The palace had fallen silent.
Not the peaceful kind of silence—no, this one was sharp, ringing, unnatural, like the air itself was holding its breath after witnessing something too overwhelming to process. Dust drifted through the shattered sky in lazy spirals. The great structures of the devil king's domain—once towering, once oppressive—now lay crumbling and broken as though the very idea of a throne had been rejected by the world.
And outside the palace gates…
Chaos continued.
Steel clashed against twisted claws.
Cries of dying soldiers mingled with the shuddering roars of devil reinforcements.
The ground trembled from lingering shockwaves.
The elite vanguards had spilled more blood than they could count, and they were still fighting because no one dared to stop—not until the last devil fell.
Then it happened.
