4L
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Then the floor gave way entirely.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdk365Bbe3
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Wood shattered. Kyros’s body dropped through the sudden opening, disappearing from view with a cry of shock and pain that cut off as he hit the floor below.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XdPSnNh93
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Silence rushed in to fill the space.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qCaB8huQb
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Cel stood at the edge of the hole, breathing hard, looking down at the damage. Kyros lay sprawled on the floor below, blood spreading from somewhere - his nose, probably, or his mouth. Maybe both.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fwoH7CnXe
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Doors opened.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSgJVdWDg8
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The sound came from multiple directions - hinges creaking, confused voices calling out, footsteps approaching from both ends of the corridor.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTFjmG2wOF
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“What was that?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKSg4bZfr5q
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“Did something break?”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1yKGPcf8GZ
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The commotion built rapidly, students emerging from rooms to investigate the noise.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnw2EL2JtYg
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Cel looked down at his hand. At Kyros’s motionless form. At the shattered floor.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigF8rOVgsJ
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At the absolute certainty that he’d just created a problem that couldn’t be talked away or ignored.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGekefVkI7
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A Sun Clan noble. Assaulted by a commoner Moon Chosen. In front of witnesses who were already gathering, staring at the hole in the floor with expressions ranging from shock to horror.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI6x5Kekdp1
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The weight of it settled over him like a shroud.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4OSj98zrd
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He’d finally done it.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQnKlrwunp5
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After months of control. Months of enduring. Months of carefully maintaining his false identity and suppressing every violent impulse.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhxW29Z3J0
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He’d broken.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeOSC4D2xS
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And now there would be consequences.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzbGVhu5mY7
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Reality crashed back in as someone screamed.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAt4ZiXmK8
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He needed to move.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePlw4SPfQH
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Needed to—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsPWl1NvWv
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His feet carried him to his room without conscious decision. The door flew open under his hand. He stumbled inside, then turned and threw his weight against the door. It slammed shut hard enough that the frame shook. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMC8BaK3jUy
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The lock engaged with a click that sounded impossibly loud.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgwE1ORXZM
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Cel pressed his back against the door, sliding down until he sat on the floor. His chest heaved. His vision kept trying to narrow into tunnel focus and he had to force it back out, force himself to see the whole room instead of just the small circle directly ahead.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcNFUmSFfPe
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‘What did I do?’19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdYzUbJaJUR
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The thought repeated itself with the mechanical efficiency of something his mind couldn’t quite process.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgzOdGITYuV
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Execution. That was the penalty for commoners who attacked nobles. Immediate and absolute. No trial. No appeal. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkFvSnkEUoW
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His breath hitched. The room kept trying to tilt sideways and he had to press harder against the door to feel something solid.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmut4t01oYI
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Maybe not execution. Maybe just imprisonment. Life in a cell, which was arguably worse. Trapped in stone and darkness once more - with nothing but time to remember every mistake that had led him there.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6ThEseHuRT
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Could he run?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiHQFp2vTW
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The thought arrived with desperate clarity. Just leave. Disappear into the night before they came for him.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzN0EHBe3Rk
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But where would he go?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwa91xYKjK
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The Stellarion Empire was all that was left of humanity. There were no other kingdoms. No neighboring territories that might grant asylum.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL690aztQUK
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He could flee to the wilderness. Try to survive outside civilization’s borders.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjsEeOWxqqG
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The idea dissolved as fast as it formed. The wilderness was full of rift-creatures. Things that poured through tears in reality and hunted anything that moved. Survival alone out there was suicide.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqC2J5r0i05
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Maybe the Reckoning would help.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmEqCE66v8d
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His mind seized on the thought like a drowning man grabbing debris.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNPgZX5IGn
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They’d recruited him. Vouched for him. Surely they wouldn’t just abandon him to execution. Surely Esrin or Veyron would—19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZoUsiRiCCb
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The thought died again.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlMNGId8Vy2
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He knew way too much. About the Reckoning’s existence. About their hideout. About members’ identities. If he was captured, interrogated…19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPc8vzbiOcO
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They might kill him even before he reached a cell. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxBElo2ze4
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Trusting the Reckoning felt like trusting a blade balanced over his throat.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvBzx47rmq
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His hands pressed against his face. The trembling hadn’t stopped. If anything, it had gotten worse.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTYN9DnzdT
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It couldn't end like this. Not before he took his revenge. Not before his father paid, for the life he'd destroyed. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl8RtXQgDZY
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Moonlight filtered through his window, painting a pale rectangle across the floor.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyIAU8xM6Oq
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Cel’s head turned slowly, tracking the light’s source. The crescent moon hung visible through the glass, serene and indifferent to everything happening below it.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUsUDtsJoO
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How long had he been sitting here?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDt21J9OuCd
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He couldn’t say how much. Minutes or hours, the distinction felt meaningless. He just sat with his back against the door, breathing through the panic, waiting for footsteps in the hallway that would signal the end.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLssnikgjjQ
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But nothing came.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGehjzlDsfW
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No pounding on his door. No shouted commands. No sound at all except the ambient noise of the dormitory - distant conversations, footsteps on other floors, the creaks and groans of old wood settling.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbP05zcGucx
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Maybe…19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6LM9pOf1L
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Maybe Kyros had hit his head so hard he didn’t remember. 19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfYFWqZPM3
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The hope felt fragile. Unlikely. But possible.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLkioF6Exq
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Cel’s breathing had finally steadied. The shaking in his hands had reduced to occasional tremors rather than constant vibration.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkVQTJ1LCz
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He could hope. Could believe that maybe, somehow, this wouldn’t end with his death.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ877gAzMPnZ
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Footsteps approached in the hallway.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSKaMs6y8pS
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His entire body went rigid. Every muscle locked, breath stopping halfway through his lungs.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXnxCkmff3
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The footsteps were measured. Deliberate. Not running. Not urgent. Just someone walking with purpose, their pace suggesting they knew exactly where they were going.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWS3ZtuM8s
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They stopped outside his door.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLH87MsJ6lJ
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Silence stretched for three full heartbeats.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtRYKJEaMp9
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Then a knock. Three precise raps against wood.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyMainTtvU
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“Celvian.” Instructor Saren’s voice carried through the door with perfect clarity. “Open the door. Now.”19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2A6VWL4x9
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---19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaat2NBNXFB
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​​​​​​​Heyho, Author here!19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZUKMOJCcan
I just wanted to inform you that next monday, I will post an additional chapter on my page again: https://celastos-shop.fourthwall.com/supporters19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDnXUtc3rJx
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