The Inner Sanctum had fallen into an unsettling silence.
It was not the peaceful kind, nor the calm that followed resolution. Instead, it was a heavy stillness—thick with anticipation, as though the very air itself had grown aware that something irreversible had just begun.
Above the ancient stone platform, the glowing barrier hovered steadily, radiating a faint golden hue. The runic chains wrapped tightly around the figure within continued to pulse with an ancient power, each rune flickering like a heartbeat from a forgotten era. Thin strands of energy seeped through the cracks in the seal, drifting slowly into the air like wisps of golden mist.
The light cast by the barrier stretched across the chamber, brushing against the towering pillars that encircled the sanctum. Their long shadows extended across the ground, bending and shifting like silent witnesses to what was about to unfold.
Aether stood still.
He did not move, nor did he speak.
His calm gaze remained fixed ahead.
