The suspension of time dissolved with the violent c***k of thunder, and the roaring fury of the physical world crashed back into reality with concussive violence.
The three jagged pieces of burning bronze shrapnel accelerated forward, slicing through the air with a deafening shriek as the expanding pressure wave tore out from the rupturing cauldron.
In the lower spectator seats, Elder Mu had only begun to register the blinding flash of fire, his eyes widening in raw panic as the lethal metal closed the distance toward his exposed throat.
Ye Chen did not draw his sword, nor did he dive across the flagstones to tackle the old man to the ground.
His boots dug into the marble floor, cracking the stone beneath his heels as he drove his entire body weight forward into the center of the deton
