Kyrian and the group remained standing in a defensive formation, all looking in the indicated direction.
Weapons were drawn, flaming Qi shining around their bodies like small suns of war. The air, already hot and suffocating, seemed even heavier with the tension that gathered like clouds before a storm.
No one spoke.
Only the distant sound of the wind carrying hot ash and the growing tremor in the ground filled the silence, a silence that was not peace but tension. A calm before the storm.
The elder frowned as he felt the vibrations beneath his feet. The tremor increased gradually, intensifying with each second, as if something colossal were approaching underground, moving with a slowness that did not match its size.
Pan Zheng approached him cautiously, his voice low but urgent.
"Elder, maybe we should retreat. If they're running desperately, something truly powerful must be behind them. This tremor… doesn't feel good."
