The Royal Collector stepped fully into the orchard with Gazel's last wound still remembered by everyone who survived him. Its obsidian body stood taller than Loccy's transformed frame.
No visible muscle explained the pressure bending nearby roots, while the single black Shard remained above its brow. Boundary lines ran from that key through the open route, feeding a distant core Divine Eye could not measure across worlds.
Eirwen's silver markers divided the orchard into twelve living sectors. Garden paths remained empty, cottage doors stood open, and every worker's name had been checked against the evacuation ledger.
Hajin verified those facts before treating the living ground as available for battle, and the creature said in the same calm voice Didi remembered, "Collection failure remains unresolved, and demonic royal blood will be recovered with accumulated penalty."
