There were no more words.
The time for taunts, for declarations, for the petty games of dominance and submission, was over. The air in the ravaged borderlands of Eloriath, already heavy with the stench of death and the oppressive weight of demonic power, grew still. It was the absolute, crushing silence before a hurricane.
Alaric Steele did not wait for a signal. He did not brace himself. He simply… acted.
His calm, handsome features hardened, the faint, predatory amusement in his ruby eyes replaced by a cold, absolute focus. He took a single, deep breath.
And then, he erupted.
"ROAR!"
