[VOLUME 14: THE SHATTERED HEAVENS][ARC 2: THE QUEEN'S RETALIATION]
The portal tore through the fabric of the Nocturne Keep, a swirling vortex of blinding white celestial light and crushing, abyssal darkness.
Li and Aldren stood before it, two primeval gods forged for slaughter. Li's pristine white robes had dissolved into armor of interlocking starlight plates, his silver hair catching the violent flares of the portal. Beside him, Aldren was a towering nightmare of obsidian scales and shifting shadows, his abyssal broadsword dripping with dark matter.
They were magnificent. They were terrifying.
And they were leaving without her.
"The Keep's wards are absolute," Li said, not turning back. His voice was the chilling, detached tone of the Heavenly Emperor heading into a massacre. "Nothing short of the High Seat itself can breach these walls. Stay in the center of the sanctum, Elara."
