At the edge of the carnage, pressed hard against the far wall, stood Mordecai and Pavellia. They were statues of disbelief.
Mordecai's face was a mask of profound, existential confusion, as if he were trying to categorize a phenomenon that defied every law of physics he knew. Pavellia was equally still, her eyes narrowed in a silent, terrifying assessment of a threat that had just surpassed her wildest projections.
"She's... she's genuinely different from before," Mordecai whispered, his voice barely audible over the tectonic grinding of the fight.
"Yes," Pavellia replied, her voice tight, her gaze never leaving the two monsters in the center of the room.
"Did you know she had this in her?" Mordecai asked, gesturing vaguely at the erupting crimson energy.
"I suspected a reserve," Pavellia admitted, her hands tightening at her sides. "But even I did not know the scale of the abyss she was hiding."
