The faint echo of bones shifting was still rolling through the cavern when Ludwig froze, his eyes narrowing at the sound that did not belong to stone or armor.
Then came a rasping whisper, dry and uneven, yet carrying a strange steadiness.
"…I… can…"
For a heartbeat the cavern itself seemed to hold its breath.
Thomas straightened mid‑hover, spectral brows lifting. The Knight King's faint glow sharpened in surprise.
"Wait. Hold up." Ludwig's voice cracked slightly in his own astonishment as he turned sharply toward the sound. His boots scraped over the fungal‑slick stone, and the torchless gloom trembled faintly with the ripple of his mana. "You… can talk?"
The skeleton directly in front of him still bearing the remnants of old armor and crowned with tiny parasitic blooms, lifted its skull a little higher. The blue lights in its sockets flickered like distant lanterns. "I… suppose… yes…"
