The artifact on Malvek's chest, the Obsidian Heart, pulsed.
Malvek's body jolted.
His veins lit up again.
Arcs of chaotic energy crackled across his limbs and lashed out in every direction.
A tendril of black lightning shot from his chest and ripped through the ground, carving a molten scar across the street.
Another blast tore upward into the sky, slammed into the cavern ceiling, and brought down a rain of stone.
"Scatter!" Tharn barked.
The nephirid dove for cover as a dome of fractured light exploded outward.
Everything within five meters was flung back.
Kaela barely ducked behind a ruined column as the blast tore the top off a nearby wall.
"Die, all of you!" Malvek screamed.
He stomped forward.
The air around him seemed to shimmer.
Shards of the Obsidian Heart peeled off his chest like embers and floated in the air.
Each one radiated unstable magic.
They shot off at random, some like fireballs, others like thunderbolts.
