The suffocating pressure vanished as quickly as it had arrived. One by one, the gathered warriors pushed themselves out of the dirt, gasping for breath as the paralyzing weight lifted from their chests. "It's... gone," David muttered. He rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck to chase away the phantom ache of the oppressive gravity that had just pinned them down. "The sphere is silent, too," Ragna added. His glowing orange eyes were locked onto the massive, monolithic grey orb suspended in the sky above them.Scylla and the rest closed the distance, their weapons lowered but their stances wary. Curiosity warred with lingering dread on their faces. "Did everyone else see that?" she asked, her voice hushed."I saw it," Chimelios replied. He stood with his arms firmly crossed, his unblinking gaze fixed on the floating cocoon housing his master. "It looked like a tri-rune seal. The moment it materialized, the suppressive aura was completely neutralized.""Not just neutralized," Mildre

Remiel gazed down at the warriors. Three faint concentric grey rings materialized within his dark irises. He slowly raised a single finger. A tiny droplet of condensed grey energy formed at the tip and fell directly into the screaming vortex beneath him. The moment the droplet made contact, the gaping tear in reality simply ceased to exist. The scorched earth knitted itself back together in absolute silence."Did he just..." Mildred trailed off. She could not find the words to describe the impossibility she had just witnessed.Scylla furrowed her brow. "Was that localized time magic? Or some form of supreme restoration?""Neither," Lirien whispered. His green eyes were wide with a sickening mixture of awe and absolute terror. "That is an advanced application of the Reality Assertion Art. His energy is dictating the physical laws of the space around him." The Sinblood swallowed hard as the horrific truth set in. "And he did it without a single flinch of mental strain."David tightene