Shapes slid in through the maw of the tower, dragging miasma with them.
Gargoyles.
Lucien's blood-red eyes narrowed.
For a heartbeat, he thought it was his mind grasping for patterns in fear.
But the figures that entered were indeed Gargoyles.
Not the common spawn. Their presence carried structure.
Most of them were Monster Kings. Their auras pressed against the chamber like invisible stonework, the kind of pressure that matched Celestial Realm practitioners.
And behind the lead gargoyle, half a step back, stood a Gargoyle Monster Lord.
That alone was wrong.
Lucien's gaze sharpened further.
The leader moved forward into the chamber's dim light, and Lucien's thoughts went cold.
He recognized it.
The massive profile. The posture like a fortress leaning forward. The way its claws held themselves as if the air were something to be crushed.
