[Leif's POV—Holy Temple Battlefield—Midnight]
The moment my words left my lips—
"THEN… LET'S GO ACCORDING TO PLAN."
—everything froze.
Not in silence. Not in peace. But in anticipation. The corrupted civilians jerked violently, their heads snapping toward me as if some invisible command had overridden their frenzy. Their blackened eyes widened—recognizing the Seraph's aura pouring from my body like molten gold.
Behind me—
Alvar's breath broke. The spirit goddess whispered my name in horror. Luminael vibrated like a living heartbeat in my hand.
And above the temple—the night sky stirred.
"LEIF—!!" Alvar's voice cracked behind me, raw with fear, fury, and desperation.
But I didn't stop. I stepped past the last fractured pillar into the center of the broken courtyard, where the corrupted gathered like a swarm of shadowed locusts.
They hissed. Croaked. Twitched. Their bodies twisted, bending in ways no human spine should.
