Not long after, the fight subsided as the last straggler was culled down.
The garden settled into a sickening quiet broken only by the small noises of settling debris and distant city sounds that still refused to come near this place. Blood soaked into gravel and dirt. Scraps of cloth and armor lay scattered like discarded costumes. Ludwig's timer awareness stayed sharp in the back of his mind, counting down without mercy.
"We wasted a bit of time," Ludwig said.
"I apologize for taking my pleasure in this battle, let us make haste," the Knight King said as he bounded toward the main door of the villa.
Even that apology carried no real softness, just acknowledgment. Gale's strides made the ground feel weaker, each step a heavy impact that dared the villa to prove it was sturdy enough to pretend it was a home.
The door that was adorned with old wood and steel tore apart as if it were made of brittle glass when the Knight King struck at it.
