Choral darkness swallowed the central causeway in an impenetrable shroud of void, extinguishing every torch and lantern along the viaduct so the fighters reached for the rail and listened for orders from the far end.
Cold shadows wrapped around the stone parapets like living tendrils, blinding the allied vanguards and leaving them stranded in pitch-black silence.
"Stay in formation!" Loccy called from the lower terrace, her voice cutting through the thick black fog.
"I cannot see two paces ahead!" Rumi called back, her daggers scraping against the masonry as she kept her balance.
"Do not break your defensive lines," Hajin ordered calmly, his voice steady amid the unnatural gloom.
"Wait for the opening, and let the light find you."
"Can anyone pinpoint its location?" King shouted from the royal battlement, his shards hovering in a tight defensive sphere.
"It is circling above the main archway!" Nari called out from the eastern flank.
