The battlefield lay silent.
The corpses of demons, some still twitching, others already dissolving into black vapor, littered the ground. Their blood steamed on the cracked stone, releasing a stench that made even the air taste of iron and ash. Seyren stood a few paces back, no longer the proud demon lord he had been hours before. Now, he lingered with his eyes lowered, bound and branded as a pawn.
Kai ignored him. His attention was on the cluster of crystals piled at the center of the ruined courtyard. He had expected them to radiate with vibrant, dangerous energy, like a furnace threatening to erupt. Instead, they looked… dull. Their edges were chipped, their glow faint and uneven, like a candle guttering in a wind it could not withstand.
They didn't pulse with magic. They only hummed in a faint, almost pitiful rhythm.
Kai crouched and picked one up, turning it over in his palm.
Cold.
