ROYAL AUDIENCE

The stench of charred flesh and void residue still clung to Reed's nostrils as he ascended the palace steps. Four guards flanked him—not as escorts but as containment. Their enchanted armor hummed with suppression magic, ready to activate should he attempt anything resembling what had happened in the arena.

Reed's fingers still tingled with the memory of void energy coursing through them. The sensation had been... intoxicating. Terrifying. Familiar.

The palace of Azuryn rose before him like a monument to excess, ivory spires twisting upward as if reaching to pierce the heavens themselves. Crystalline windows caught the fading sunlight, fracturing it into prismatic patterns that danced across the polished marble steps. Beauty meant to intimidate.

"Move," grunted the lead guard, prodding Reed forward with the blunt end of a spear. The weapon's tip glowed with sigils that could tear a man's soul from his body—or whatever remained of Reed's.