(Sky God Arena, Leo's POV)
The moment the portal shimmered shut, sealing the last of the cultists' escape, Leo felt the weight of the silence settle across the crater like a veil.
It wasn't the kind of silence that invited relief or calm, but the kind that marked the arrival of something inescapable, like a guillotine finally descending after an eternity of waiting.
And as he stood there, barely upright, the burn in his ribs felt like a constant scream that refused to fade, his left shoulder seizing with every breath he took, as blood slid down the side of his arm and dripped quietly on to the dust below.
Yet through it all, despite the broken state of his body, his mind remained strangely clear, as if detached from the pain entirely.
[Monarch's Indifference] had started to work overtime to stabilize his emotions.
