Black sound waves distorted the air between the granite walls like ripple-glass.
The point-blank acoustic blast of the Soul-Shatter Bell detonated twenty paces from Elder Sterling’s chest.
It was not a roar. It was a targeted, soul-crushing sonic hammer designed specifically to shatter damaged spiritual cores. The ancient cursed runes etched into the bronze rim flared with greasy purple light as the sound waves tore through the mountain corridor.
The air pressure slammed into Sterling with the force of an iron battering ram.
SNAP-SNAP-SNAP!
The remaining ten silver Ghost-Sealing Needles embedded in Sterling’s chest snapped simultaneously.
Their silver fragments were driven outward through his gray robes, spraying into the dirt like broken pins.
Deep inside his spiritual sea, the ancient hairline crack across his Golden Core widened violently. Webbing fractures raced across the golden surface like shattered ice on a frozen winter lake.
