The palace groaned, and behind him, the Ignis roared. The ceiling above the main fight, already stressed by age, gave way. A massive section of carved stone and reinforcing beams crashed down onto the Feral Ignis and the remaining Dread-Shields.
Dust billowed out. Reidar dove through the secondary doorway as debris ricocheted around the main chamber. He rolled, came up in a crouch, and didn't look back. The collapse was his exit.
He ran through a smaller storage room, kicking aside rotten shelves. He could hear the roar of falling stone continuing behind him. The entire basement level was coming down because of the explosions.
Then Reidar found a spiral staircase, narrower than the main one he took to reach the basement, and climbed it up.
A massive blade arm punched through the rubble of the collapsed floor. Molten rock melted through the debris.
