The Red King's screams had changed. At first, they had been roars of defiance, filled with fury, the kind of sound that came from a creature too massive to accept pain as anything more than an inconvenience.
Now, however, they had shifted into something else entirely. Higher pitched, uneven, and wet in a way that carried through the air with an almost sickening texture. It wasn't just pain anymore. It was something breaking.
Ludwig tilted his head slightly as he listened, the motion slow and deliberate, like he was isolating the sound from the rest of the battlefield. His expression didn't change much, but there was a faint recognition in his eyes, something that almost resembled satisfaction as the realization settled.
"…There it is," he murmured.
