Like fragile glass, the entire barrier splintered into countless fragments of golden energy before disintegrating into nothingness.
The protective glow that had shielded the city was gone.
Silence.
For a single, stretched-out second, no one moved.
No one spoke.
Then the realization hit.
The barrier was down.
The one thing keeping us safe, gone in an instant.
A low, heavy sound filled the air as the orc lord's club, now back in his hand, settled onto the ground.
He hadn't even moved to retrieve it.
It had simply returned to him.
Like it was his to command.
Like it was a mere plaything.
The same soldiers who had been laughing earlier now stood pale-faced, frozen in fear.
The mages who had sworn the barrier would hold stared at the empty sky where it once stood, their eyes wide with horror.
The orc lord rolled his shoulders, yawning, completely unbothered.
