Strax's attack struck the order before it struck the fissure.
That made no sense to anyone watching from the outside. To Samira, it looked like just another impossible explosion of White Fire and Black Ice. To the Emperor, it looked like an arcane blasphemy cutting through the laws of the world itself. But Frieren, on the level above, felt the difference the instant the energy descended.
Strax did not try to destroy the voice.
He tried to silence it.
The fusion crossed through the golden pressure like a blade passing through wet fabric. The order "kneel" shattered into invisible pieces, and everyone who had been on their knees felt the weight disappear at once. In the upper hall, Derick fell sideways, breathing as if he had held his breath for a full minute. Cassandra released her own hand, which she had bitten hard enough to bleed. Daniela tore the blade from the floor and cursed so loudly that the echo struck the shelves.
"I am going to kill this archive," she said.
