Lucifer stepped through the massive, swirling purple portal.
The transition from the dense, lightless void of the Umbral Plane back to the mortal world was instantaneous.
He landed flawlessly on the cracked black-stone pavement of the Citadel's main courtyard.
Elara appeared a fraction of a second later, her golden wings folding tightly against her silver armor.
The Eclipse Convergence was still in full effect.
The sky above the Obsidian mountains was a terrifying, ash-gray twilight. The sun was completely blocked by the massive, black disk of the Umbra.
The air was freezing, filled with the faint smell of spatial magic.
But the Citadel of Obsidian was perfectly secure.
The ten thousand Cryo-Pylons miles away glowed with intense, blinding blue light, forming an impenetrable wall of absolute zero magic against the darkened horizon.
"The portal is stable, Warlord," Sarah reported immediately.
