The moment the transcendent heart of the guardian emerged from the wreckage, a core worth infinitely more than the massive body now evaporating around it, Ren severed his beam.
He immediately expanded his ethereal perception…
And scrutinized his surroundings, feeling the texture of the terrain and scanning deep underground. He searched for enemies, hidden ambushes, or any nasty surprises Selthia might have buried for the exact moment Ren lowered his guard in victory. A delayed attack, a dormant runic trap, anything at all.
He found nothing.
The northern front was completely clean.
Selthia had genuinely abandoned this battlefield without leaving a single hidden card beneath the soil. It was not because she lacked the desire to do so, but because it was tactically impossible. The bedrock beneath the Diamond rank crystal mountain was too dense, the Vanguard's perception was far too sharp, and leaving any asset behind meant almost surely sacrificing it to Liora's spiritual fire.
