I swear, if I thought the countdown was nerve-wracking before, nothing could have prepared me for this.
The last tick slid off the clock...00:00:00...and the world seemed to hold its breath.
The air thickened, heat rising from the cobblestones, the smell of ozone tangling with dust.
I felt it before I saw it. The tremor through the ground. A vibration so deep it rattled my teeth and made my bones hum.
My pulse jumped in response, not from fear, but from that adrenaline sharp enough to cut glass.
Kael's hand brushed mine, gripping tight, but even he was frozen. Zeref's eyes, usually calm like molten gold, flickered with that rare edge of worry.
Then the sky tore open.
First, a roar that ripped through the heavens themselves, shaking the mountains beyond the kingdom walls.
Then a shadow blotted out the sun. My stomach lurched, and I stumbled back, fists clenched.
Two dragons. Massive, apocalyptic in scale.
