Aethelgard Royal Place
Maximus saw everything firsthand through the communication orb, every moment unfolding without mercy or distortion. He watched how Sienna-Rose resolved what should have taken months, perhaps years, of war in a span of days, how her power was able to move faster than armies ever could.
Even through enchanted glass and layered wards, the strength of her illusion magic bled through. It's not something he observed; it's something he felt. Fear seeped from the orb like cold mist, crawling along his spine, as though the monsters born of Sienna-Rose's spell might step through the image and haunt him next.
He heard Thessaly's warning clearly, ordering everyone to close their eyes. Maximus obeyed at first out of instinct, but then he decided he wanted to see. And he hadn't expected the reach of Sienna-Rose's magic to extend this far. While he sat at his throne hall in Aethelgard, far from the Thaluria Empire. Yet it did.
