The morning sun blazed like a forge above the capital, its rays cutting through the crisp air as David hung suspended in the Sun Empress's iron grip. Each finger wrapped around his throat felt like molten steel, the divine strength behind them making any attempt at resistance utterly futile.
His Nightveil Embrace armor, that magnificent relic of shadow and night, groaned under the assault of pure solar energy. Hairline cracks spider-webbed across the darkened plates, each fissure glowing with an inner light as the armor fought to maintain its integrity against forces it was never meant to withstand.
"You dare wear the guise of shadows in my sanctuary?" The Sun Empress's voice thundered across the sky, her eyes blazing like miniature suns that threatened to burn away his very soul. "Your kind has plagued my empire long enough!"
