The vast chamber pulsed with a faint, rhythmic hum like the beating of a colossal, unseen heart.
Scarlet veins of light ran along the marble floor, forming circles and sigils that twisted in and out of existence.
At the very center sat Lucere, the leader of the Hollow Nine.
Pink hair fell over one side of his face, uneven and sharp, a wolf-cut that caught the glow of the veins beneath him.
His lips curved in a grin that almost looked human, but his eyes betrayed him.
Those eyes — swirling with orange, red, and black were a storm of layered gazes, as though a thousand souls were watching through him.
When he spoke, the air around him seemed to kneel.
A tremor rippled through the chamber.
A door of light opened, and K stepped in bowing low, his usually calm expression slightly strained.
"My lord Lucere… the twins failed. The shard remains with the Dragon Knight."
For a long, suffocating moment, Lucere said nothing.
