The shockwave faded.
Not abruptly—but like a storm pulling back its fury, leaving behind a silence that felt almost unnatural.
Yet the tension—
It did not fade with it.
It lingered.
It settled into the cracks beneath their feet, into the trembling air, into the space between two unmoving figures who stood at the center of it all.
The ground remained fractured, lines spreading outward like veins under strain. Dust hovered where it had been thrown, refusing to settle completely—as if even gravity itself was uncertain here.
The air—
It wasn't calm.
It was unstable.
Alive in the wrong way.
Two forces stood facing each other.
Not merely bodies prepared for combat.
But something deeper.
Intent.
Understanding.
Control.
Karna did not move.
Not immediately.
Not because he was unable—
But because movement, right now, would have meant nothing.
Because now—
He could feel it clearly.
That difference.
