The sword fell.
And with it, silence.
The Mage King's body crumpled, flames guttering like candles snuffed by unseen hands. For a heartbeat, the battlefield itself seemed to pause. The air that had been shrieking with spells, blades, and explosions turned hollow, emptied. Soldiers who had been roaring with bloodlust. Whether Vestige or defender stumbled into stillness as though the world had stolen their voices.
It was not simply a man that had fallen. It was heavy. It was the axis around which the entire battle had turned.
Ervin's eyes tightened, every muscle in his face refusing to betray the turmoil beneath. Beside him, counselors exhaled in disbelief, their composure cracking for the first time. All of them had known the Mage King was powerful. All of them had known he carried arrogance enough to believe he was untouchable. Neither had thought. Neither had prepared for the possibility that he could fall like this.
