Jae's head turned slowly, red eyes narrowing just slightly as he regarded Byun. His expression didn't shift; his lips curved only in the faintest smirk, but it didn't reach his eyes.
They were sharp, unyielding, as though he were weighing words and their consequences in an instant. "What does it look like?" he replied evenly. "I won."
Byun's face twisted, jaw clenched so tight it threatened to crack. He waved a hand toward the scorched earth, toward Sun writhing under the healers' hands, toward the echoes of mana and molten force that still lingered like an afterimage in the air.
