The interior of the clock tower was no longer a ruin of wood and shadow. It had become a kiln of holy, scouring brilliance. The twelve spheres of the Solaris Coven didn't just illuminate the room; they erased it. The light was a physical weight, a jagged pressure that flayed the senses and turned the very air into a searing, white vacuum.
Kassian let out a guttural roar of agony, his hands flying to his eyes. The "Eternal Ember" in his chest flared in a desperate, instinctive response, but the artificial suns of the Coven were designed for one purpose: to drown out all other fires. His orange veins pulsed violently, but the light was a parasite, feeding on his heat, neutralizing his fury before it could manifest.
"I can't see!" Kassian hissed, his voice a ragged edge of panic. He swung his heavy broadsword in a blind arc, the steel whistling through the air, but there was nothing to strike. He was a titan chained by radiance.
