The air inside the black-walled estate trembled.
Dust and embers drifted through the faint candlelight as two figures faced each other in the heart of the shattered hall — Noah, standing still with his silver cane pressed lightly against the marble floor, and Orange, grinning with eyes that gleamed like molten copper beneath his unkempt hair.
For a moment, neither moved.
Only the crackle of distant fire and the faint sound of Amy's chains swaying above broke the silence.
Then —
Bang.
A gunshot tore through the air.
Noah pivoted his body to the right. The bullet sliced past his cheek, grazing skin before embedding into the pillar behind him. His silver cane extended with a smooth metallic click, the inner mechanism shifting as the weapon became a slender spear. He didn't flinch.
