The translucent black dragon hovered above the shattered remains of the half-destroyed fortress, its massive form flickering at the edges as abyssal energy leaked from cracks in its scales like smoke from cooling embers. It was severely wounded. One wing hung lower than the other, its outline unstable and struggling to maintain cohesion, and even remaining airborne appeared to tire it, as though the world itself resisted bearing its weight.
Strangely, upon its appearance, all of the abyssals on the field seemed to be strengthened, with the most noticeable boosts appearing among the high‑level abyssals.
It was subtle at first, almost easy to miss. Then abyssal domains began to bloom across the field, not just from the demigods, but from indigo- and even violet-grade abyssals that had previously been unable to manifest their domains under this world's suppression.
