The silence of the Core Hall, broken only by the low pulse of the fortress's blood heart, was filled by the final echo of Dong Zhen's words.
Five pairs of eyes were fixed on the chosen leader.
Kyrian picked up the map that Dong Zhen had thrown earlier. He looked at it and engraved it into his mind before Dong Zhen had completely disappeared from his sight. The order had been given. The time to depart was now.
He turned, his movement fluid and deliberate, breaking the silence and the group's paralysis. For the first time since the tournament, Kyrian's crimsom eyes swept over each of the five disciples, truly observing them.
In front of him stood Bai Zhu, a young man who looked like a human colossus, with broad shoulders that almost tore the seams of his military red robe. His black hair, cut short, looked like steel barbs.
