For a heartbeat—
Everything froze.
The plaza, already stretched to its limits, seemed to forget how to breathe.
Thousands of eyes were locked onto the blond-haired man standing atop the radiant Pegasus, golden sword in hand, light still clinging to his silhouette like an afterimage. His presence was different from the Kunpeng's overwhelming vastness—this was sharp, focused, heroic in a way that felt almost… textbook.
A protagonist stepping onto the stage.
Aiden's bright golden eyes swept across the execution square—over the Divine Guards, the clergy, the shattered stone, the chained Saintess, and finally Luca.
Luca met his gaze.
For a brief second, Luca genuinely paused.
…He has become stronger.
The thought came unbidden.
Not just cleaner mana. Not just denser presence. There was something else layered around Aiden now—an intangible pull, like the world itself leaned just a little in his favor.
What's with that main-character energy…?
