Inside the VIP room, the silence was heavy enough to crush sound.
Tiered rows of luxurious seats curved around a wall of floating crystal screens, each one showing a different angle of the forest‑city battlefield. Men and women who controlled kingdoms, empires, and fortunes sat there, dressed in robes, armor, and tailored suits, their auras normally enough to suppress an entire hall by themselves.
Right now, every one of those auras was forgotten.
For a moment, none of them could believe what they were seeing.
On the central projection, the image of the Imperius family's pride shattered.
Arina Evan Imperius—the youngest prodigy of the imperius family—was on her knees in the dirt, sword fallen from her hand, body trembling and unable to stand straight. Her hair was disheveled, dust streaked her face, and blood stained the corner of her mouth.
Above her stood a black‑haired boy, relaxed and upright.
Arthur.
