The world didn’t end in silence.
It ended in sound a roar that swallowed every other noise as the Spire’s crown fractured against the night.
Wind howled through the ruined courtyards, carrying sparks of raw mana that bit at skin like acid rain. The academy’s towers, once immaculate, now leaned at impossible angles, held upright only by the pulsing veins of energy crawling through them.
Kira and I staggered through the rubble toward what had been the central plaza. Every few steps, the ground buckled; light geysers shot upward, turning the air into glassy waves.
She coughed, voice raw. “If this is what stabilising looks like, I’d hate to see collapse.”
“Keep moving,” I said. “The Core’s drawing everything in.”
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From here, we could see the Spire’s heart. The upper levels had split
