Radeon stared at the five wraiths until their shifting stilled under his gaze. He did not look at them like prey or like servants.
He understood the fear crawling through them. It was not fear of dying. They were already dead in every way that mattered.
It was fear of existing in the same room as something that should not exist at all.
Beings that could truly warp reality did not flinch at such presence.
Anything beneath that level felt the mind buckle, the way a mortal might break after watching a cultivator turn mountain and sea upside down.
Not because of pain. Because the scene had no place to fit inside a sane skull.
Radeon did not wait for them to recover. He turned to Calyx first.
"You've been outside the realm?"
"Yes," Calyx answered. No flourish. No pride.
He looked afraid that a single extra word might spill something he could not put back.
"Where did you go?" Radeon asked. "What kind of power ruled that realm?"
"Technological Realm," Calyx said.
