By the time I reached the third level, the structure of the stronghold opened into a wide intersection where five separate corridors fed into a single circular chamber
And the moment I stepped into that space, I understood why the resistance behind me had felt a little scattered and desperate.
They had been buying time.
Seven 8✯ True Gods stood waiting in a loose semicircle that sealed every path forward, each one positioned with enough space to move freely but close enough to support the others the moment a fight broke out.
Their presence alone distorted the air, waves of divine pressure rolling off their bodies in slow pulses that made the stone beneath my boots creak and shift, and even without moving, they carried the weight of fighters who had survived centuries of war.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
