The Sea God's Palace welcomed Aegis not with a roar of fanfare, but with the profound, rhythmic familiarity of the deep.
The vast underwater dome shimmered as it always had, its translucent walls filtering the eternal blue light into the halls like the steady breathing of a sleeping titan.
Schools of luminous fish scattered in shimmering ribbons at his arrival, and the ancient coral pillars thrummed softly.
They resonated with his presence as if acknowledging a master who had merely stepped away for a moment rather than one who had vanished into a realm of slaughter.
Aegis descended through the water columns slowly, his boots eventually touching the palace floor with a muted, heavy echo.
Beside him, Pyro bounced with renewed vigor. The Fire Slime looked larger than before, not necessarily in physical dimensions, but in the sheer weight of his presence.
