BOOM.
The first explosion came from somewhere behind and above, muffled by forty feet of brick and packed earth. Trafalgar felt it in his chest before the sound properly reached him.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Three more followed in sequence, each farther out than the one before, running along the curve of the ring toward the dome wall. These weren't random charges. Someone had placed them carefully, measured the distances between them and known exactly which sections needed to break.
Maledicta was still rising toward Rhavel's throat, Last Dusk gathering along the edge with barely a fraction of the swing left to travel. Trafalgar was already committed when the world around him changed.
The dome gave way before the blade could finish its path.
There was almost no sound at first. Just a sudden change in pressure, the kind Trafalgar felt through his entire body before his mind understood what had happened. Then the ocean hit the opening.
