A shockwave tore outward from the point of impact and flattened everything within fifty meters. Soul soldiers disintegrated. Debris launched skyward. The beam split against the blade and fractured into a hundred lances of white and gold that punched into the earth below and left smoking craters where they struck, and the sound of the collision hit a full second after the light did, a crack so deep it shook the ground like a second earthquake.
Alexios was driven sideways and down. The Warrior King landed on his feet, boots carving a short trench before he stopped. Below him, Morgana's broken body lay in the crater where she'd fallen, blood pooling beneath her shattered ribcage, and Alexios stood over her with his sword still raised. Her Royal Guards rushed in from both sides, locking around their queen's ruined form.
The king's grin was gone. His jaw set behind the grey beard and his eyes swept upward, already knowing what he'd find.
