I looked at them, feeling the weight of their gazes pressing against me. It was as if every one of them carried the same silent hope, the kind you'd cling to when all else was gone. Maybe they would have looked at anyone who could awaken this palace in the same way but right now, it was me.
"I'll remember," I said quietly.
"That's all I ask," Shijian replied.
His projection shattered into countless silver particles that shot straight toward my head. I instinctively flinched, but before I could react, the others did the same, one by one, their forms dissolved into shimmering silver dust and rushed into me.
The next instant, the world shifted.
The tower vanished, and I found myself hovering between the sixth and seventh towers, suspended in the air.
I closed my eyes and reached inward. Three runes floated in my mind, glowing silver, casting a soft light against the darkness of my thoughts. I exhaled slowly and opened my eyes, trying to make sense of it all.
