Samwell had watched the entire exchange without saying a word.
He had stood there through Annie's mocking, through Ercale being dropped in a single hit, through Zee collapsing, and through the growing tension hanging over everyone else like a storm cloud. Yet none of it had touched him. None of it mattered to him.
He had no connection to Xain.
No investment in the people around him.
And certainly no desire to involve himself in whatever this had become.
"Finally over with," he said flatly, annoyance clear in his voice as he crossed his arms. His eyes lingered only briefly in the direction Annie had disappeared before he let out a quiet scoff. "That mentally sick child…" he muttered with visible irritation. "It would make more sense to have killed him."
Prince Mark turned toward him immediately, brows narrowing slightly. "He had just knocked out the person who was most likely the strongest one here," he replied evenly. "If you think you can fight him, you could have attacked yourself."
Samwell only scoffed again.
He offered no argument, no defense, not even another glance toward the others. Instead, he simply turned toward the distant coliseum, lifted a hand slightly, and magic gathered beneath him as he rose from the ground. Without another word, he flew off toward it, leaving the crater behind entirely.
Prince Mark watched him go for a moment before shaking his head. "Utterly unpleasant to be around," he remarked quietly.
When he turned back, the state of everyone else painted a far different picture.
Mae had barely moved from where Zee collapsed, sitting beside her while carefully holding her in her arms, her usual sharpness dulled beneath worry as she checked over her twin again and again. Lia had shifted closer to both Clara and Nori, trying to comfort them as best she could, though neither looked particularly reachable. Clara still looked shaken, while Nori remained disturbingly quiet, staring blankly ahead as if part of him had simply stopped responding.
Vilak had stayed silent through everything. Mostly because he very intentionally did not want Annie's attention anywhere near him. He remained focused entirely on helping Callum, whose attention had barely been on the situation at all now that both his cut up arms had become a much more immediate concern.
Nearby, Amara stood silently, eyes fixed in the direction Annie had walked away, her expression tight with thought, while Annabel looked significantly more relieved than everyone else, if only because the immediate danger seemed to finally be over.
Meanwhile, Bram made his way over toward Ercale with an exhausted sigh.
"Talk about bringing back memories," he muttered as he crouched down, grabbing the unconscious Demon Lord and hauling him up with his one working arm before balancing him over his shoulder. "Reminds me of that time with the Lich."
He adjusted Ercale's weight with a quiet grunt, then reached up and pulled his wolf mask back on before looking over the others.
"Hey," he called out, voice firm enough to cut through the lingering tension. "Sitting here won't change what just happened. Let's head back to the coliseum, get everyone checked and healed."
Nobody really had an argument for that.
Not now.
Not after everything.
"Agreed," Prince Mark said first, already stepping toward Callum before carefully lifting him. "I will carry him."
Vilak blinked, immediately stepping back. "T-thank you," he said quickly.
"N-never thought I'd be carried by the crown prince," Callum muttered through obvious pain, somehow still managing sarcasm despite the state he was in.
Prince Mark only rolled his eyes.
Drimus rubbed at his face tiredly before exhaling through his nose. "Alright…" he muttered mostly to himself. "I might've gotten myself into something even above me, but whatever." A faint grin tugged at his face despite everything. "It'll be fun."
Annabel shook her head as she started walking with the others. "This has been the most exhausted I've been in my entire life."
Mae gave a distracted nod, carefully lifting Zee into her arms as gently as she could. "Come on," she muttered to her unconscious twin, trying and failing to hide the worry in her voice. "I know what I said before, but he can't be so good that he puts you in this state."
She waited.
Hoped for Zee to wake up out of sheer spite, just to insult her or hit her for saying something stupid.
Nothing happened.
Zee stayed unconscious.
Nearby, Lia glanced down at Nori. "Can you walk now?" she asked softly.
No response.
Not even acknowledgment.
Lia let out a small sigh before carefully picking him up instead. He didn't react to that either, didn't complain or resist, remaining completely catatonic as she adjusted him and started walking.
Clara lingered for another moment, eyes lowered toward the ground. Annie's words still sat heavy in her chest, painful in a way she hated admitting. Her eyes watered again despite herself, and with a quick sniff she wiped forming tears away with the back of her hand before quietly following after everyone else.
Amara watched her for a second.
Then clicked her tongue.
"This is frustrating," she muttered under her breath, finally lowering her shield and letting some of the tension leave her body as exhaustion settled in now that things seemed over.
She turned around—
And it was in that exact moment, with her guard finally lowered—
that he fired.