The laughter echoed through the plaza like a death knell, deep and resonant, and unmistakably pleased.
Jin lay sprawled across the cold concrete, blood pooling beneath him, his vision fractured like a shattered lens. Every breath scraped against broken ribs, and his fingers refused to obey him no matter how hard he tried to close them around the staff lying just out of reach. He couldn't even tell if Seul and Joon were still breathing beside him.
The Face of Honor stood tall over all three of them, its bone armor cracked and charred from the fight, golden light pulsing slowly through every fracture running along its frame. It lifted its glaive, not to strike this time, but to plant the weapon into the ground, resting both hands calmly on the hilt as it watched them. Patient. Unmoving. Like it had all the time in the world and none of the hurry a normal creature would carry into a fight like this.
Then, without a word, it knelt and pressed one skeletal hand flat against the ground.
