Her words ended as her form split apart, dissolving into fragments of fading red mana.
The pressure vanished.
The dungeon groaned, the oppressive weight lifting at once.
Kael stood there lowering his sword.
Then his knees gave out.
He collapsed forward, catching himself on the blade, gasping as the backlash hit him all at once.
Blood dripped from his nose. His hands shook uncontrollably.
Behind him—
The white-eyed saber stared in stunned silence.
"…He severed her," she said softly. "Alone."
Yumi ran to Kael's side, grabbing his arm.
"You are stupid," she said. "You almost killed yourself."
Kael let out a weak, breathless laugh.
"…Yeah," he replied. "But she's not getting back up."
Kael lay against a fractured pillar, his back pressed to cold stone that still radiated faint heat from the battle.
His chest rose and fell unevenly. Every breath felt earned. The backlash from Astral Severance had not faded—it lingered like a heavy fog inside his bones.
