"I was healing the people he broke!" Serenia's voice rang out, sharp as a clarion call, cutting through the oppressive violet haze. "There is a difference between serving a king and tending to his subjects, Corvus."
"One is a choice of power; the other is a choice of mercy."
The golden light at the tip of her staff began to pulse, a slow, rhythmic thrum that felt like the heartbeat of a sun. It wasn't just light anymore; it was a physical pressure, a mounting tide of divine inevitability.
"If you truly believe that tearing the world to pieces is a more profound form of change than three hundred years of mending it, then you are as blind as you are broken."
"But understanding you is no longer my priority... Stopping you is."
The tension snapped.
From the jagged maws of the cave entrances lining the plateau's edge, the darkness began to vomit forth a tide of nightmare. It wasn't a mere reinforcement; it was a deluge.
