I closed the book slowly.
The image of the black sword and the single word above it lingered in my mind, but there was nothing more the page was willing to show. Whatever truth it held, it would not reveal itself further, not yet. I let out a quiet breath and placed the book back into my storage ring. The Essence barrier around me dissolved with a thought, its faint violet surface collapsing into nothingness as the abandoned house returned to its natural, empty stillness.
My attention shifted to the Naga.
He still hung suspended where I had left him, his body limp, his consciousness buried beneath the force of my earlier strike. His once-stable aura had already begun to fracture simply from proximity to me.
I stood and walked toward him.
With a simple motion of my fingers, I released the restraint around his body.
