Crack!
The heavy, frozen doors behind the inner yard did not just open. They shattered. The big blue ice doors that had blocked the courtyard from the rest of the palace broke into a million pieces under the force of the outside teams breaking through.
Roan was the first to burst through the ruined archway, his long spear raised, his aura flaring to strike down whatever boss was left.
Right behind him came Alice, her dark red energy humming with a violent desire to fight, followed closely by Riven, Arthur, Elisabeth, and the rest of the people. They had rushed the inner sanctum the exact second the boss pressure vanished, expecting a fierce battle, expecting a victory, or expecting to find Leo standing over a monster's corpse.
Instead, every single one of them stopped dead in their tracks on the blood-stained ice.
The shouting died at once. A heavy, horrible silence fell over the whole yard. Their faces went pale as their weapons lowered, their eyes wide with shock.
