Agatha's laughter echoed through the crater, bouncing off the debris and getting louder and louder until it sounded like it was coming from all over. It wasn't the laugh of someone who had lost.
It was the triumphant cackle of someone who had planned everything perfectly and spent thirty years getting ready for this one moment. Greg tried to get up and out of the crater, but his exhausted body wouldn't let him.
His muscles screamed in pain, and his vision was blurry from being exhausted. He had gone beyond what a person could do during the battle, and now he was paying the price.
"Do you want to hear the real joke?" Agatha's voice suddenly got louder.
It wasn't just aimed at Greg anymore, but it was heard all over the ruined district. Her staff glowed with purple light, and her words were magically amplified so that everyone within a mile could hear her clearly.
"Do you want to know what thirty years of research found?"
