The room turned deathly silent, the weight of Ash's bold kiss lingering in the air like a challenge thrown at the heart of an ancient empire.
The chamber's timeless power pressed heavier—crimson moonlight filtering through the domed ceiling of living shadow-crystal cast bloody hues across the black jade floors, etched with runes that pulsed faintly like veins under skin.
The thrones of blood-throne wood seemed to breathe, the air thick with the iron scent of old blood and the subtle hum of suppressed auras.
Five Late Stellar Sovereign elders sat like statues of judgment, their presences ancient graves stirring. The Patriarch and Matriarch at the head exuded Early Void Emperor might—abysses that could swallow stars.
Liam's scarred face twisted in fury, Ninth Calamity aura flickering like a caged storm. Liora, Second Princess, Early Stellar Sovereign, watched with cold calculation, her beauty a blade unsheathed.
No one spoke at first.
