Lucrezia felt the immediate sensation that they were not mortals as power hummed through the space.
As if that wasn't enough, at the center lay the arena. It was a vast, circular expanse of obsidian floor etched with gold lines that glimmered faintly, pulsing in a slow, deliberate rhythm. The markings formed no pattern she could decipher, but they drew the eye inexorably inward.
There was only one word -Judgment- and that was all it called as her breath caught. She had seen executions before. Duels. Punishments disguised as spectacle, but this was different.
This was ceremonial in a wrong, almost stomach-tightening way.
A broad elevated dais rose opposite the arena. As expected, figures already occupied the seats; Sins, to be precise, as some seated languidly, others upright and still. But that wasn't all. There were others too, carrying an unmistakable presence pressing down upon the space with undeniable weight.
