The silence after Sloth's fall was a different kind of battlefield no screams, no clashes of steel, only the suffocating weight of fear.
Khael swayed where he knelt, blood dripping from his lips, golden eyes flickering like dying lanterns. The faint glow of Dragonheart Severance still clung to him, sparks dissolving into the ash-filled air.
He coughed, the sound raw, hollow. (So this… is the price. The blade wasn't meant for me. Not yet. I forced it open. I forced it through.)
Ceyla's hands shook as she gripped his shoulders, her storm barriers flickering weakly around them. "No… No, don't you dare, Khael!" Her voice cracked like thunder under rain.
Andromeda Ban, arrogant sneer nowhere to be found, crouched low, Junjun snarling uneasily at his side. His nostrils flared, his voice quiet. "His Shinrei… it's weakening. The smell's all wrong."
Matthew's ribbons flared and lashed against the ground, untamed. "Shit…" His young voice trembled.
