The cavern trembled with every collision. Dust sifted down from the high, unseen ceiling in long grey curtains, and the ancient stone buildings below shuddered hard enough to send loose tiles sliding from their broken roofs. Cracks spread through several of the floating platforms with sharp, dry snaps. The gemstone light flickered across the open space as shockwaves rolled outward, stirring the cold air into restless currents that carried the sharp scent of ozone and scorched darkness energy.
Lewis met the Eighth-stage puppet head-on and drove it back with three sharp, precise strikes. Lightning cracked along the length of his spear, forcing the construct to give ground step by step. The ease of those first exchanges lasted only heartbeats. The scout leader, the same Eighth-stage Gnome they had chased across the open field for days, joined the fight at once. Darkness elemental energy already swirled around both him and his puppet in thick, coiling ribbons.
