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The beast’s body convulsed under the blows. Lightning sizzled, shadows coiled, and the crack of steel against rotted bone rang sharp through the sacrificial chamber. What was once a predator of mana collapsed into ruin, its screams tearing into silence before its form gave way entirely. Flesh sloughed, bone crumbled, until the corpse split apart into dust and shards of brittle black.

The fallen cultist’s body followed. Their blood, which had seeped into the etched glyphs, flared once before the corpse shimmered unnaturally and vanished, leaving behind only cracked stone and a faint, fading glow.

For the first time since Edwin’s arrival, the chamber was empty. Silent. The cub was still in his gauntlet. Its trembling slowed now, the tiny creature curling itself into a tighter ball, peeking only once at the ruin around them before burying its muzzle against cold armor.

The cracked archway beyond opened back into the midday light.

The last echoes of the fight still hung in the air—the hiss of necrotic energy fading from the stones, the brittle collapse of the beast’s body into dust and fragments. The chamber settling into silence, only the faint glow of glyphs pulsing along the cracked dais bearing witness to the violence that had just unfolded.

And then—

The sound of hurried footsteps.

From the far end of the ruin’s corridor, a figure came running. Sunlight spilled through gaps in the broken ceiling above, glinting against pale  yet colorful hair streaked with sweat and dirt. Blood ran in a thin line from her forehead, tracing down across her cheek.

When her amethyst eyes landed on him, they widened in sudden, desperate relief. Her voice cracked with raw emotion as she stumbled forward, breathless.

[COLOR=#EB6950]“You’re okay?!”[/COLOR]

Her arms lifted as though she meant to throw herself into his embrace, the faint shimmer of the pendant around her neck brightening with every step she closed between them.