The shockwave came out of the skull's mouth like the world itself had decided to exhale.
It moved through the chamber in every direction at once, and the first thing it found was Marbas.
His body didn't fall. It simply came apart in flesh and bone. And everything that had made up the demon Marbas, reducing itself to particles in a single instant.
It was brutal yet efficient.
The particles becoming mist, the mist becoming blood that hung in the air for a while before dropping to the stone floor.
There was no scream. There was no final expression. One moment he existed and then he simply didn't. The shockwave kept moving.
The students who had fallen behind reached its edge one by one.
Noah heard them.
He didn't turn around. He made a decision not to turn around and kept running forward. But he heard each one. He heard a sound coming from behind.
There was a wet, percussive sound. It was repeating itself down the line of running footsteps behind him.
