Chapter 193: Ch191. ... And countermoves
The smoke had barely begun to clear when Mara’s voice sliced through the chaos, calm and unflinching.
"Everyone, stay where you are."
The air shimmered, the lingering force of her wards forming a faint lattice of blue and gold light over the council table. The crystalline glow danced in fractal patterns, slowly fading as the last threads of her protective weave unraveled.
No one had so much as a scratch.
The glass dome overhead had cracked but not fallen. The explosion, while brilliant and loud, had met a fortress of layered arcane protections, a dozen spells laid one atop another, woven by Mara herself into the walls, floor and ceiling, in anticipation of something precisely like this.
Mara exhaled through her nose, still standing, her fingers curled subtly as if she’d caught the edge of the detonation and thrown it sideways. Her coat fluttered around her like a banner as she turned her sharp gaze across the council table.
"We are not children, and we are not amateurs." She said coldly. "Whatever that was, it failed. Because we are prepared."
A few heads nodded, slowly, still stunned. Guildmaster Koji of Flame-Eater was the first to rise from his crouch behind the table, brushing ash from his red lapel.
His dark eyes met Mara’s with the faintest glimmer of respect.
"Not a hair singed." He murmured, his lips curling up ever so slightly.
"That’s the point." Mara gave him a nod.