Pam's eyes widened the moment his voice reached her, and before the soldiers could even react to the name he had spoken, something far more impossible happened right in front of them.
Cain's form began to melt.
Not in a grotesque or violent way, but like wax losing shape under quiet heat. The fur of the demonic badger dissolved into thin threads of dark mist, his hunched frame straightening, expanding, reforming into something far more familiar. His limbs stretched, his posture returned, and in the span of a few breaths, the creature that had been dodging and striking among them vanished completely.
In its place—
A man stood.
Tall.
Calm.
Unharmed.
The air seemed to tighten around that reveal, as if the space itself needed a moment to accept what it was seeing.
Pam took a step forward without thinking.
"…You…"
Her voice caught.
The soldiers reacted at once.
"That's him!"
"Attack!"
Weapons lifted.
Power gathered.
But before anything could be unleashed—
"Don't attack!"
