For three heartbeats, not a single breath was drawn in the entire square. The silence was absolute, thick, and suffocating.
Not a single warrior drew breath. Thousands of eyes stayed glued to the elevated platform, where the dirt at the edge of the timber dais was still humming from that single pulse of sovereign intent.
The Layer 2 veterans stayed pinned on one knee, knuckles pressed into the gravel, fighting the heavy instinct screaming through their spirit beasts to drop their foreheads all the way into the dirt.
Beside Sol, Kira let out a tiny, shuddering gasp. Her fingers trembling with an overwhelming, breathless awe.
Her mother… the woman who had carried the entire survival of the Veynar on her back while rivals plotted her downfall… was standing there like an unshakeable mountain that had outgrown the clouds.
