The smoldering silence that blanketed the ruins of Valoria was deafening.
Endless remained suspended in the air, his cloak billowing without wind, his cold, ancient gaze fixed on the now-empty space where the Magic Pandora had vanished. The aftershock of what had just occurred still echoed within the very fabric of reality, as the threads of fate twisted violently out of their ordained path.
He had failed to kill them.
Two of the inheritors had escaped.
His fingers flexed ever so slightly, and a pulse of barely-contained rage rippled through the air, cracking a nearby spire to pieces.
Down below, amidst the debris, the survivors—Reeves, Lila, Marel, General Cao, Elena, and others—stood in tense silence, staring at one another, grappling with the whirlwind of emotions. Relief. Terror. Confusion. Hope.
"They made it…" Lila breathed, clutching her side where blood soaked through her robes. "They actually got away…"
