Astarion's eyes widened as he felt the blade tear through his chest. The sword's energy surged through his body like a tidal wave, rupturing organs and destroying tissue with merciless precision. His lungs collapsed, his blood boiled, and the searing power made its way straight toward his heart. For the first time in centuries, the Voroe Lord felt the touch of true death.
Terror, unlike anything he had ever known, consumed him. The primordial instinct to survive ignited within his core, and his power exploded outward in a blinding storm of energy.
The blast unleashed an overwhelming shockwave that threw both Vlad and Akai backward, hurling them through the air before they crashed violently into the ground, carving craters upon impact.
Astarion did not linger. He spun around and fled, his body blurring into streaks of dark light as he forced every ounce of power into escape. Never in his long existence had he been brought so close to the brink.
