219 My Lord Holy Peace (Third Watch)

Time ticked away, second by second, yet the urgent piano music showed no signs of stopping. Instead, it quickened, a mixture of lamentation and revelry, of roars and screams, sprinting forward without seeming out of place, but instead imparting an exhilarating feeling.

Hanging by a thread, a blood sacrifice to the heavens.

Someday, the phoenix shall be reborn from the ashes, returning through fire!

The Empress's fame shall echo throughout the ages!

Threads of auspicious energy with a red glow spread within the music, quickly enveloping every corner of the banquet hall in that enchanting red.

Under the red mist, the girl in white appeared all the more ethereal, as if placed within the void.

Shocked expressions filled almost everyone's eyes, many unable to believe the sight before them, as if it were a dream, yet the urgent piano music continued.

The next second, something broke through the music, letting out a long, heavenward howl!

What's this sound?

A dragon's roar!