The explosion did not sound like a bomb. It sounded like a scream.
When Isole's mana bolt breached the main boiler, the pressurized vessel didn't just rupture. It disintegrated. Thousands of gallons of superheated water flashed into steam instantly, expanding with a violence that defied physics.
The shockwave hit Vane like a physical hammer.
He didn't try to stand against it. He threw himself flat against the rusted grating, wrapping his arms around his head. The world turned into a white, roaring void. The air pressure spiked so hard his ears popped painfully.
Then came the heat.
It wasn't a fire. It was a wet, scalding suffocation. The steam rolled over him, searing exposed skin and turning the freezing air of the sub-level into a chaotic storm of thermal shock.
