The shift in the battlefield was immediate and profound, not through movement or sound, but through the overwhelming change in presence that now dominated everything, because where moments ago there had been despair, uncertainty, and the looming certainty of defeat, there was now something else entirely, something that spread through the ranks of Valerion like a silent wave, lifting spirits without a single word needing to be spoken.
The King felt relieved.
Not the kind that came lightly, not the kind born from false hope, but something deep and undeniable that washed over him as he stared at the figure standing between Lucas and Ken, his grip tightening slightly around his sword as the weight that had been pressing on his chest finally eased, because for a moment, just a moment before this, he had believed they had been abandoned, that the Empress of Lechia had chosen not to involve herself, that they had been left to face an impossible enemy alone.
But she was here now.
