Albedo touched down on the shattered floor with an eerie lightness, his boots barely kissing the stone before he seemed to hover predatory, unhurried.
He clicked his tongue twice.
> "Tch… tch… tch… You should've made it stronger, my daughter. Just look at it… almost broken beyond repair."
A low, cruel chuckle slipped from his lips, rolling into a deep laugh that echoed through the arena's fractured walls.
"Hahahahahaha…"
Dila's gaze locked on the black-glass figure lying in the crater. Her breath came shallow and sharp. Her staff pressed tight against her chest, knuckles bone-white, while her other hand crept toward her mouth—fingers biting into her lower lip before sliding up to gnaw at a nail. Her brows pulled low, shadows curling over her eyes, her aura trembling between fury and fear.
The dust had barely settled before Albedo began to close the distance, his footsteps unnervingly slow, deliberate. The crunch of debris under his boots sounded like bones being stepped on.
