The forest held its breath.
Luton's body expanded one final time and then compressed violently inward.
For a split second, its form became perfectly spherical, light condensing toward its core like a collapsing star. The air around it distorted. Leaves lifted from the ground and hovered midair, trembling in an unseen current of power.
Then there was a pulse.
A silent, crushing wave of essence rolled outward.
Damien braced himself instinctively, boots digging into the soil as the shockwave rippled through the clearing. Trees bent away from the epicenter. Loose stones skidded across the ground. The very mana in the atmosphere recoiled before settling again.
When the light faded, Luton floated calmly before him.
Different.
