Chapter 354 - The princess and the knight
Leon’s voice barely left his throat.
“Your Highness—?”
The title snagged behind his teeth. For a moment, the world slowed. Not from fear, but disbelief.
She was standing there. Here. Inside Beld Thylelion, of all places. Poised in the open, face serious, stance firm. Her eyes locked on the alabaster construct at the chamber’s centre. Veins of dark magic curled around her arms like living shadows, feeding into the shimmering motes orbiting her. Each flicker channelled into the needlepoint of her sabre, now gleaming with a near hunger.
Was it truly her? Or was this place warping his senses?
Leon felt the edges of certainty fray.
No. Focus.
He cut off the doubt like a blade at his own throat, forcing his boots forward before hesitation could root. Duty came before sense.
His sword cleared its sheath in a single motion. Light flared down the steel, a radiant gleam blooming around him as his aura took form like a second skin.
Divided Blade’s Aspect.
By the time his foot struck stone again, he’d already crossed a quarter of the chamber.
Yet, in that same instant, a crimson rune seared into existence directly ahead. Leon pivoted, blade raised defensively.