Back in the capital city of Velmoria.
The royal palace now stood half-collapsed, its marble pillars cracked, and its once-gilded throne room reduced to smoking ruins.
Amber flames still licked at the shattered walls, but the afternoon outside was deathly still.
On the palace steps, Velric stood with his crown crooked, his trembling hands gripping the armrests of a hastily prepared chair.
His ministers and nobles—those Nibbles had deemed "clean"—clustered around him, pale and wide-eyed, whispering like frightened birds.
None dared to move toward the ruins, not while the air still shook with the echoes of violence.
Nibbles sat on Selena's shoulder, calmly cleaning his whiskers, unbothered by the destruction.
Selena herself stood at the edge of the stairs, her black gown unmoving, her devourer shadows restless around her feet. Her gaze remained fixed on the haze of dust rising from the wrecked palace.
